Children's home run by Jamores Limited in Bexley

Inspection report children's home: 1234166 1 Registered provider: Jamores Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in 2016. The manager registered with Ofsted in 2019.

p.1

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.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 8 and 9 September 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1234166 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/05/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 11/09/2018 Full Good 18/12/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: 1234166 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop trusting relationships with staff. They make good progress in all aspects of their lives and thrive from their positive experiences. A professional wrote, ‘Staff are emotionally attuned and work hard to empower children to make positive changes.’ Another professional wrote, ‘The work they have done with my young person has been transformative.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff regularly review children’s individual progress. Their dedicated support has helped children to make good progress, such as learning to ride a bike, reducing the fear of domestic pets, achieving healthy weight gain, and increased independence and social skills, alongside a reduction in self-harmful behaviour. Children enjoy incentives such as progress certificates or individual reward choices, such as an aquarium. A short-break summer holiday is planned for the children to celebrate their successes.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and children share mealtimes and birthday celebrations, which helps to encourage group participation and good relationships. Staff take particular care to understand children’s emotional connections. For example, one child was able to take their much-missed family dog for a walk and was able to visit friends at the youth club they had previously attended. A member of staff said, ‘The manager puts the children at the centre and makes sure their views are listened to and gives them the full support they need.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are resourceful in overcoming any barriers to children’s education. Staff successfully challenge and advocate for children. This helps to ensure that children have access to formal education. All the children living in the home engage in education and exam successes are celebrated.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively support children’s cultural identities. They make arrangements for children to continue to attend church, alongside celebrating religious and cultural festivals. Staff proactively address children’s emerging identities. For example, recent meetings and key-working sessions have helped children to understand their sexuality and gender.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take time to support children when they move from the home. Children benefit from positive planned transitions to alternative care arrangements or a return home to their families. Transition planning also includes post-transition visits from staff to children’s new homes, if appropriate. Children who leave the home say that they miss living at the home and they often return to talk with staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a suitable three-bedroomed home. At the time of the inspection, the downstairs toilet was leaking and a hall light was not working. The registered manager reported that the home is due to be redecorated and that there is ongoing maintenance. Inspection report children's home: 1234166 4

p.3

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

Children benefit from the support of a therapist who offers them regular individual therapeutic support and advice. This helps children to learn creative coping strategies and helps to improve their self-esteem. Children spoken to by the inspector confirmed that they feel safe living in the home.

p.4

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

Children’s personalised behaviour support plans enhance the therapeutic support that they receive. The behaviour support plans help staff to support children’s individual complex behaviour needs. For example, support is offered to ensure that children have structured routines, safe spaces, art therapy, water therapy and self- soothing music. Consequently, incidents of challenging behaviour from children reduce.

p.4

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

The registered manager and staff team work hard to support children to re-establish and maintain their family relationships. Children enjoy improved relationships and benefit from safe, quality time spent with family and friends.

p.4

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

Effective safeguarding practice means that children’s individual risks reduce from their starting points. Their safety plans and risk assessments are sufficiently detailed and are generally kept up to date. However, one child’s particular risk level had not been updated in their risk assessment. This did not impact on the safety and well- being of the child.

p.4

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

During the inspection, an out-of-date food item was found in the fridge. This is contrary to good food hygiene practices. In addition, there was no bread available, which meant that a child could not have toast for breakfast. This does not demonstrate that staff ensure that daily health and safety checks are conducted and that basic food provisions are provided to children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively by a strong leadership team. Since the last inspection, a new manager has been appointed and has registered with Ofsted. Staff describe the registered manager as ‘the mother of the home’, and that she is, ‘a very dedicated manager who is approachable, listens to the children and goes above and beyond to make sure that they reach their desired goal’. The registered manager has been nominated for a national care award for ‘going the extra mile’.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that care planning processes are effective. They make child-centred placement decisions. New referrals are considered by the whole staff team. These arrangements enhance placement matching and decision-making processes.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager works extensively with the professional network. She actively advocates for children to ensure that children’s support needs are met well. Inspection report children's home: 1234166 5 When there are any challenges in the home, leaders and managers take time to reflect and update policies and procedures to reflect any new learning. This demonstrates that leaders and managers are forward thinking and dynamic.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff undertake a comprehensive range of training. This includes specialist training to meet the specific needs of the children in their care. The registered manager provides additional staff training and bespoke creative resources. This helps staff provide care that is tailored to each child’s individual needs and vulnerabilities. Inspection report children's home: 1234166 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home complies with relevant health and safety legislation (food hygiene). In particular, regular fridge checks should be conducted to ensure that no food products remain stored after their sell-by dates. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the downstairs bathroom toilet leak is repaired and the downstairs hall lightbulb is replaced. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that regular food shopping for basic items, such as bread, takes place. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.8)  The registered person should ensure that case records are kept up to date. In particular, risk assessments should provide up-to-date information about the risk

p.6

Recommendations

levels for children. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

p.6

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: 1234166 7

p.6

Children’s home details

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

p.7

Inspector

Victoria Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1234166 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8