Children's Home run by Esland North Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report children’s home: 1245565 1 Registered provider: Esland North 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 a maximum of three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The post for a registered manager is currently vacant.

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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

Date of last inspection: 15 February 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the last inspection in February 2022, a compliance notice relating to safeguarding practice was imposed. The home’s actions in response to the notice have been reviewed as part of this inspection. Inspection report children’s home: 1245565 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 22/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/06/2018 Full Good 13/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: 1245565 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, significant improvement has been achieved. As a result, children are safer and have better experiences in the home. A compliance notice, set at the previous inspection, has been fully addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team engages particularly effectively with children who have previously had poor experiences in residential care or whose previous placements have ended in an unplanned way. Staff are resilient and determined. As a result, children quickly recognise that they are valued and cherished by staff. Children often make meaningful progress in a relatively short length of time after moving to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The management and staff have worked hard to help children overcome barriers to learning. Clear plans are in place to support children into full-time education. Children have engaged well with in-house education. This helps them to become more confident in their skills and abilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. Any physical, emotional or mental health needs are responded to promptly. Children are starting to build secure attachments with staff. These relationships enable children to express their feelings and regulate their behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are listened to and respected. Children feel able to talk to staff and managers about any issues they might have as they know that they will be taken seriously. Staff respond positively to requests from children and always take time to explain the reasons why a request cannot be granted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of interesting, enjoyable and stimulating activities in the home and in the community. These experiences help to improve children’s confidence, self-esteem and social skills.

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

Children’s risk assessments and risk management plans have significantly improved. They are now detailed and provide clear guidance for staff on how to protect children. Risk management strategies are now reflected in staff training. As a result, training now equips staff with the skills to manage potentially harmful situations.

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

Behaviour management strategies are effective. Staff support children to develop safer and more appropriate behaviours. Children receive consistent responses from the staff team. As a result, the number of times that staff have needed to physically restrain children has reduced markedly.

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

Children go missing from the home much less often over time. When children do go missing, staff respond quickly and appropriately to ensure that there is a well- Inspection report children’s home: 1245565 4 coordinated approach. For example, when a child recently went missing from the home, staff worked closely with the police and the local train station to ensure that the child was quickly located and returned safely. There is a clear learning culture in the team. Staff review and adapt their practice after each missing-from-home incident.

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

Health and safety issues are responded to without delay. Previous shortfalls identified have led to additional maintenance staff being appointed. This means that repairs are now carried out more quickly.

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

Incidents and allegations have been appropriately reported to placing local authorities, the designated officer for safeguarding and Ofsted. Managers maintain detailed chronologies of safeguarding incidents and have proactively followed up any delay in information-sharing by agencies. Managers undertake lessons-learned exercises where appropriate. As a result, safeguarding practice is continually improving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s position is currently vacant. The home is being managed by the deputy manager, who receives support from the organisation’s senior management team. Together, they have provided consistent leadership and guidance to staff, which have previously been lacking. Better performance management systems have improved the standards of care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New management monitoring systems have been implemented. These have resulted in improved quality assurance by managers. However, the new systems are not yet embedded. As a result, some minor shortfalls in practice are still not being identified and addressed quickly enough.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The standard of recording about children in the home has significantly improved. The language used about children is now positive and respectful. It shows that staff understand children’s needs and want to celebrate children’s achievements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have established very good working relationships with partner agencies. This is a key strength of the home. Feedback from social workers is positive. One social worker said, ‘The home is very good and works to a high standard, with good management oversight. I couldn’t ask for more.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive good, supportive supervision that enables them to reflect on their practice. Staff feel valued and are confident in their roles. Supervision is used effectively to build and improve the resilience of staff. Consequently, they respond to the demands of their role well. The resilience of staff enables them to deliver high-quality care to children who move into the home in an emergency and who have very complex needs. One staff member said, ‘I couldn’t ask for better support. Managers have worked closely with us to get the home back to where it needs to be.’ Inspection report children’s home: 1245565 5 All staff members are either qualified or enrolled on courses to become qualified. Staff have undertaken a range of training since the last inspection. The training package for staff has been improved so that it can be quickly adapted to meet the changing needs of children. Inspection report children’s home: 1245565 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 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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the need to further embed new management monitoring systems. 30 May 2022

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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: 1245565 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Esland Limited, Suites 1 and 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1245565 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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