Children's Home run by Heartwood RSW Ltd in Redbridge

Inspection report children's home: SC461865 1 SC461865 Registered provider: Heartwood RSW Ltd 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 five children. The home provides person-centred care for children with social and/or emotional difficulties. It aims to help children achieve their goals, while offering holistic support.

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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 setting on 20 October 2020 to carry out an assurance 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 requires improvement to be 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC461865 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/08/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/07/2018 Full Good 08/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/06/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC461865 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers have improved how they help children move into the home. This includes better consideration of the needs of other children already living at the home. This helps children settle in and quickly develop good relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from regular, individualised and good-quality key-work sessions. Staff regularly support children with good reflective discussions about their needs and daily lives. This has helped children to feel valued and to recognise the progress they are making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place great importance on helping children achieve academic success. Children who are reluctant to engage in school are consistently encouraged to attend and helped with skills to manage social situations within the school environment. As a result of this help, children are proud of their daily achievements at school. One child excitedly said to staff, ‘I didn’t even punch anyone today and just ignored them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers ensure that culture and diversity are championed. Staff act as positive role models and actively encourage and celebrate differences between all members of the household. This has helped children to feel accepted and given them a sense of belonging, when previously they had struggled with feeling accepted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers have made great efforts to champion children’s views about their general well-being. However, one child’s changing dietary requests are not always monitored effectively. This means that her food intake is erratic and staff do not have good oversight of the impact of her diet on her mood and mental health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s privacy is not always respected. Closed-circuit television cameras have been removed in most internal areas since the last inspection. However, they remain in hallways. This form of surveillance has been installed without adequate consideration of children’s rights.

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

Children feel safe. Children who go missing from the home experience a well- coordinated response, and there is a clear plan of action in place to safeguard them. Staff keep in touch with children while they are missing and make efforts to locate them to ensure their prompt return home. One child said, ‘I go missing not because I don’t like the staff. They annoy me as they are only meant to call me every hour, Inspection report children's home: SC461865 4 however, they call me every 20 minutes. This shows me they care about me when I’m not here.’

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

Staff only use physical restraint when it is necessary to safeguard children and others. Following incidents, children receive very good support which enables them to reflect on their emotions. As a result, serious and violent incidents have significantly reduced. However, when incidents of restraint do occur, these are not always clearly recorded. This compromises the home’s requirement to hold an accurate record of all events that have an impact on children’s welfare and safety.

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

There have been no allegations made by children living at the home. However, not all staff demonstrate good knowledge of the policies and procedures relating to the management of allegations against senior staff. One staff member did not know how to raise whistle-blowing concerns. This does not help them to keep children safe.

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

The home environment is generally safe. However, staff have locked the kitchen door to prevent a child from accessing the kitchen overnight. This also blocked a fire exit, which is against the home’s fire risk assessment. Staff have also received conflicting messages in relation to the use of window restrictors. The provider took action to address this shortfall during this inspection.

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good

The home has had several changes in the management team since the last full inspection. This has had an impact on the quality of support offered to staff and contributed to low staff morale.

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good

The current manager has managed the home since December 2020 and has applied to be registered with Ofsted. The manager has made significant improvements in the care and safeguarding of children.

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good

Leaders and managers rely on the use of bank staff to maintain staffing levels. The manager tries to reduce the impact of this by making every effort to use the same bank staff. However, this is not always possible. This creates some instability for children.

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good

The quality and frequency of staff supervision is variable and not in line with the home’s statement of purpose. This has an effect on staff having the opportunity to talk about their practice and to have their learning and development reviewed.

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good

Staff benefit from regular team meetings and feel well supported by the new manager. However, not all staff have the required training to work in a children’s home. The manager does support staff with on-the-job training and coaching, which has reduced any impact on children. Inspection report children's home: SC461865 5 Most of the time, leaders and managers are good at reporting significant incidents to the regulator. However, one disclosure, although managed well, was not reported to the regulator. The failure to report this serious incident has compromised external oversight. Inspection report children's home: SC461865 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 1 November 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to the monitoring of children by the use of closed-circuit television cameras in common areas within the home. 1 November 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC461865 7 If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(1) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b)) 1 November 2021

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to having effective monitoring in place to oversee children’s welfare and for staff to have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child may be at risk of harm. 1 November 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC461865 8 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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

ensuring that all employees receive supervision in line with the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensuring that there is a stable workforce to provide continuity of care to children;

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Requirement Due date

ensuring that all staff have the necessary core training and level 3 training. 1 November 2021

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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 and clear recording. In particular, this refers to the recording of physical interventions. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children's home: SC461865 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: SC461865 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 416 Green Lane, Ilford, Essex IG3 9JX

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Inspector

Jayshree Pillay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC461865 11 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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