Children's Home run by Potton Homes Limited in Southend on Sea

Inspection report children's home: SC438764 1 SC438764 Registered provider: Potton Homes Limited 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 long-term placements for up to six children who have experienced neglect and/or emotional abuse.

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Information about this children’s home

The previous manager left in April 2020. There is an acting manager in post who is not yet registered.

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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 5 May 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

Date of last inspection: 14 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC438764 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/10/2019 Full Good 03/01/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC438764 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made excellent progress, considering their starting points, across all aspects of their physical, social, and emotional development. The children benefit from a caring manager and a team of staff who fully support their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from support that contributes to positive changes in their lives. One child had singing lessons to improve their confidence. This child wrote a song and sang to the local authority social care team. One of the children said, ‘This is the best home I have ever lived in, and if I had to choose between the staff and family, I would choose the staff because that is how much they mean to me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support children’s family visits. Maintaining family relationships helps the children to develop relationships that will support them into adulthood. Staff work well with professionals to increase the time that children can spend with their families. The staff understand family dynamics and use this knowledge to enhance outcomes for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the importance of supporting children to have interests and enjoy activities. These activities build children’s self-esteem, self-worth and belonging. One child is a volunteer at a local alpaca centre. The child helps to take care of and exercise the alpacas. Another child spent two days preparing a cultural meal for the staff team, which they thoroughly enjoyed. This achievement would not have been possible without the sustained support of the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Well-structured routines and support plans help the children to learn to manage their behaviours. The staff help the children to communicate how they are feeling and thinking in a range of different ways. Children build good relationships with their key workers. The staff have a good understanding of children’s strengths and needs, and how to support their progress. The staff are vigilant and careful in their care of the children. They continually reassess what children are doing in order to understand them better and help them to continue to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education needs form an important part of their care. The staff support the children’s attainment in education. Children are encouraged to maintain good routines. The staff participate in multi-agency meetings to reduce barriers to the children’s learning. One child attends mainstream school full time; another child passed their exams and attends college and a work placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has recently been renovated throughout with the children’s and staff’s choices. The home looks amazing, welcoming and most importantly homely. The children and the staff are proud of their home and said that they absolutely ‘love it’. Inspection report children's home: SC438764 4

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

The children talk about their safety with confidence. They learn how to understand their individual risks and how their behaviours can increase or reduce these risks. Some children do not always agree with the procedures that the staff have put in place to protect them. Despite this, they understand why the risk assessments and arrangements are in place. However, the manager has failed to risk assess local attractions, children’s internet safety and the railway station. Therefore, the staff may not be aware of how to reduce these potential risks.

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

The children’s health is prioritised well, and staff have a good oversight of their healthcare needs. The staff support the children’s emotional well-being. Medication is stored safely, and there is an adequate medication management system. However, the medication administration records lack information and detail. This recording system and auditing process are not good enough and could cause confusion to the staff and result in medication errors.

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

The safety of children is important. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding children. They are fully aware of their responsibility to protect the children from harm, and they confidently understand the reporting procedures. The staff are fully aware of the roles of external agencies and the organisation’s whistle-blowing policy. This knowledge helps to ensure that any safeguarding concerns are reported and dealt with promptly.

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

Physical restraint is only used when necessary to protect the children or the staff from harm. All of the staff are trained in the use of physical restraint. There have been no physical restraints since the last inspection. The manager reviews and considers incidents and raises any learning points during team meetings and staff supervision. This means that strategies and behaviour management plans can be adapted and changed to ensure that the children are suitably supported.

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

There has only been one incident of a child going missing from the home. However, an independent return home interview has not taken place. This means that potential triggers are not identified to reduce future incidents.

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

The recruitment and selection of staff are undertaken by the organisation’s head office. However, the necessary checks are not reflected in the records retained at the home. There are references that are not verified, and the qualifications of one member of staff are not held on the file.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced manager provides strong and effective leadership. She has been involved with the home for five years and has recently been appointed as the manager. She has a wealth of expertise and knowledge for this role. The manager is respected and valued by staff, who benefit from her supportive leadership. The manager leads by example through her involvement in all aspects of the day-to-day Inspection report children's home: SC438764 5 running of the home. The children spoke highly of her support and her care for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Case records for the children reflect the staff’s work to support them. Regular audits and reviews ensure that the children’s plans and assessments reflect the current and changing needs of each child. Case files are orderly and fully accessible to the staff. Files show good levels of management oversight and a drive to ensure consistency across all aspects of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff clearly have good aspirations for the children and work collaboratively to ensure that their holistic needs are known and met. The staff receive good levels of training and management support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good relationship with the staff team and the children. Staff said that they feel high levels of satisfaction from their roles and benefit from the support that they receive from the manager. One member of staff said, ‘I would say we are working towards outstanding care at this home. With all the positive changes and the support of the manager and the team, it is amazing, and I actually look forward to coming to work.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals are complimentary about the good level of care and communication with the staff. Professionals report that the staff and the manager update them regularly and that the manager focuses on good outcomes for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An independent person visits the home and produces monthly reports. The information contained in the reports does not always give a good overview of the home, or the views of the staff and the children. This does not ensure that the service is monitored effectively and any potential shortfalls are identified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The previous manager undertook an internal review of the quality of care. However, this review fails to consider consultations with children’s families, external professionals and staff. Furthermore, objectives identified for improvement are not specific or measurable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

At the previous inspection eight requirements were raised. Six requirements have been fully met, and two have been partly met and restated. Inspection report children's home: SC438764 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all children have risk assessments to reduce the potential risk of local attractions, the railway line and risks in regard to internet safety.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(c)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all quantities of medication received and administered are recorded in full and that the medication administration instructions are clearly recorded. 31 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— 31 October 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC438764 7 full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, verify references and ensure that staff’s qualifications are held on file.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out the 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;

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a) (4)(a)(b)) 31 October 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that the quality of care review meets all the aspects stipulated in regulation 45. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2) Inspection report children's home: SC438764 8

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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: SC438764 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Potton Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Mountfields House, Off Squirrel Way, Epinal Way, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3GE

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Inspector

Cathy Russell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC438764 10 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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