Children's Home run by Stonelake London Limited in Brent

Inspection report children’s home: 1264048 1 Registered provider: Stonelake London Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

 This privately owned home provides care for up to four children.  In the home’s statement of purpose, the provider states that it cares for children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.  The manager was registered with Ofsted in July 2018. She has a suitable qualification.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 10 to 11 September 2019

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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: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1264048 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/03/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 04/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1264048 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

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home (Regulation 25(2)(b)). Specifically, staff should make sure that the fire doors are not wedged open. 31/10/2019

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, paragraph 3.9, page 15). Specifically, review how information is provided for children so that this does not appear institutional.  Children should be in full-time education whilst they are of compulsory school age, unless their personal education plan contained within the care plan or other relevant plan states otherwise. The home must aim to support full-time attendance at school unless the child’s relevant plan indicates this is not in their

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Recommendations

best interests. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, paragraph 5.14, page 28)  The ethos of the home should support each child to learn, emphasising the value of independent study and reading for enjoyment. The home must make available suitable facilities, equipment and resources for learning and ensure that the home’s routines do not form barriers to children wishing to use the home’s resources to study. Staff must support children with home study by encouraging them to learn independent study skills and helping them to practice those skills. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, paragraph 5.18, page 29) Specifically, staff should enforce boundaries about Inspection report children’s home: 1264048 4 learning during school hours when children are not attending school and should provide more reading materials to encourage children to read for enjoyment.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided with nutritious meals suitable for each child’s needs. Where appropriate, children should be involved in choosing and preparing meals and opportunities to sit together and eat should be promoted (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, paragraph 3.8, page 15). Specifically, staff should ensure that the records provide evidence that the children are eating a healthy diet. Staff should also provide more regular mealtimes where the children have opportunities to sit with others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spoke positively about the relationships they have with the staff. A child said that the home is a ‘good place’. Another child said that they appreciate staff helping them to think about their feelings and helping them to reach decisions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to get involved in activities such as playing or watching football, trampolining, eating out in restaurants or exploring the idea of caring for a pet. A few children are less active because they prefer to spend their free time playing electronic games indoors. This year, some of the children enjoyed the exciting experience of travelling abroad with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Current residents have lived in their home for a number of years and have settled well. The children build trusting relationships with the staff. This has led to a reduction in the risk-taking behaviour of some children, which has improved their safety and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children start to gain independence skills from the time they move into the home. Staff help those children who are seeking employment to learn interview techniques and complete application forms. The registered manager strongly advocates for children in order to ensure that their views are represented when decisions are made with regard to them moving on from the home. Many of the children stay in touch with the staff after moving on to live elsewhere, which enables them to continue to make use of the staff’s support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager assesses the impact that admissions may have on those children already living in the home. However, one child’s placement disrupted the home for a while, as their behaviour changed when further needs emerged.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff value education and encourage the children to attend school. However, one child is not attending any education and risks falling behind their peers. Staff provide some learning support for children who are waiting for an appropriate education placement. However, these children are not always usefully engaged in learning during school hours. Inspection report children’s home: 1264048 5

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

Children said that they feel safe in the home. They feel they can talk to staff about any concerns they may have. Children’s views are incorporated into the registered manager’s local area risk assessment. This concluded that the local area is safe for the children.

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

Staff have provided some of the children with training to increase their awareness of potential dangers and reduce risk. This has included teaching them to keep themselves safe in relation to knife crime. Staff make sure that the children have information on sources of help and advice. While this is valuable information, it is displayed on a noticeboard in the kitchen in a way that seems ‘institutional’.

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

The process of checking that staff are suitable is thorough. This helps to ensure that only suitable adults work with the children. Ongoing training ensures that staff have some knowledge of the areas of risk for the children, such as self-harm, sexual exploitation and online abuse. Staff are confident about reporting any concerns or allegations in order to safeguard the children.

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

Children like the way the home looks since the registered manager has improved the decor. Photographs of the children on activities with staff are displayed around the building to make it feel like ‘home’. However, there is only a limited range of books in the home, which does not encourage the children to read for enjoyment.

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

The building is safely maintained. Fire safety is generally well promoted. However, one fire door was wedged open during the inspection. This would prevent door closure in the event of a fire and potentially place children and staff at risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is well regarded by the staff team. Staff appreciate the supervision, support and training they receive to help them fulfil their roles. The registered manager has met the recommendation made at the last inspection. Appraisals are now conducted annually for all staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is stable, which helps to ensure that children experience consistency of care. No agency staff are used, with any shortfalls covered by the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring undertaken by an independent visitor is reasonable and helps the service to develop. The registered manager also makes use of her own reviews of the service to identify areas of strength and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff incorporate children’s likes, dislikes and cultural and religious needs into menu planning. However, staff have not been entirely successful in changing some of the children’s eating habits. Food intake is not recorded in sufficient detail in order to assess if the children are eating a healthy diet. Mealtimes are not regular, so the children do not Inspection report children’s home: 1264048 6 always experience a shared meal with staff.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences 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: 1264048 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Stonelake London Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinckot House, 211b Station Road, Harrow HA1 2TP

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Inspector:

Jacqueline Graves: social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1264048 8 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector:

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Inspector:

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Inspector:

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