Children's home run by Esland North Limited in Amber Valley

Inspection report children’s home: SC478991 1 SC478991 Registered provider: Esland North Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home offers placements for up to four young people who have a learning disability and associated complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2018 and is completing the appropriate qualifications.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 10 to 11 February 2020

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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 outstanding

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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: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC478991 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/04/2018 Full Good 05/04/2018 Full Good 25/07/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC478991 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 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b), (2)(c)) 06/04/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC478991 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Caring and committed staff help children to make progress in all areas of their lives. Individualised reward charts are in place to help children to achieve steps forward and see their achievements. Staff support children to undertake activities that, prior to them living at the home, were thought to be impossible. This has meant that children have been able to succeed in their hobbies and achieve long-term ambitions, such as overseas travel.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to help professionals to understand the children whom they care for. For example, when one child’s school placement was at risk, staff helped the school to consider different approaches that could be used to work with him. While he was out of school, the staff supported him to complete educational tasks to make sure that his learning continued. This resulted in the child settling on his return to school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good relationships with staff. Led by the registered manager, the staff show exceptional understanding and insight into the children. These relationships help children to understand themselves better and change their behaviour. One parent told the inspector that ‘ staff show love and really care for my son’. Another parent said that they ‘can see the light at the end of the tunnel, for the first time’. Parents and professionals have confidence in the care that children receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children see their families. During school holidays, staff have taken children on holiday near to their home towns to help the children see their families more often. This commitment from staff helps families to stay connected and maintains children’s long-term, important relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have not had training in working with children with learning difficulties, and not all staff have undertaken training to develop their understanding of autism spectrum disorders. Neither have they undertaken refresher training in a timely way. This means that staff potentially cannot fulfil the aims and objectives of the statement of purpose, which weakens day-to-day practice.

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

Safeguarding practice in the home is strong, and staff are aware of the procedures. Managers make confident, considered decisions and communicate with local safeguarding services appropriately. This ensures that children are safe.

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

The registered manager has clear oversight of incidents. Where needed, he directs changes to practice, helping staff to develop their work. Where staff have made decisions outside of children’s plans, the registered manager has addressed this with staff quickly and effectively. This ensures that staff are accountable for their practice and supported to learn and that any learning is shared with others. Inspection report children’s home: SC478991 5 Staff undertake creative key-working sessions with children. These carefully tailored sessions help children to understand themselves and make positive changes to their behaviour. This has led to periods of significant reduction in the use of physical intervention in the home.

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

Staff complete comprehensive individual risk assessments in the home. There are also useful summaries that serve as quick reference guides, which help staff to keep in mind the key risks and strategies to keep children safe. It is not clear how controls reduce identified risks or how risk levels are changed following significant incidents. On a small number of occasions the language used in assessment strategies is poor or generalised. These few occasions have not impacted on practice, but they mean that it is not clear how serious the risks are or how specifically to address them.

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

Recruitment in the home is comprehensive and safe. The registered manager makes sure that he confirms all information before staff are appointed, which means that only safe adults work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager knows the children in the home exceptionally well and has high aspirations for them. He uses strong professional challenge to partners to ensure that children have what they need to succeed. For example, the registered manager has determinedly and successfully advocated for children to have appropriate school places. The registered manager has also secured specialist psychological support to help the staff team with their understanding of children. The registered manager’s aspiration is mirrored by staff, who are passionate about children and their futures. This results in children being able to develop and achieve in ways that were previously felt to be impossible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff put highly individualised care plans in place. Managers then ensure that there is sufficient staffing to achieve this support. Where children want to work towards lower levels of staffing, the registered manager works with other professionals in children’s networks to put in place detailed programmes to help them to achieve this. The registered manager monitors progress closely and is confident, in children’s best interests, to pause the work if they are struggling. He then seeks feedback from children about what is not working and amends the support to help children to achieve their aims. This ensures that children are included in decisions about their lives and are strongly advocated for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager uses his regular monitoring effectively to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He also carries out a regular, comprehensive quality of care review and acts on the findings. The registered manager welcomes external scrutiny through independent visits and regular feedback from others. This is because the management team is driven to ensure that children have the best experiences that they can. Inspection report children’s home: SC478991 6 Staff ensure that that children’s voices are prominent in the home. Staff act to address their views, wishes and feelings, resulting in children investing in the home and their relationships with staff. This means that children’s views are central to their day-to-day experiences and the home’s future planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are well supported by the management team through a clear induction and regular supervision. Supervision allows staff to talk about children and receive guidance on their work. Staff in the home respect the registered manager and feel well led. This helps staff to feel confident in their roles. Inspection report children’s home: SC478991 7

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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 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: SC478991 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 1, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Karol Keenan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC478991 9 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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