Children's home run by Jamores Limited in Bexley

Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 1 SC459354 Registered provider: Jamores Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned home for three children. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home cares for children with emotional and/or behavioural needs and/or a learning disability.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/01/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 21/08/2018 Full Good 19/02/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 30/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff–

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6(2)(b)(vii)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the torn sofa in the lounge is replaced. 01/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure–

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment. (Regulation 8(1), (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)) 01/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected 01/12/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 4 from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure–

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12(1), (2)(a)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that–

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b), (2)(a)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the home’s care planning process consider the risks posed to children already resident at the home by new placements. And that the staff receive guidance that improves team communication and consistency of care practices. 01/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if–

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a 01/12/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 5 child which the registered person considers to be serious; there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child–

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) The registered person must ensure that all employees–

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33(4)(a)) 01/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 6

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive care that meets their individual needs. Children have good experiences and make progress from their starting points. They generally settle in well and quickly build trusted relationships with staff. Unplanned endings are rare but, when they do occur, decisions are made in the best interests of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make day-to-day decisions about their lives. For example, they can choose from a range of leisure activities, they have choice of meals and they recently helped with the redecoration of the log cabin. Children engage in house meetings and use this forum to share their views and opinions. They also take part in consultation exercises, such as questionnaires. This helps to shape the running of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education outcomes are variable. Some children enjoy school and make good progress from their starting points. Other children do not participate regularly with their home tuition classes and yet others do not attend school when they should. These children’s learning needs are not well met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live healthy lifestyles. Staff register them with primary care services and other more specialist services. Children eat healthy meals and exercise regularly. The home’s therapists meet regularly with the children to explore their emotional well-being and mental health. All of the children participate in these sessions and said that they found the work helpful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy their surroundings and are comfortable in the home. Staff encourage them to personalise their bedrooms and contribute to decisions about the home’s decor. Recent improvements include a new kitchen, a new front door and the children’s redecoration of the log cabin. However, the torn sofa in the lounge needs replacing .

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and others are aware of how to make complaints. Since the last inspection, the home has received a significant number of complaints. These have been managed promptly, in accordance with the home’s complaints procedures. Records of complaints are detailed and outline how complaints have been resolved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to keep in touch with their families and friends, as outlined in their care plans. When children choose not to maintain this contact, staff respect their wishes. Children are welcome to have visitors at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop practical living skills with the support and supervision of staff. These include attending to their own personal care tasks, preparing meals and completing chores. This helps to prepare them for adulthood. Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 7

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The home’s comprehensive safeguarding and child protection policies help to protect children from harm, abuse and neglect. Staff induction and ongoing training focus on child protection issues. However, some staff do not demonstrate a good understanding of the whistleblowing policies and the action to take in the event of a child making an allegation against a staff member. Staff’s vigilance and supervision of children are effective. This helps to keep children safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff, together with the therapists, have devised detailed behaviour management plans. These provide staff with clear guidance about managing children’s behaviour. These are comprehensive and largely effective. The frequency of critical incidents is on the decline. Risk assessments identify children’s risk-taking behaviour and outline plans to curb such behaviour. These are kept up to date and inform staff of emerging risks to children.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Since the last inspection, some children have made allegations against staff. Managers dealt with these appropriately and in accordance with child protection procedures. The staff’s communication with safeguarding professionals is appropriate.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

A designated officer said, ‘I have no particular issues about the safeguarding of children at the home. Staff are prompt in following up issues and I have a good relationship with managers. I’m not concerned by the volume of referrals.’

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There have been several instances when staff have restrained children, however this trend is reducing. Staff make use of restraint only to protect children and others from harm. Records of restraint incidents are clear and detailed. All those involved are offered de-briefing discussions. This is to ensure that there is an understanding of how and why the incident occurred and reflection on how such situations can be prevented.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff work hard to help children to understand the need for rules and boundaries and that staff are there to help keep them safe. Staff promote the children’s positive behaviour and how to manage conflict. When the children’s behaviour is challenging, staff manage these situations appropriately. Staff work with children to take responsibility for their actions. For example, children pay for any deliberate damage that they cause and they are encouraged to offer apologies to those whom they offend.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff and the therapists work with the children to help them to manage their emotions and feelings safely. The therapists provide regular individual sessions with children, and these focus on identified emotional difficulties, including anger management. The therapists have been successful in engaging children with these sessions and in supporting staff to understand children’s complex issues.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

In recent months, the frequency of children going missing or being absent from the home has reduced. Staff and children understand the action to be taken when these events occur. Staff adhere to the missing persons protocols and maintain good records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 8 Leaders and managers prioritise the needs of children. Children’s outcomes improve from their starting points, and their experiences are positive. The home employs enough staff to work with the children, and this helps to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and managers accept that team communication and staff’s consistency in their approach to working with children is an area that needs some attention. Children also highlighted this as an issue. Some children said that they sometimes receive mixed messages from staff members. This is particularly unhelpful when trying to get children to follow set rules and boundaries.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s care planning processes are adequate. However, managers do not sufficiently consider the risks to existing residents posed by new children coming to live at the home. The home’s impact assessment tool is not used well. This is not in children’s best interest.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, there has been a significant number of critical incidents due to the children’s sometimes extremely challenging behaviour. These incidents have been managed promptly and appropriately by the staff team. However, not all key incidents have been shared with Ofsted as outlined in the regulations. This denies the regulatory body the opportunity to review and confirm that staff and managers have taken appropriate action in response to critical incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team has changed since the last inspection, as there have been several new appointments. Staff training requires improvement. This to equip staff with sound knowledge and skills which help them to meet the children’s complex needs. This is an area that senior staff identify for themselves as requiring some review.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team receives good support and supervision from managers and other leaders. Managers conduct staff appraisals annually. Staff said that they appreciate the managers’ open-door policy and feel that their views and opinions are taken seriously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from other professionals about the home’s management is positive. A social worker said, ‘Things have improved. I now receive regular updates and the young person is making progress. Staff have really invested in him. He says he wants to stay.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is qualified and experienced to manage the home. Since the last inspection, the management team has been strengthened by the appointment of a new manager and senior support staff. This has improved the leadership of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have improved upon the home’s monitoring systems. Managers undertake regular monitoring exercises that review most aspects of the home’s functioning. These offer insight into the quality of the service and include regular case-file auditing. This ensures that the quality of staff records is good. The previous full inspection raised a number of requirements. These have all been addressed satisfactorily.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 9 Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Thames Innovation Centre, Studio 52, Veridion Way, Erith DA18 4AL

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Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC459354 11 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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