Children's Home run by Creating Care Choices Limited in Lewisham

Inspection report children’s home: SC025657 1 SC025657 Registered provider: Creating Care Choices 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 and accommodation for up to 11 children. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home looks after children who have learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2019.

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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 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: 13 September 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC025657 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/06/2018 Full Inadequate 01/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/10/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC025657 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points and develop their social and communication skills. Children improve their levels of concentration and increase their engagement in group activities. As a result, children integrate into the community and develop peer friendships in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff successfully encourage all of the children to contribute to their weekly planners. The planners are created in a pictorial format that allows children to visually take in what their routines and activities are for each week. This helps children to understand their plans, reduces their levels of anxiety and helps them to remain settled.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children with communication difficulties have a voice in the home. Staff understand what children are saying, such as through staff interpreting children’s speech, their actions, the use of picture exchange systems or the children’s behaviours. In addition, each child benefits from an individual daily key-work session where they are always asked how they are feeling. This helps to ensure that care and support are responsive to the children’s changing needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children safely participate in an enormous range of exciting activities inside the home and the local community. They are enabled to choose their favourite activities, which include bowling, trips to the cinema, the local library and park, soft play centres, cycling and swimming.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff employ a good approach to support children towards independence. The children’s ‘individual skills teaching programme’ enables them to learn and develop vital skills, such as improving their personal care, dressing themselves and doing the washing-up. Staff encourage children to gain additional household skills such as vacuuming or cooking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children are in full-time education and their school attendance is good. If children are waiting for a school placement, staff request that home tuition is provided without delay. This means that children continue with their learning and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children maintain their family and friends contacts in the home and in the community. They also ensure that children’s dietary requirements and religious identity needs are met. This helps children who do not live in their family home to maintain their identities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the home’s environment is much improved. However, during a tour of the building, the inspector noticed that a bath panel was damaged, while one child’s bedroom wallpaper was torn. Inspection report children’s home: SC025657 4

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

Children spoken with said that they feel safe.

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

Children’s care plans and risk assessments are detailed. Robust risk assessments and good partnership working allow children to take safely managed risks under close staff supervision. For example, one child is now able to visit his favourite shop with staff, while another child has been supported to access the community without staff supervision for the first time.

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

Staff encourage and reward children’s positive behaviour. As a result, incidents of children’s challenging behaviours have been reduced. Children choose their rewards, such as a visit to a London landmark or a bedtime hot chocolate drink.

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

Staff ensure that children’s health needs are prioritised. For example, when a child came to live in the home, staff were quick to observe that the child’s hearing aid was broken. Staff arranged specialist health appointments and the child’s hearing ability was restored. As a result, the child has also improved their communication skills.

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

Staff help children settle into their new home. Children’s familiar routines are maintained. For example, a child’s favourite cartoon character video is played in the background to provide the child with reassurance. Staff read bedtime stories to the children and ensure that the children’s favourite toys are on their beds, which boosts their sense of security.

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

Staff actively participate with professionals to help support the children in their care. Staff attend school parents’ evenings and school activity workshops to enhance their skills and knowledge of the children in their care. The proactive staff team has sourced an independent advocate to successfully support one child’s wish to remain in the home.

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

A parent said, ‘Everyone who works in the home does so because they care and not because it is a job.’

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

The children’s guide sets out what children can expect while living in the home. However, the guide’s format is unsuitable for children who have learning difficulties or sensory impairments. This limits children’s understanding of the home’s routines and the type of care that they should receive from staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has shown good leadership during a period of change in the home. He has addressed all the requirements set at the last inspection and has updated all the home’s policies and procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is effective in the monitoring of the home. His oversight drives the service forward. Staff said that they welcomed the improvements in the management of the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC025657 5 Staff hold the registered manager in high regard. They value the support and guidance given both informally and through the supervision process. Formal supervision and monthly team meetings ensure that staff receive the support that they need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is competent, professional and approachable. Staff training is comprehensive. All staff either have a suitable residential children’s home qualification or are enrolled to complete the qualification shortly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff morale is very positive. Staff reported that they know that the registered manager values their professional development. The registered manager has adjusted some staff members’ shift patterns to enable them to progress with their academic studies. This has not impacted on the children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager welcomes creative or innovative approaches to meeting children’s care. Staff have introduced a new bespoke communication board to support one child’s communication style. Furthermore, the children’s new weekly planners have been adapted to feature familiar photographs which make them more vivid and child- friendly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Despite the improvements to the running of the home, some important documents should be reviewed. A child’s file contained out-of-date risk assessments alongside an up-to-date risk assessment. As a result, staff maybe confused about which is the most up-to-date risk assessment for the child. Inspection report children’s home: SC025657 6

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Recommendations

 Regulations 35-39 detail the records that must be kept in children’s homes. All children’s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely whilst they remain in the home. Case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Recommendations

Specifically, children’s files should only include the most up-to-date risk assessments.  Children’s homes should be nurturing and supportive environments that the meet the needs of the children. They will in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

In particular, leaders and managers must repair or replace the damaged bath panel and peeling wallpaper in the building. Leaders and managers should continue to refurbish all of the homes’ interior so that they are of a similar standard.  The children’s home must produce a children’s guide. The children’s guide must be age appropriate and provided in an accessible format. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)

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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: SC025657 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Creating Care Choices Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 38 Castle Drive, Ilford, Essex IG4 5AE

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Parmeswar Gopee Singh

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Inspector

Victoria Jones, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC025657 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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