Children's home run by Homes2Inspire Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1255745 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to five children and young people who have complex needs, which may include challenging behaviours and emotional difficulties. Two registered managers share the management of this home. They are both registered and appropriately qualified.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 22 January 2019

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: Outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: 1255745 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/01/2019 Full Outstanding 24/01/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 1255745 3

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outstanding

Children continue to make exceptional progress. They are responsive to the clear and consistent boundaries set by staff. Consistent expectations of behaviour enable children to feel settled and able to address previous behaviours and concerns. Children develop healthier sleep patterns and stop going missing from home. They enthusiastically described the positive changes that have occurred in their lives since moving to the home.

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outstanding

Children, including those who have previously refused to attend school, are now achieving exceptionally high levels of school attendance. Staff passionately advocate for children in the way a good parent would. This ensures that children’s views and wishes are heard and taken seriously by other agencies. A child is due to change schools after staff proactively raised concerns about their current placement.

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outstanding

Interactions between the children and staff are full of warmth, care and mutual respect. The staff creatively utilise their own skills, strengths and interests. For example, they have introduced mindfulness and yoga sessions in the home. These are proving popular with the children and exemplify the team’s ongoing positive approach to ensuring that children develop in all aspects of their lives.

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outstanding

Family members said that they are kept well updated and informed. This enables them to feel included in their children’s lives. Children are encouraged and supported to have increased visits to and from family members. This is improving relationships with their families. A parent described the team as ‘amazing’, and said that their child ‘is happier and more settled than I have ever seen’.

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outstanding

The versatile use of space within the house enables information to be shared in pictorial and notice form in an informative yet homely way. This information is interspersed with an array of pictures of the children and adds to the overall family feel of the house. One child, who is new to residential care, said, ‘I was expecting it to be like a prison, but it’s brilliant. I love it here.’

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outstanding

Staff carefully prepare children for transitions into and out of the home. Recent examples include children successfully returning to their family, moving to new foster carers and into supported lodgings. Many children remain in touch after moving out. This demonstrates the importance children place on maintaining the relationships they have made with staff.

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outstanding

Children are encouraged to become safer. This includes being supported to have gradually increasing levels of free time as their behaviours stabilise. These Inspection report children’s home: 1255745 4 arrangements are skilfully managed so that children can have experiences similar to those of their friends in the community.

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outstanding

There are very few missing from home episodes. There is a clear individualised protocol for staff to follow if a child does go missing from the home. Children said that they no longer feel the need to run away because staff give them space and time to process their emotions.

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outstanding

The children described how they use the in-house yoga sessions and mindfulness techniques to allay their anger and frustration. These techniques and other identified strategies equip the children for situations that they face in school, with their families and in the community.

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outstanding

Staff successfully use their strong, trusting relationships with the children to divert them from negative behaviours and help them to manage their emotions appropriately. The staff are adept at helping the children to work towards agreed goals. Children are now more able to identify how they have previously been at risk and how they can be safer in the future.

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outstanding

Staff training and ongoing development ensure that they possess the knowledge required to safely care for the children. Staff undertake specific training based on the children’s needs, such as EpiPen training. This training was also given to the children. Involving children in practical safety training demonstrates an additional level of safeguarding. Managers incorporate lessons learned from significant events or incidents into staff training. This means that safeguarding systems are continually improving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers set high standards and have high expectations for children and staff. This is helping children to achieve and enabling staff to develop creative ways of working. Staff are extremely positive about their managers and said that the level of support they receive has prevented them from ever considering leaving their roles. This enables children to receive consistent care from a stable staff group.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers and staff firmly challenge decisions made by other agencies if they are not in children’s best interest. This has enabled children’s voices to be heard in decision- making and care-planning processes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The supervision, training and appraisal systems are very efficient and highly effective. This ensures that the staff are continually developing personally and professionally. Equality and diversity are incorporated into all aspects of the home’s operation. This enhances the ability of children and staff to flourish through learning and reflection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The managers are determined to continually improve the home’s quality of care. This determination prevents them from becoming complacent about the service they Inspection report children’s home: 1255745 5 offer. It also ensures that any creative and innovative ideas to improve the home are fully embraced. Inspection report children’s home: 1255745 6

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: 1255745 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Shaw Trust House, 19 Elmfield Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 1LT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Angela Muchatuta

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Children’s home details

Registered managers: Kathryn Scoltock and Lisa Groves

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Inspector

Sonia Hay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1255745 8 to 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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