Children's Home, Residential special school run by St Elizabeth’s Centre in Hertfordshire

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2495377 1

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St Elizabeth’s Centre

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a large charitable organisation and provides care for up to 52 children. The home caters for children aged five to 19 with complex medical needs, autism spectrum disorders, epilepsy and associated learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home consists of seven individual houses. The children attend St Elizabeth’s School, which is on the same site.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2019.

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This monitoring visit

The visit was conducted following concerns raised with Ofsted by a third party regarding one of the individual houses. The visit combined on-site and remote inspection activities. These activities included a discussion with the registered manager, four of the staff and the children and a review of records. The remote activities included further discussions with the registered manager, telephone calls to social workers and parents and a review of records. The visit identified serious shortfalls in the leadership and management of the home.

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This monitoring visit

A child who lives at the one of the individual houses has been physically assaulted on five occasions by other children. This is despite all the children at the home being allocated one-to-one staff support. The manager has failed to take effective action, and this has led to continued incidents of physical assault.

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This monitoring visit

The monitoring of records is poor. The manager’s review of the incident records has failed to identify several significant shortfalls that include:

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This monitoring visit

 a lack of detail about the deployment of the staff during incidents Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2495377 2  the staff’s failure to follow the children’s behaviour management plans  inconsistent debrief sessions with the children following incidents  inappropriate staff responses to children’s behavioural incidents  failure of the management team to respond to staff’s concerns  a lack of staff’s skills to enable effective behaviour management  failure to identify the triggers to incidents and take preventative action.

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This monitoring visit

A positive-behaviour support team guides the staff in using strategies to support the children’s behaviour. However, staff changes in the support team have significantly delayed the support team’s responses and behavioural incidents have continued.

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This monitoring visit

On one occasion, following an assault by a child on another child, the staff instructed a child to go to the living room with the door closed. The supporting incident record fails to state how long the child was in the living room, or detail whether the staff checked on the child.

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This monitoring visit

The external monitoring of the home has failed to identify shortfalls. The monitoring system includes one visit to each individual house every seven months. This system fails to provide proper oversight or regular visits. The independent visitor’s reports fail to identify areas for the overall development and improvement of the home.

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This monitoring visit

Recent changes to the daily routines have benefited the children. These include separate mealtimes with fewer children and a weekly activity night that supports the children’s interests.

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This monitoring visit

The children have experienced changes to their routine since the start of the COVID- 19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The children are grouped in their individual houses and school classes to reduce the risk of cross-infection. This has generated tensions due to the long periods of time that the children spend together.

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This monitoring visit

The staff have been creative in identifying activities for the children during the periods of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. These activities include a snowman competition, observing birds, making slime, pamper nights and counting butterflies.

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This monitoring visit

Following this monitoring visit, the senior management team appointed an individual from the organisation to investigate the identified management shortfalls.

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This monitoring visit

The manager has met two requirements and three of the recommendations raised at the last visit. Two requirements and one recommendation were not looked at during the visit and are restated. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2495377 3

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 28/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/04/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/03/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2495377 4

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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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii)) 31 March 2021

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; 19 March 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2495377 5 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(h))

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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)) 31 March 2021

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor concerns raised with Ofsted.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: St Elizabeth’s Centre

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Provincialate, 29 Tite Street, London SW3 4JX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Sister Veronica Hagen

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Inspectors

Natalie Burton, Social Care Inspector Amy Miles, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2495377 6 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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