Children's home run by Potton Homes Limited in Greenwich

Inspection report children's home: SC393940 1 SC393940 Registered provider: Potton Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides long-term care for up to five children with a diagnosed learning disability.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2021.

p.1

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.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

We last visited this home on 5 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 15 October 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC393940 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/10/2019 Full Good 21/01/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 09/05/2018 Full Good 04/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC393940 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most of the children have made significant progress in all areas of their development. Their day-to-day experiences are immensely positive. Relationships between children and staff are very good.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work with schools, allocated teaching staff and placing authorities to make sure that children’s learning experiences are positive. The staff identify and address the physical and emotional barriers to education that children may face. Staff have extremely high aspirations for children and incorporate these into learning and support plans. These plans reflect children’s communication needs and preferences and their learning styles and interests. This means that children benefit from continual learning opportunities. During the inspection, two education professionals were complimentary about the hard work and effort that staff put in to support children’s education.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have extremely complex needs. Staff prioritise these needs and work with other professional agencies to ensure that communication is clear and effective. Staff are sensitive to children’s feelings about health matters and how these affect their physical and emotional well-being.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a wide and varied range of social, leisure and educational activities. Staff continually encourage children to try new things and to make the most of opportunities and facilities in the local community. This helps children to develop new hobbies and interests, grow in confidence and develop their social skills.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand how important children’s families are to them. Staff work with children’s families and placing authorities to facilitate regular family visits and social occasions. For example, children’s families are coming to the home to spend the day putting Christmas decorations up around the home and in the children’s bedrooms. These interactions help children to maintain important relationships and ensure that they are not isolated from their families.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is clean, warm and welcoming. A new kitchen has been installed and looks amazing. Most of the children’s bedrooms are personalised and cosy. However, one child’s bedroom is dirty with broken furniture and missing wardrobe doors, and the room is sparsely furnished, uninviting and dark. The manager and staff have failed to monitor and address damage, allowing the room to deteriorate over some time. This does not give a message to all children that they are loved and cared for. Inspection report children's home: SC393940 4

p.3

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

Staff make sure that children live in a safe home. Staff’s professional practice and the safeguarding arrangements protect children from harm and support their emotional well-being.

p.4

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

Staff understand the vulnerabilities of most of the children and any concerns about their safety. Staff recognise any signs that indicate that a child may be at risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation or harmful behaviour. Staff are vigilant and act whenever they are concerned about a child’s welfare.

p.4

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

Staff work effectively with families, social workers and safeguarding services to identify the risks that children face, and take appropriate action that protects them. Staff generally follow the children’s safety plans and work to keep children safe. There have been no episodes of children going missing from the home for a considerable time.

p.4

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

Staff actively support children to understand risks and manage their own safety. This includes helping children to use technology safely and recognise exploitative and negative relationships. Staff help children to make choices that protect themselves and other children from harm.

p.4

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

Staff’s calm, understanding and reliable approach is helping children and families to sort out their difficulties. Staff help children to find ways to manage their anxieties and frustrations and reduce aggressive and violent behaviour.

p.4

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

Staff offer a series of rewards and incentives which the children understand and enjoy working towards. These incentives are individualised and appropriate and have a positive impact. Sanctions are sometimes used, and restraints are used as a last resort. However, records do not contain the information required to monitor and evaluate their effectiveness.

p.4

good

The home changed ownership in June 2021. The registered manager is working towards a relevant level 5 diploma. The impact of COVID-19 has been well managed.

p.4

good

Most of the children’s case records are informative, with clear information, risk assessments and plans for staff to follow. However, the manager has failed to develop an in-depth understanding of the quality of care provided for one child. Their care plans and risk assessments are not up to date and do not include information to measure the child’s day-to-day care needs, risk factors or progress.

p.4

good

The registered manager has failed to monitor one child’s records or evaluate staff’s practice in relation to the child’s past life experiences and how these have affected their care moving forward. The child’s progress and their environment have Inspection report children's home: SC393940 5 deteriorated. The manager has missed opportunities to understand the things that work and the obstacles to progress for this child.

p.4

good

The manager has failed to understand the impact that one child’s behaviour has had on the staff team, leaving the team unable to cope with the behaviours. This has led to drift in some good practice.

p.5

good

The independent person’s reports were previously lacking in information to help the manager to improve practice at the home. However, there is a new independent person, and the monitoring has improved during recent months.

p.5

good

The 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, targets identified for improvement are not specific or measurable.

p.5

good

The manager has met three of the four requirements raised at the monitoring visit. One requirement, in respect of a child’s risk assessment lacking detailed information, has been restated. Inspection report children's home: SC393940 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(v) (c)(i)) 12 January 2022

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) 12 January 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC393940 7 In particular, update a child’s risk assessments and use the correct terminology for triggers that lead to difficult behaviours.

p.6

Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the monitoring visit and is restated.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.7

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

p.7

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

p.7

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)(f)(h)) 12 January 2022

p.7

Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

p.7

Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

p.7

Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

p.7

Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

p.7

Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; 12 January 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC393940 8 the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

p.7

Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

p.8

Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

p.8

Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

p.8

Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

p.8

Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

p.8

Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

p.8

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

p.8

Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

p.8

Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)) 12 January 2022

p.8

Recommendation

 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: SC393940 9

p.8

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: SC393940 10

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Potton Homes Limited

p.10

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 Rayns Way, Syston, Leicester LE7 1PF

p.10

Inspector

Cathy Russell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC393940 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.

p.10

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.11