Children's Home run by Heartwood RSC Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report children's home: 2497538 1 Registered provider: Heartwood RSC 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 is registered to provide care for up to five children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 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 setting on 19 January 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: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2497538 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2497538 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the home was closed temporarily. Since reopening, five children have moved into the home. The staff provide good-quality care that has enriched children’s lives. Staff work with each child to enable them to understand how past experiences have led to harmful behaviours and how they can adopt better coping strategies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff take a nurturing and healing approach with the children by regularly arranging restorative meetings. These meetings enable children to work together to improve their empathy, share their feelings and develop their ability to mutually problem solve. Consequently, the children are making good progress with their social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff recognise the importance of education. They work closely with teachers to identify when the children need help, and they support them. This has enabled some of the children, despite not being in education for a long time, to successfully access full-time education provision.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children recognise the progress that they have made. They said that they have developed strong trusting relationships with the staff and feel safe and happy in their care. Children value the staff’s support to help them reconnect with their families. Consequently, children are positive and hopeful about their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is in a semi-rural area. However, the staff only have access to one car. This means that, at times, children have had to miss medical appointments and activities. Such restricted transportation options limit the staff’s ability to fully meet all the children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home requires updating and refurbishment in places. There are two kitchens, one of which is not frequently used but where some cabinet doors need to be replaced. The garden patio is overgrown with weeds and requires repointing. This lack of upkeep does not provide a homely environment and limits the staff’s capacity to create a family feel for the children.

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

The staff manage high-risk behaviours effectively. Staff use their positive relationships with children to de-escalate incidents well.

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

When staff have used physical interventions, these have been proportionate and necessary. Staff provide children with the opportunity to reflect on incidents, to consider their behaviour and think about how they can act differently in the future. Follow-up key-work sessions with children embed this learning and help children to build on their understanding of how best to keep themselves safe. Inspection report children's home: 2497538 4 The staff recognise the importance of sharing information and effective communication. The manager holds a monthly risk meeting with the social worker, police and education staff in respect of one child. This supports a co-ordinated approach to reviewing the child’s safety plan. Consequently, the number of self- harming and serious incidents for the child have significantly reduced.

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

The staff use positive incentives and natural consequences for the children to encourage constructive behaviours. Children are, therefore, more motivated to consider alternative positive actions.

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

The risk assessments and behaviour support plans detail triggers and warning signs for the staff to be aware of. The risks are further broken down into stages of escalation. This helps the staff to understand how best to respond to incidents and behaviours as the risk increases. However, the assessments and plans are overly long and cover risks that are not always relevant to each child. Such lengthy documents may result in a lack of clarity, with important information potentially not being fully prioritised.

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

Since the last inspection, Ofsted is aware that alleged serious incidents have occurred at the home. These are under investigation by the appropriate authorities. The senior management team took further safety actions to suspend the home’s operation for a time. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate incidents of this kind, actions taken by the home in response to the incidents were considered, alongside other evidence available at the time of the visit. This informed the inspector’s judgement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the new manager’s appointment, he has made a significant change to the culture of the home. He has promoted a reflective practice approach, embedding restorative meetings and encouraging an ethos of open communication.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager reads and reviews each incident record. The records show managerial oversight and they include thoughtful detail and the children’s views. The manager holds debriefs and discussions with the staff to help them to learn from incidents and consider their decisions. These changes have ensured that staff understand their role and have driven up the standards of care that the children experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff, social workers and the children’s families recognise the children’s progress and the positive impact that the manager has made. They value his collaborative and open style of working. They said that his management style has encouraged an inclusive approach that involves them in the children’s care planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is stable and the staff work together well. They receive regular supervision. However, there are several staff who have not achieved a relevant level 3 diploma in residential childcare, despite working in the sector for over two years. Inspection report children's home: 2497538 5 This means that they have not benefited from obtaining the skills and knowledge that this qualification provides.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior managers have committed to providing specialist training for the staff on mental health and suicide prevention. However, not all staff have undertaken training in ligatures and first aid. These specific training topics relate to the actual risks faced by the children. Without this training, the staff may not have the skills and knowledge to respond appropriately when faced with incidents. Inspection report children's home: 2497538 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children.

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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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (1)(a) (2)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children have access to the necessary transport to be able to attend all their appointments and activities. 10 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. 25 July 2022 Inspection report children's home: 2497538 7 The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part- time basis. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b) (6)(a)(b))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a welcoming and homely environment that meets the needs of the children. Specifically, repair the kitchen cabinets and clean the patio garden. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the role that they play in the training and development of staff. Specifically, ensure that all staff have training in ligature awareness and first aid. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Specifically, ensure that risk assessments and behaviour

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Recommendations

support plans use simple language, are concise and focus on the risks that are relevant to each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2497538 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Heartwood RSC Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Leemya McKeown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2497538 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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