Children's Home run by Esland North Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report children’s home: 2483693 1 Registered provider: Esland North 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 three children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2021 and is currently completing the required qualification.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, 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 13 and 14 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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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2483693 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/10/2019 Full Good 22/01/2019 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2483693 3

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outstanding

The quality of care and support provided to children by the staff in this home is outstanding. Children live in a warm, loving home with a strong family feel. They feel safe and secure, and they can express their fears and anxieties. With staff’s support and guidance, children have a solid foundation from which they can manage their behaviours, meet all their developmental milestones and go on to lead successful lives.

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outstanding

The staff are dedicated to the children. They provide exceptional care. This high- quality care promotes excellent outcomes for the children. The staff use their knowledge, skills and experience to meet the needs of the children in a nurturing manner. Staff morale is high, and they enjoy being at the home. One staff member said, `I love my job. I am extremely happy in my workplace. We are like a family; I just love it.’

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outstanding

Children make exceptional progress in education. Some children have experienced long periods out of education. They are now attending and making very good progress. For example, one child who had not been in education for several years now attends school five days a week. The manager and staff have developed excellent systems to review the progress children make in education. Additionally, their effective partnerships working with involved agencies help to support children to achieve their full potential.

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outstanding

Staff understand children’s emotional health and well-being needs exceptionally well. They work closely with the child and adolescent mental health services and the organisation’s own therapist to support children to engage in therapeutic interventions. This supports children to address previous trauma and insecure attachments in a safe environment with staff who know them well. Staff receive regular training updates on the preferred therapeutic model, alongside regular team around the child meetings. The therapeutic values of the home are thoroughly embedded into staff practice.

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outstanding

Staff support children to participate in a wide range of activities. They have lots of fun and laughter, creating wonderful memories. Activities have included trips to the seaside, alpaca walking, birthday parties, and participating in an interview with the Children’s Minister about their experiences and their aspirations. Daily diaries for children do not always reflect this information or capture the nurture and experiences of the child.

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outstanding

The staff are resilient. They pride themselves on overcoming challenges and ensuring that placements do not break down. This is particularly important for children who have previously experienced placement breakdowns. For example, the Inspection report children’s home: 2483693 4 manager worked creatively with a child’s placing authority to support the child to have a holiday to stabilise their behaviour and prevent the placement from ending. This worked very well, and the child has continued to flourish at the home.

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

The manager and staff work creatively with children and introduce strategies that enable them to feel safer. For example, some children feel vulnerable at night. The introduction of approaches to help children feel safe at night has been particularly successful and has reduced children’s night-time anxieties. Staff make sure that they are near to children to act quickly and provide them with the reassurance they need. One child said, `Before life was bad, but I don’t have any worries anymore. I feel happy and safe and know staff care.’

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

Risk assessments for the children and risk management processes are strong. Staff know the children well and can identify potential risks and any triggers that might lead to increased anxieties for the children. As a result, children have been supported to reduce worrying behaviours significantly. Children’s plans provide staff with detailed guidance on how to manage any risks. They incorporate the therapeutic approaches to the children’s care, and these run throughout the documents and care practices of staff. This keeps children safer.

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

The manager has completed a detailed location risk assessment. To complete this she canvassed the views of the local police and gained a good understanding of the specific risks to children in the surrounding area. The assessment is informative for staff in the event of children going missing from the home because it highlights specific risks and vulnerabilities for the children.

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

Multi-agency working is a particular strength. This approach promotes the full involvement of the ‘network around the child’. There is daily communication between the staff and school and with other professionals. A professional said, ‘There is open communication and established routines which allow the children to feel safe.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is motivated, nurturing and passionate about her role. Children have excellent outcomes because of her skills, knowledge and experience. She knows the children exceptionally well and has high aspirations for them. She has created a warm, loving, nurturing and therapeutic environment. As a result, children feel safe and well cared for and make exceptionally good progress in all areas of their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is an exceptionally strong advocate for children. For example, she proactively pursued the appropriate education provision for a child who had had no education. The manager challenged involved agencies and, as a result, the child is now in full-time education and doing very well. This is exceptionally strong progress. Inspection report children’s home: 2483693 5 Staff feel able to share their experiences and reflect openly on their practice in daily de-briefing meetings at the end of their shift. They can challenge one another because they trust and respect each other. This leads to excellent teamwork and they support each other during challenging times. A member of staff said, ‘As a team we have been on a journey and from then to now the improvements are just amazing. We couldn’t have done it without the support of our manager.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The cohesive staff team ensures that children’s needs are well understood and met. A strength of the home is the way in which staff work with other agencies. Professionals said that communication is exceptional.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Monitoring systems are excellent. The manager collates information in respect of all the areas of children’s lives. This helps her to analyse emergent patterns and trends. This ensures that all plans in respect of children are meticulous in their detail and provide staff with excellent direction. The manager completes lessons learned analysis, supporting the home to continuously develop practice and improve the lives of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

All staff report excellent management support. Training and development opportunities are detailed and thorough. The manager ensures that comprehensive training is in place for staff. She has arranged additional bespoke training to support the team to meet the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive regular supervision sessions. However, these are of a variable standard. Written records of supervision are brief and do not always discuss staff’s relationship with children and their insights into the progress of children. This is a missed opportunity for lessons to be learned. However, staff do receive daily oversight, and challenge, if required by the manager. Staff praise the manager for her support, encouragement, and commitment to them. Inspection report children’s home: 2483693 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that systems are in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. This is in relation to ensuring that the written records of supervision provide staff with feedback on practice, discuss the children’s changing needs and provide staff with time to discuss any issues. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  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. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. This specifically relates to ensuring that children’s daily diaries capture the emotional warmth, memories and journeys of

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Recommendations

the children. (‘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: 2483693 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Inspectors

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Pradip Panchmatia, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2483693 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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