Children's Home run by London Borough of Brent in Brent

Inspection report children's home: SC457780 1 SC457780 Registered provider: London Borough of Brent Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides short breaks for disabled children with autistic spectrum disorders, physical and profound disabilities, learning disabilities and complex health needs. The home can provide care for up to eight children at a time.

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Information about this children’s home

On 28 October 2021, the provider applied for a variation to its registration to provide long-term care to one child.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since 7 April 2021. The home’s manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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 carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 29 and 30 May 2019 to carry out a full inspection. The report is published on the Ofsted web site.

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Information about this children’s home

This inspection was conducted on site and involved meetings with children and staff. Feedback was received from social care, education and health professionals as well as parents and children. A staff questionnaire was also completed by staff who were not on site but who wished to contribute their views.

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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 Inspection report children's home: SC457780 2 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: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC457780 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/05/2019 Full Outstanding 10/05/2018 Full Good 09/05/2017 Full Outstanding 19/01/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC457780 4

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outstanding

Children who stay at the home receive outstanding care and attention. Leaders and managers proactively ensure that children’s experiences and needs are central to all discussions and contact with children, their families and the wider professional network. Consequently, children’s opportunities and life chances are significantly improved.

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outstanding

Staff prepare for each child’s visit with an exceptional level of detail. Staff contact children’s families 24 hours before each visit to ensure that they offer children the best support during their stay. Children have the same bedroom for each of their visits, with their own picture on the door as a visual aid. Children’s favourite meals and activities are well known and made available. Children are cared for by a consistent staff team even though their visits are spaced throughout the year. This means that children feel remembered, valued and welcomed by people that they know and trust.

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outstanding

Staff strongly encourage and celebrate the progress made by children. Staff use information from the children’s networks and their developing relationships with children, to create individual personal development targets for them. Staff and children work in partnership to achieve these targets. Therefore, children develop confidence in their self-care, socialising and independence skills and improve their self-esteem and sense of achievement.

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outstanding

Children have a physical environment that is very homely. The design of the home includes excellent facilities and adaptations to meet the physical and leisure needs of children with disabilities or specific health issues. Staff value the importance of children feeling comfortable in the centre. Children can personalise their bedrooms and bring personal items from home, such as bedding, pictures of family members and any favourite items. The building is bright and colourful; there are photographs of children involved in various activities, and pictures on the walls created by children. This helps children to feel in control, physically able and nurtured while at this setting.

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outstanding

Children are regularly praised and spoken to with warmth and affection. Staff integrate support for and promotion of children’s cultural observances into daily care. Children follow varied diets ranging from vegetarian and vegan to their own specific preferences. Children are helped to follow their prayer practices. For some children, when it has been agreed, staff read religious texts such as the Bible and Quran. This allows children to maintain and develop their cultural or religious beliefs even when they are away from their family homes. Inspection report children's home: SC457780 5 The provider has not yet updated the children’s guide to reflect the differences in the service, following the variation of the service. However, this has not affected the care given to children.

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

Leaders and managers are extremely proactive in understanding and managing risk. Senior staff attend regular multi-disciplinary panels with health, education and social care professionals before agreeing for a child to stay at the home. Children and their carers are invited to attend at least two ‘tea visits’ at the home before children stay overnight. Staff use known information about children to understand how to care for them and meet their specific emotional and health needs. This means that children’s well-being is actively promoted and unnecessary risks to children are minimised.

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

Staff remain intently focused on children’s global needs. They complete ongoing risk assessments based on their relationships and observations of children, partnership working with the professional and family networks, and feedback from children after each visit. Consequently, staff provide an agile service which allows them to understand and manage ongoing and developing risks to ensure that children are safe.

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

Children receive consistent and positive approaches from staff. Staff see children’s placement plans and positive behaviour strategies as ‘live’ documents. Staff know children’s triggers and how to avoid escalation of behaviours, and they learn from and adapt practices following any incidents. However, staff are not always consistent in their record keeping in relation to an accident or incident. This minimises staff’s abilities to plan for children and reduces managerial oversight for any patterns or themes.

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

Physical interventions do not occur often in this home. Staff work extremely well with children and their networks to manage and understand their behaviours, and the low number of restraints reflects this. After restraint incidents, children’s views are recorded in a child-focused manner and are reflective of children’s learning and cognitive abilities. However, staff are not always consistent in recording children’s views in this manner. This means that children’s records are not always fully reflective of their own views and wishes.

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

Staff have extremely positive relationships with professionals and carers. Regular staff and parent meetings are held to create a joint understanding and clarity on how to help and protect the children. Staff handovers incorporate the views of children, carers and professionals. Leaders and managers challenge other professionals to ensure that they provide a high standard of care to children. This means that children’s safety and well-being is at the centre of all interactions.

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

Children receive the correct mediation at the right time. Medication requirements for children are checked with parents and carers before each child’s visit. Medication is only accepted if it is prescribed, labelled and in the original packaging. Staff relationships with the local school nurse and pharmacy mean that any discrepancies Inspection report children's home: SC457780 6 in medication are quickly resolved. Leaders and managers have identified additional strategies to ensure that original information about medication and any changes to medication are documented clearly. Consequently, children’s health requirements are not disrupted when children are staying at the home.

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

Leaders and managers consider safeguarding arrangements well. Information regarding potential safeguarding matters is openly and routinely shared with the children’s professional networks and families. Appropriate referrals are made to the safeguarding lead, and appropriate safeguarding notifications are made to Ofsted. This enables strong partnership working which helps to minimise the risks to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and manager have a highly ambitious vision for children. They lead an inspirational culture in which children’s experiences are promoted and are not limited by their disabilities. One parent stated that her child was asked to participate on the interview panel for the recruitment of new staff. The parent said, ‘I had never considered this possible.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers ensure that children receive excellent individualised care. Staff have detailed plans in place according to children’s friendships, behaviours and support needs for each visit. The number of staff on duty and the planned activities safely match the needs and interests for each child. Staff support children to learn from each other and to develop. This results in children receiving excellent care, having fun, forming friendships and learning and developing their life skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The highly effective and dedicated staff team provides inspirational care to children. All staff, including the care, domestic and administration staff are actively involved in providing children with creative and inclusive opportunities. Children have attended professional football games, the theatre and music events, by public and private transport. At the home, children have had a professional violinist play for them and there is play equipment that children with a range of physical needs can use simultaneously. Staff demonstrate active and excellent attention to children having equality of opportunities and being active members of their community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers recognise the value and importance of staff professional development. New staff to the home have a thorough and clear induction programme, while more experienced staff have annual development meetings to set strong targets and objectives. Staff receive extensive training in areas such as communication methods, understanding and responding to children’s different health needs and fire evacuation processes for children with disabilities. Consequently, children receive care from adults who have the appropriate skills and knowledge to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers use feedback to improve the quality of care to children. During COVID-19, all staff worked hard to offer a day service to children, when overnight stays could not occur. Leaders and managers ensure that information from Inspection report children's home: SC457780 7 an in depth and thorough annual stakeholder survey provides a full opportunity to develop the service. Leaders and managers are very proactive and respond quickly and efficiently to feedback and recommendations from those who wish to improve outcomes for children. Inspection report children's home: SC457780 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide consistently helps children living in the home to understand: - what the day-to-day routines of the home are (‘what happens in the home’); - the Statement of Purpose of the home (the care they can expect to receive while living there); - how to make a complaint in line with the home’s complaints procedure; - how they can access advocacy support or independent advocacy if eligible; and - how to contact the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)  The registered person should ensure that staff have a consistent approach to evidencing children’s involvement in feedback after a restraint or incident. Children should be offered the opportunity to access an advocacy support to help them with this. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person should ensure that staff have a consistent approach to recording and sharing information about accidents and incidents. (‘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: SC457780 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Director of Children and Young People, London Borough of Brent, 4th Floor, Civic Centre, Engineers’ Way, Wembley, London HA9 0FJ

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Inspector

Tolulope Sawyerr, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC457780 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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