Children's home run by Barnardo’s in Redbridge

Inspection report for children’s home: SC025940 1 SC025940 Registered provider: Barnardo’s Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a national charity. It is registered to provide care for up to six children. The home’s statement of purpose confirms that the home provides care and accommodation for children who have learning disabilities. The home’s method of delivering care incorporates the principles of social pedagogy. The home was registered in November 1992. The home was temporarily closed for refurbishment in December 2020 and reopened in June 2021. A new manager has been appointed and they have submitted an application to register with Ofsted. At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the 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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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be 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: 19 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC025940 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 01/05/2019 Full Good 16/01/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 31/05/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC025940 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide a bespoke, nurturing and aspirational service that enables the child to thrive. Staff demonstrate a strong commitment to promoting the best possible outcomes. The child describes their care as ‘brilliant’ and states that they ‘love it here’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide focused and child-centred care. There is a commitment to providing a child-led service, which enables the child to contribute to their daily logs and activities through to meal planning. The child is also supported to research suitable local activities for them to enjoy with their parents when they visit.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively help the child to focus on their abilities. This involves working together on care planning and goal setting. Staff have assisted the child to create a vision board which innovatively details their wishes and plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure the child enjoys trips out in the local community and to attractions, such as Legoland. In the home, the child can relax in the sensory room. They also enjoy being out in the garden, spending time on the swing, playing basketball, swing ball, football and trampolining.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to develop their independent living skills. The child is learning to take responsibility for budgeting their money, meal planning, online grocery shopping and their laundry. The child also assists with cooking and other household chores.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers actively advocate for the child. They encourage the child to contribute to the organisation and to influence change. The child has written a self- reflection essay regarding their experiences of being in residential care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff effectively manage the child’s health needs. Staff appropriately store and administer medication. The child also receives encouragement to follow a healthy lifestyle, which includes snacking on fruit and participating in regular exercise.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the child to develop a positive identity and respect the diversity of others. Staff challenge racist and unpleasant comments. Staff also provide educational opportunities through celebrating events, for example Black History Month and Eid.

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

One social worker describes the home as a ‘great placement’. Staff sensitively manage the child’s deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS) order. All restrictions are thoughtfully explained to the child, which enables them to accept their current situation. Inspection report for children’s home: SC025940 4 Staff are highly responsive to the child’s complex needs. The high staffing levels and positive interventions enable staff to swiftly de-escalate potential incidents.

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

Staff have a good, consistent behaviour management strategy. Staff produce purposeful and detailed risk assessments and behavioural support plans. These documents clearly detail the child’s difficulties, triggers, early warning signs and the proactive and reactive strategies that staff should deploy.

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

Staff have creatively involved the child in the development of their personalised behaviour management system. For example, the staff have taken the child’s love of football and created a yellow and red card system. This effectively works alongside the reward system, which enables the child to earn meaningful treats and certificates.

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

Staff have enabled the child to reflect and learn to positively manage their feelings. A parent described staff as ‘firm but fair’. The child proudly told the inspector that, ‘I have improved a lot.’

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

Health and safety certificates confirm the safety of the premises. Staff carry out regular health and safety checks. Consequently, the premises remain safe.

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

The home has good safeguarding arrangements, which include links to the host authority safeguarding personnel. The high staffing ratio ensures the safety of the child.

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good

It has been a challenging time for the home due to the inability to recruit permanent staff. Currently, the only permanent staff members are the manager and the senior project worker. Alongside the managers, the service has been maintained by a dedicated and resilient team of bank and agency staff.

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good

Although the bank staff are experienced, they have not benefited from an effective induction, regular supervision and regular team meetings.

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good

Leaders and managers state that bank staff have had ongoing training. However, training records do not consistently detail all of their completed training. Bank staff feel that they would benefit from receiving further training to enhance their skills and knowledge. The senior project worker has not received any leadership and management training.

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good

The child’s parent and involved professionals praise the staff team and describe the staff as ‘fantastic, helpful and understanding’.

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good

Leaders and managers are aware of the service’s strengths and the areas for development. There is a good capacity to further improve. Future plans focus on Inspection report for children’s home: SC025940 5 taking a blended model of care that is based in social pedagogy and includes trauma-informed research and attachment theory principles.

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good

The organisation’s partnership arrangements benefit children. Charitable donations have enabled the funding of a new sensory room and the air hockey table. The home has also benefited from the generosity of a well-known international furniture company.

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good

The requirements and recommendation from the last inspection have been addressed. There is an effective working relationship with parents which is transparent, empathetic and respectful. The child lives in a generally well-maintained home. The only issue is a broken drawer and a small area of peeled paint in a child’s bedroom. Inspection report for children’s home: SC025940 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of discipline in relation to a child in the home, a record is made;

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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"); and

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(b)(i)) 28 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

Any person who carries on or manages an establishment or agency of any description without being registered under this Part in respect of it shall be guilty of an offence. (Regulation 11 (1) Care Standards Act 2000)

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the appointed manager must apply to register with Ofsted. 28 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction. (Regulation 33 (1) (a)) 28 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; and

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 28 February 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they provide a homely, domestic environment. In particular, repair or replace the broken drawer in a chest of Inspection report for children’s home: SC025940 7 drawers and repaint the peeled paintwork on a bedroom wall. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should have a workforce plan. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure appropriate opportunities are available for each child to have fun and form friendships. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 32, paragraph 6.10)

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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: SC025940 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Barnardo’s, Tanners Lane, Barkingside, Ilford IG6 1QG

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Inspector

Sharon Payne, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC025940 9 regulates and inspects 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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