Children's home run by Jamores Limited in Bexley

Inspection report children’s home: 1237027 1 Registered provider: Jamores Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to three children. The provider cares for children between the ages of eight and 16 years old who may have social and emotional difficulties and learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since 2016.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 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: 3 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1237027 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/02/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 25/06/2019 Full Good 04/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 30/05/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1237027 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in the home make good progress in all aspects of their lives. Children learn age-appropriate independence skills. Examples include cooking, helping with shopping, tidying their bedrooms and travelling to school independently. Children’s other notable achievements include improved bedtime routines and socialisation skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy lots of activities inside and outside their home. They choose their favourites, such as trampolining, virtual girl guides and visits to the park and the funfair. Additional weekly incentives help to encourage children’s positive behaviour. Children learn to settle in bed on time and attend school and choose their rewards, such as a recent trip to the zoo.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children learn to respect boundaries. They agree and sign age-appropriate behaviour contracts and largely follow these. This helps children understand the house rules and they learn to share with each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a voice in the home. Staff respond quickly to requests, such as replacement batteries for the home’s electronic keyboard or an internet search for a local youth club. Children contribute to their weekly reports. They share their ‘top three moments at home’ and have written comments such as ‘I had a great week,’ ‘staff helped me,’ and ‘I have learned to speak in a calm tone.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have a school place. Staff work hard to ensure that children maintain consistent school attendance. This includes staff travelling and supporting a child in school during the school day. As a result, the child remains settled at school and engages in their learning. School staff praised this staff commitment as ‘above and beyond’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s premises are well maintained and comfortable. The building is safe and secure. However, during the inspection, the inspector found some items of discarded furniture at the rear of the garden. This detracts from the homely environment. The inspector found that the children’s guide does not have the correct children’s age admission criteria nor reflect the interior of the home. This may confuse children when they come to live in the home.

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

Staff complete clear and detailed children’s risk assessments. These alert staff to children’s known risks and help staff to keep children safe, both inside and outside of the home.

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

Children respond well to staff’s behaviour support strategies. Staff help children to manage any difficult emotions and they successfully de-escalate any challenging Inspection report children’s home: 1237027 4 behaviours. As a result, any challenging behaviour reduces. Staff rarely use physical restraint to manage challenging behaviour. Children spoken with said that they feel safe living in the home.

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

Leaders and managers ensure that the home’s care planning processes are effective. They make child-centred decisions when exploring possible new placements. Together, the manager and staff team consider potential new placement referrals in detail. Detailed impact risk assessments set out comprehensively any impact there may be on the children already living in the home. This means that placements are well thought out, and children can remain settled in the home.

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

The home employs art and dance therapists. The therapists help children to understand and reflect on their personal history. Therapeutic support enables children to learn personal self-calming routines and also re-establish positive family contact.

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

Staff undertake therapeutic training modules. As a result, children benefit from and receive care from staff who understand loss, attachment and trauma and the impact this can have on children’s behaviours and emotional well-being. Staff are able to create a caring environment which enables children to thrive. One professional noted that ‘Children are flourishing in their care.’ However, not all staff have completed this training. This limits staff’s overall knowledge and skills in a therapeutic care approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by an experienced registered manager, who is supported by a ‘home manager’ and a fully staffed team. All the staff have a suitable residential children’s home qualification or are currently undertaking it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff ensure that communication with parents and professionals is cohesive. Professionals describe the staff as passionate, dedicated and committed to the care of children in the home. A parent said that ‘staff teach them skills for life’, while a professional said that, ‘X has left the home a changed person due to the nurture, consistency and stability that staff have provided.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leaders’ and managers’ overview of the home is effective. The home’s service development plan sets out details to further raise standards and practice in the home. This includes some refurbishment of the home and developing a tailored children’s progress tracker.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

However, during the inspection, the inspector found that several children’s documents and other records contained an incorrect spelling or were not signed or processed by the staff according to the home’s recording systems. Although these shortfalls have not placed children at risk or impacted on their welfare, these mistakes and omissions limit the robustness of audit trails. Inspection report children’s home: 1237027 5 The home has a website. At the time of the inspection, the home’s statement of purpose was not available on the website. The inspector was told that the website was being redeveloped.

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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 registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff follow the home’s recording systems and procedures. 31 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

If a home has a website, the registered person must ensure that a copy of the statement of purpose is published on that website unless the registered person considers that such publication would prejudice the welfare of children in the home. (Regulation 16 (4)) 31 August 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 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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 31 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 1237027 6 In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff undertake training to meet the particular needs of children accommodated in the home as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should review and update the children’s guide as necessary, and make sure children are given an explanation of any changes. In particular, reference to the admission age of children to the home and the description of the home should be revised. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that the meet the needs of children, they will in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. In particular, the registered person should clear the garden area of discarded furniture. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 1237027 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Thames Innovation Centre, Studio 52, Veridion Way, Erith DA18 4AL

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Inspector

Victoria Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1237027 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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