Children's Home run by Castle Homes Limited in Bromley

Inspection report children’s home: SC419334 1 SC419334 Registered provider: Castle 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 home provides care for up to four children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in November 2010. The manager registered in June 2021.

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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 23 February 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC419334 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/07/2019 Full Good 20/11/2018 Full Good 22/11/2017 Full Good 28/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC419334 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and well supported by a warm and nurturing registered manager and staff team. The home and staff are friendly, dynamic and very welcoming. These factors help children to build close and trusting relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children make good progress from their individual starting points and achieve stability in the home. There are good systems in place to track and evidence the progress made by each child. Practice is strong and child focused. However, one child’s case records lack important documents, such as the local authority care plan and looked after children’s review record. Potentially, this could have an impact on staff’s ability to care for the child effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The managers and staff advocate effectively for children. A dedicated staff member who specialises in children’s education relentlessly liaised with a placing authority to ensure that one child received the educational service he required. Despite the efforts of the staff member, this child’s educational needs are still not met. A formal complaint has been made to the placing authority about the lack of progress in meeting the child’s educational needs. This child’s access to life-story work and therapeutic support has not progressed either. The managers are communicating with relevant professionals to progress this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported creatively during the pandemic. For example, key-work sessions named ‘My 2020 COVID-19 time capsules’ have given children opportunities to explore feelings, manage anxiety and stay positive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities and outings. There are lots of photos showing children enjoying the activities and outings over the years. These will help to prepare memory books for children when they leave the home as well as provide social workers with tools for life-story work.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home completes surveys to obtain children’s wishes and feelings. Children’s voice is well evidenced in care plans and key-work sessions. Children also find opportunities to express themselves during house meetings. This helps staff to understand and support children more effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported to learn and develop their independent living skills during frequent key-work sessions which cover various topics. The children who have transitioned to semi-independent living still stay in touch with the manager and staff at the home. This shows that the home provides a secure base for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children spend regular time with their families where appropriate. Family members and former carers have expressed their appreciation for the staff, who provide good care and support for the children. Inspection report children’s home: SC419334 4

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

Children live in a safe home environment, and safeguarding practice at the home is strong. The staff understand and address risks to children, including offending behaviour, bullying, going missing from home, gang affiliation and exploitation. This is well evidenced in key-work sessions.

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

Risk management plans are of good quality and reflect children’s individual needs and the potential triggers for challenging behaviour. The risk management plans help staff to identify, manage and reduce risk. However, children’s risk assessments are not always updated with the most recent information following the incidents or the measures implemented to prevent their occurrence. The registered manager acknowledges that this is an area that needs to be improved.

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

The staff skilfully understand and support children to find ways to address difficult behaviours. Behaviour support plans appropriately identify how children should be managed. The guidance available for staff promotes consistent and positive care for children. The staff give children clear messages to reinforce boundaries and positive behaviour. As a result, incidents are reduced.

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

Restraint is only used when required to keep children safe. Incident records are detailed and provide a clear description of what happened and what action was taken by staff to manage the incident.

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

Staff have completed safeguarding training and know how to respond to safeguarding concerns. When concerns arise, these are shared with the relevant professionals. This ensures that children are safeguarded effectively.

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

The registered manager understands the procedures to be followed when an allegation is made against a member of staff. All allegations and complaints are investigated appropriately.

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

Safer recruitment and employment practices ensure that staff are suitably vetted. This prevents unsuitable people from working at the home and helps to ensure the safety of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders, managers and staff strive to make a positive difference to children’s lives. The registered manager and the deputy manager run the home effectively. They are present and readily available to support children and staff. Strong, child-centred leadership in the home helps children to progress and stay safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for improvement. Recruitment of more permanent staff and refurbishment of the home are the areas that the registered manager is working to improve. This will Inspection report children’s home: SC419334 5 bring more consistency and stability for children and provide a better environment for them to live in.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that they feel well supported and valued by leaders and managers. Leaders and managers are available and approachable, and staff receive regular training and supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have supported staff effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff are dedicated to the children and have stayed with them during periods when they have been required to self-isolate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person’s monthly monitoring reports do not include feedback from families. The manager’s quality of care reports do not evidence the views of children, parents, staff and professionals. This limits the effectiveness of independent and management oversight and the development of the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC419334 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of 28 February 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC419334 7 exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(x)(b))

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that risk assessments are up to date and reflect the details of the incidents and measures put in place. 31 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a 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. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)) 31 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c) (5)) 31 January 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC419334 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff play a full role in undertaking life- story work or other direct work. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)  The registered person should ensure that children receive a particular type of care, treatment or intervention, for example therapy relating to neglect or abuse, when needed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.15)  The registered person should ensure that any placing authority is challenged to provide a complete and current relevant plan. In particular, the home should ensure that case files contain up-to-date looked after children care plans from the placing authority. This will inform care planning for the children concerned. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.5)

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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: SC419334 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Castle Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Fifth Floor, 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Victoria Wallace

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Sheila Powell-Doyley

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Inspector

Gulcin Ardic, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC419334 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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