Children's Home run by Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) Limited in Essex

Inspection report children’s home: SC423453 1 SC423453 Registered provider: Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home, which is run by a private organisation, provides long-term placements for up to four children who have experienced trauma and may have experienced neglect and/or emotional abuse. The registered manager left in August 2019. There is an acting manager in post who is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 December 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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 19 September 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC423453 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/09/2018 Full Good 09/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/05/2017 Full Good 20/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC423453 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected 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

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, adhere to the home’s safeguarding policy and procedure and review the children’s risk assessments following incidents. 30/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

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 promotes their welfare.

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(d)) 30/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 30/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— 30/01/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC423453 4 maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, maintain an accurate staff rota.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children recognise the benefits of living at the home and the progress that they have made. Children benefit from the daily structure and they work towards reintegration in education. The children spoke positively and insightfully about the care that they receive. They have good relationships with the staff and this has increased their emotional resilience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two of the children have education placements and the staff have arranged for a third child to start school in January 2020. The staff have overcome barriers to finding the right school for one child. They have been consistent and resourceful in their efforts, with success. The children who are currently not at school, college or work benefit from art and music therapy and external tutoring. This has helped them to develop a routine in preparation for returning to school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has sourced a wide range of professional help for the children. Regular therapeutic input provides specific support that helps the children to address areas that they find difficult.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children develop varied skills that increase their self-confidence as they move towards independent lives. These skills and experiences include part-time work, using local amenities, cooking and food shopping.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are supported to complain and are strongly encouraged to raise any concerns in house meetings or with the manager. The manager welcomes the children’s views and provides open two-way communication. The children all said that they feel consistently listened to and have a voice at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support family visits, which can include significant travel. The staff work hard to make these visits as comfortable as possible by enabling the children to choose the method of transport.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The house is situated in a pleasant residential street close to local facilities. Bedrooms are personalised and provide the children with a sense of permanence and belonging. Inspection report children’s home: SC423453 5 Some areas of the home need refurbishment and this has been planned, with agreed budgets and clear time frames.

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

There are notable improvements in some children’s behaviour. One child, who had several behavioural issues, is increasingly settled and stable. Social workers said that the children’s risk taking reduces and their confidence improves.

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

The children rarely go missing from the home. When this does happen, the staff actively search for the children and follow the planned protocol. The staff identify triggers to the children leaving and work jointly with other professionals to reduce these factors. These measures are responsive. They reflect the children’s ages and vulnerabilities and successfully reduce risk.

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

The manager has closely monitored the use of rewards and sanctions and has made some changes. The rewards have been revised to provide a more meaningful and realistic strategy that will help the children to develop a better value system.

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

New staff undergo recruitment checks before commencing work at the home. Any staff who are not fully checked and attend the home for interviews or assessment of competence are supervised at all times.

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

Two allegations have been investigated and established as unfounded. Although these allegations were referred to the designated officer quickly, the designated safeguarding lead has not fully followed the safeguarding policy. Failing to follow the policy has the potential to reduce the intended safeguards for children.

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

The staff update the children’s risk management plans following incidents. They use strategies such as reduced free time or supervision of children’s spending money. However, the details in some of the plans are contradictory and the information in the updates is minimal. This fails to clearly guide the staff in the agreed responses to reduce these risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There have been several managerial changes that have caused inconsistency. The appointed manager is new in post and in the process of registering with Ofsted. She has a level 5 qualification in health and social care. The manager is aware that there are several areas that require improvement. She has developed an action plan that prioritises the children’s immediate needs. However, several managerial areas continue to require improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There are generally enough staff on duty. However, there are not enough staff to consistently monitor the whereabouts of the children. Although the manager has requested permission from one placing authority for additional staffing, this has not yet been agreed. This makes the required levels of supervision difficult. The number of staff Inspection report children’s home: SC423453 6 on duty has left some children feeling uneasy. The manager has attempted to increase staffing by working at the weekend and deploying extra managerial support. There is no record of this because the rota does not provide a true account of who is on duty at all times. This was identified as a shortfall previously and has been raised again.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Most, but not all, of the shortfalls raised at the last inspection have been addressed. The new manager lacks understanding of some of the systems and the procedures. These include her knowledge of some elements of the safeguarding and risk management procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There are members of staff who have had only three supervisions in seven months. There are also staff who, despite poor practice, have not had regular supervision meetings. This fails to guide and support those staff who need it and could result in poor practice not being addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager’s review of care provides a critical oversight of the service and includes all of the children’s views. The children’s views highlighted that there are dynamics which cause some of them to feel intimidated at the home. The manager has acted to reduce this and notice has been given to end one child’s placement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has made several positive changes, including the reallocation of key workers and the use of rewards. The budgets have been reviewed and changes have been introduced to ensure better accountability for all spending. Collectively, these changes are driving improvement and working towards a better quality of care.

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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: SC423453 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8 Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2FX

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Inspector

Deirdra Keating: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC423453 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 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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