Children's home run by SES Avocet Limited

Inspection report children's home: SC063259 1 SC063259 Registered provider: SES Avocet Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to eight children aged eight to 18 who require integrated therapeutic care and education.

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Information about this children’s home

Education and administration facilities are on site and separate from the living areas.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this home on 16 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC063259 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/03/2020 Full Outstanding 27/02/2019 Full Outstanding 10/05/2017 Full Outstanding 13/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC063259 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making exceptional progress. The judgement of good overall takes account of the judgments for help and protection and leadership and management.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with highly individualised excellent-quality support. As a result, children make substantial and sustained progress from their individual starting points. The experienced, dedicated and skilled staff forge strong relationships with children. Interactions between the children and staff are extremely positive and filled with high regard and genuine compassion. Consequently, children develop the sense of security and stability that they need to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A child who had not attended school for two years before they moved to the home is now attending every day. An educational psychologist said that this progress for the child is ‘absolutely phenomenal’. The staff work very effectively together with school staff to provide bespoke academic and vocational learning programmes that are implemented through 24-hour learning plans. Individualised learning timetables and effective communication between staff has resulted in children exceeding previous expectations and making academic progress that is significant for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the staff have provided children with exciting opportunities between periods of lockdown. A recent holiday to Scotland, camping trips, visits to car racing tracks and airfields and participation in furniture restoration projects form part of what is a wide range of meaningful activities that meet children’s interests. These provided children with new experiences that significantly enhanced their well-being during a difficult year in which important routines have been disrupted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has an innovative independent living programme for each of the children. Individualised approaches are tailored to children’s developmental stages and continuously adapted so that children continue to make progress. Children are supported to gain employment and work experience opportunities. These have included, for some children, work in bricklaying, supermarkets, a cycle repair shop, hairdressing and catering. The range of opportunities enhances children’s self- determination and esteem, which enables them to be well prepared for their moves into adult living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and staff recently arranged a charity football match to raise money for local causes. This formed part of a planned festival with another home in the organisation and was particularly notable in enhancing children’s connection with others and increasing their sense of responsibility and community spirit.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The management team considers the combined group of children carefully. One child has recently moved into the home. In this instance, an effective and detailed group compatibility assessment was completed, which linked to a well-planned Inspection report children's home: SC063259 4 person-centred move for the child. As a result, the child enjoyed a warm welcome and over time has begun to flourish from his starting point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious, stylish and well appointed. The children benefit from personalised bedrooms that are decorated in line with their preferences. However, some damage caused during recent incidents has not been repaired promptly and areas of the home and coach house accommodation require redecoration and refurbishment. This detracts from what is otherwise a nurturing and welcoming setting.

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

The staff are skilled in helping children to confront and understand their past traumas. The managers and staff have access to regular clinical advice from a consultant child psychiatrist and psychologist. This enables staff to develop effective ways of helping children to manage their behaviour and feelings and enhance their emotional resilience.

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

Children are fully involved in decisions about the consequences for their actions. Staff seek and record the children’s views on this as well as helping them to think about the impact of their behaviour and how it could be different. There is a strong restorative ethos at the home, and the children understand this.

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

The home has clear processes to identify and respond to bullying behaviour among the children. Staff have good knowledge of these processes. Individual difficult incidents between children have been managed well. Effective support has enabled children to reflect on their differences to reach common goals. This helps children develop understanding of other people’s emotions and improve their relationships with each other.

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

Leaders and managers closely monitor the use of physical intervention. They review records of incidents with the staff and children. Overall, the use of physical interventions has decreased for children over time. Within this overall decline there have been periods when incidents have increased. The manager’s effective monitoring system, attention to detail and knowledge of the children mean that increases are well understood and behaviour management plans are adapted effectively. A social worker said that a child who initially needed a high level of physical intervention to keep him and others safe now needs significantly less of this intervention because of the progress that he has made.

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

There are clear and appropriate safeguarding procedures. However, in one case, these were not followed fully following an allegation made against a staff member. While this does not appear to have had an impact on a child, when safeguarding procedures are not followed safeguards for children are reduced.

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

Staff’s monitoring of the environment at the home has not been consistently effective. A toolbox was in an accessible room of the annex accommodation despite Inspection report children's home: SC063259 5 the child living there having identified risks associated with using sharp instruments. This increased risk could have been avoided if effective monitoring had taken place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is qualified, enthusiastic and child focused. He is supported by experienced leaders who collectively and creatively embed areas of research into the home’s ‘no limits’ ethos. This model of support delivers high-quality outcomes for children and enhances their future opportunities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff value the management team’s commitment, skills and knowledge. This has created a positive team culture and a stable workforce that provide children with consistent care. During complications related to COVID-19, the manager flexibly and effectively adapted the rota with staff to ensure that consistency was maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular team meetings are well attended. New staff have effective inductions to help them begin to work with the children. Well-developed training programmes equip staff with the skills to meet the children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leader and managers challenge services and other professionals when they feel that services fall short. This includes raising complaints as well as supporting children to access advocacy services. This provides assurance that the manager and staff focus on what is important to children’s development and welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a wide range of support and development opportunities, including consultations with psychologists and consultant psychiatrists. However, leaders and managers have not ensured that staff receive supervisory support at the frequency outlined in the home’s statement of purpose or the home’s policy on staff support and development. Managers were aware of this shortfall and have begun to put measures in place to address it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor has not contacted parents and family members in nine of the last 11 monitoring visits. As a result, the views of family members are not regularly explored at these visits. Inspection report children's home: SC063259 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 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))

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Requirement Due date

when responding to allegations against staff, ensure that actions are implemented in line with safeguarding policies and, specifically, to ensuring that a referral to the designated officer is made;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that effective monitoring takes place at the home which can identify and remove potential hazards that could increase risk of harm to children. 10 September

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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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, provide staff with supervision in line with the home’s policy. 30 September

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)) 30 September Inspection report children's home: SC063259 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should provide a nurturing, homely environment. In particular, they should ensure that all areas of the home are decorated to a consistently high standard and that damage is repaired promptly. (‘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: SC063259 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Inspectors

Mark Anderton, Social Care Inspector Ashley Hinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC063259 9 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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