Children's home run by De Novo Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 1277584 1 Registered provider: De Novo Care Ltd Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home provides care for up to three children who may have emotional and social needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since the beginning of January 2021, and registered with Ofsted in April 2021.

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Inspection date: 6 January 2022

Date of last inspection: 8 September 2021

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Inspection date: 6 January 2022

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 6 January 2022

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1277584 2

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

At this interim inspection, Ofsted judged that it has sustained effectiveness.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last full inspection, there have been two incidents of restraint at the home. The inspector found these to be proportionate to the situation and staff tried hard to calm the situation to avoid the need to physically intervene. Physical interventions are well recorded, with timely management oversight and debriefs provided to both children and staff.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager in the home has created an effective safeguarding log to ensure that a full overview of concerns is logged for one child. Safeguarding concerns are well recognised and shared with relevant professionals to provide a multi-agency safeguarding response. The manager has made the decision that these concerns do not require notification to Ofsted at this time.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff team have worked hard to improve on the individual support plans for each of the two children currently living in the home. Both children now have accessible and personalised plans for them to understand their plans and the care they receive. However, the plans available to staff are extremely lengthy, while very detailed. This means that they are difficult to navigate and are not user- friendly. It is difficult for staff to be able to extract the information they need quickly and with ease.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, one member of staff has left, and other staff have been appointed. The staff, while committed, are new to the home and some are inexperienced. The inspector found that the staff are challenged by the children’s behaviours and this has resulted in some undesirable practice, such as in food being stored in an office and on one occasion the electricity being turned off when behaviours were already escalating.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager is aware of the need to build the team’s confidence and competence when facing challenge and has introduced skill sharing and learning within team meetings. Team identity has also been identified as important to establish, particularly with a new team.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, the home has not used any agency staff. Therefore, the requirement about the safer recruitment of agency staff raised at the last inspection remains untested. The recruitment of agency staff will be reviewed at future inspections should they be used. Two new permanent team members have been recruited, which leaves one vacancy for a carer and a vacancy for a deputy manager. Safer recruitment practices of permanent staff are satisfactory. Inspection report for children’s home: 1277584 3 The manager told the inspector that there are no plans for any more children to move into the home until the staff team is more established. The two children who were living in the home at the time of the full inspection remain in the home. Therefore, there have been no planned or unplanned endings for children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager is proactively working with partner agencies and advocating for one child’s education. The other child is attending school full time and there are no concerns for their education.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home continues to provide a homely and relaxed environment for the children. Rapport between children and staff was jovial and respectful. There are areas of the home that are evidently functional, such as the summer house at the bottom of the garden, which the children do not access. However, the manager plans to use this space to create a dedicated child-friendly area, such as a home cinema with a library corner. Inspection report for children’s home: 1277584 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/08/2019 Full Good 29/01/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1277584 5

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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, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s risk assessments are reviewed and followed. Ensure that these risk assessments clearly set out the steps staff need to take to protect children from harm. 11 April 2022

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. 11 April 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1277584 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

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

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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)(c)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff have the necessary skills and experience to meet children’s individual needs. In addition, learning from incidents should be put in place quickly to avoid similar incidents being repeated.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children are suitably matched to the skills and experience of staff, to prevent sudden and unplanned placement endings. 11 April 2022

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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 for children’s home: 1277584 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bank Green House, Fox Lane, Holmesfield, Dronfield, Derbyshire S18 7WG

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Inspector

Katie Ratcliffe, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1277584 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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