Children's home run by Kennet Care Limited

Inspection report children's home: 1185488 1 Registered provider: Kennet Care Limited 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 four young people. The statement of purpose states that the home caters for the needs of young people between the ages of eight and 17 years. It aims to create a warm, caring environment that is safe and supportive, enabling young people to recover from past life experiences and grow to achieve their full potential.

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Information about this children’s home

The previous manager resigned his registration in September 2020. The current manager was registered with Ofsted in March 2021.

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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: 25 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children's home: 1185488 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/02/2020 Full Good 26/06/2018 Full Good 24/11/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/04/2016 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1185488 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Placement stability has improved since the last full inspection. Staff work together to provide a consistent approach with the children at the centre of their practice. Children have good relationships with staff and speak of them affectionately. Children are in the right place with the right support, leading them to make good progress. Examples are a child with social anxiety being able to enter a shop on their own and another child rebuilding a fractured relationship with a family member. Children are respectful to others and conduct themselves with dignity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop their own identity. They take pride in their appearance and enjoy clothing and fashion. Staff support them to make informed decisions such as whether they want to continue to pursue their religious faith. Staff work with other professionals so that children can see the people that are important to them, such as friends and family. This includes planning overnight stays. Children are growing in confidence to develop their wider network of support and encouragement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in their education. One child has completed GCSEs and has gained a college placement. Another child has started to engage with education, following years of refusing any form of learning. A professional involved in this child’s care described this as ‘a huge step forward in the right direction’. In some cases, formal education is supported by home learning. However, staff do not always follow the home’s timetable or ensure that it has sufficient detail to guide them in fully supporting each child’s home learning. No negative impact is currently evident.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s independence. For example, children learn domestic skills and go shopping. A statutory report stated that, ‘(Name of child) has gained a level of independence and responsibility and is making sensible choices.’ One child, who aspires for independence, does not currently have a bank account. Staff have not pursued this with the placing authority to help the child manage her own money. This is a missed opportunity to fully promote life skills that are essential for living independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been considerable investment in the fabric of the home since the last inspection. Children and staff speak proudly of the warm, homely environment. Some issues detract from this, such as staff wearing keys around their neck, date labels on food and some small holes in window frames where window restrictors have been removed.

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

Staff sensitively support the children to manage painful emotions. They use their positive relationships well and do not need to resort to any form of physical restraint when children are processing their difficult feelings. They take seriously what children say to them and liaise with others, such as health professionals, to keep Inspection report children's home: 1185488 4 children as safe as possible. Staff advocate for children to get the therapy that they request, such as horse therapy, at the right time.

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

Staff work with the children to help them to understand how to protect themselves. For example, explaining child sexual exploitation in a child-friendly way. In the main, staff are knowledgeable about the risks associated with e-safety, although occasional mishaps have occurred. Some staff would benefit from being upskilled in e-safety and being fully acquainted with each child’s specific safety measures in this regard.

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

The registered manager applies the safeguarding policy in practice, for example in the event of an allegation. She ensures that other safeguarding professionals are notified and that the necessary action is taken. She ensures that staff reflect on practice in their supervision. In one case however, a supervision record did not explicitly describe the discussion about a significant incident, so staff learning was not fully evident.

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

Senior leaders adopt safer recruitment practice to ensure that only individuals who are suitable to work with children are employed. On occasion, agency staff have worked in the home. Senior leaders did not formally test that the agency adopts safer recruitment in practice, relying on written records only, provided by the agency. No agency staff are currently being used; therefore, children are not currently at risk by this omission. Senior leaders accept that their own systems must improve before using agency staff in the future.

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

Key staff review risk assessments to guide staff in the control measures necessary to keep children safe. In one case, staff had not updated a risk assessment with the most up-to-date control measures. Staff had agreement with the placing social worker to reduce the close supervision, so no child was at risk. This clerical oversight could, however, be a source of confusion for staff.

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

On occasion, children are absent without permission or missing from care. Staff are diligent in following the agreed protocols, including working with the police. It is worthy to note that waking-night staff continue attempts to contact children who are not in the home overnight. Staff keep detailed chronologies of the actions that they take during the missing episode and the work completed with the child afterwards, to prevent recurrence. Consequently, staff keep children as safe as possible and missing episodes are decreasing.

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

Staff work proactively with other agencies to keep children safe from other risks, such as the risk of county lines. Strategies are currently working. Staff and children follow the right procedures to keep everyone safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is demonstrating good leadership that is underpinned by a competent deputy manager. They have gained the respect of the children, staff and other professionals. One professional said, ‘I have found working with the registered manager really effective. She always follows through.’ Inspection report children's home: 1185488 5 Staff speak positively of their line managers and the support given through the supervision process. This, coupled with regular group supervision with the organisation’s clinical psychologist, means that staff are in the best place to provide the necessary support to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a workforce development plan in place that is specific about the bespoke training needs for staff. This includes the therapeutic training as described in the statement of purpose. This increases the ability of the staff team to meet the aims and objectives in the statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management monitoring is good. Independent visit reports are now supplied on a regular basis to Ofsted and other professionals. These identify the pertinent issues, and the manager uses these to drive forward improvement. Likewise, the registered manager uses the statutory six-monthly reporting process to set ‘SMART’ goals for the next period.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager notifies the relevant agencies, including Ofsted, of significant incidents. In one case, however, she did not notify education professionals of a relevant incident. This had occurred in the home and could have been of interest to the school to help keep children safe in all their environments.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that placement plans contain sufficient details to guide staff and that they are regularly updated. Staff keep good daily records that give an account of each child’s life in the home. A placing social worker said, ‘The team are amazing at contacting me and proactive in requesting meetings about the needs of the child.’ Inspection report children's home: 1185488 6

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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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8(1) (2)(a)(i)) 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)) 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that arrangements are in place to— 30 September Inspection report children's home: 1185488 7 plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure children have a bank account.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b)(3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure the same recruitment scrutiny is applied for agency workers. 30 September

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that while complying with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); they should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards, paragraph 3.9, page 15) Inspection report children's home: 1185488 8

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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: 1185488 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kennet Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/O Stan Colaco & Co, Regus Business Centre, Centurion House, London Road, Staines Upon Thames TW18 4AX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Dennis Austin-Visser

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Inspector

Keith Riley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1185488 10 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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