Children's Home run by Compass Children‟s Homes Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report for children’s home: 2660064 1 Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company. It provides care for up to four children who have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma that has left them vulnerable.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in December 2021. This is the home’s first full inspection since its registration.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered at the same time as the home in December 2021.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2660064 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home. Another child moved on from the home in March 2022. Although the move was not planned, it met her welfare and safety needs. The child has maintained communication with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff attend education meetings to advocate for children. Staff provide opportunities for children to learn informally, such as visiting historic monuments and working towards vocational qualifications. The child who is living at the home has returned to school. Staff support the child to make progress towards achieving her educational potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to attend health appointments. They help children to understand their health needs and make positive decisions about their emotional, physical and sexual health. Consequently, the child at the home has stopped smoking and has accessed support for her emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff enable children to spend time with their families. This helps children to maintain relationships with people who are important to them and supports emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to be independent by developing their self-care and social skills. The child, who requires a high level of supervision, is being supported to make safe decisions. This is helping to prepare her with the skills to live independently when she reaches adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has been able to personalise her bedroom, which helps her to feel comfortable and express her individuality. However, staff are not actively supporting the child to keep her bedroom clean and tidy. At the time of the inspection, the toilet had limescale build-up, furniture drawers were broken, the wardrobe door had been written on and the window had condensation between the panes. This does not provide a nurturing environment or encourage the child to have pride in her home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a lack of clarity in recording non-prescribed medication. This caused confusion in the administration of medication on one occasion.

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

Staff understand the risks for children and regularly review their risk assessments. Staff can recognise when children may want to self-harm and respond to them sensitively. This has encouraged children to feel confident to talk about how they are feeling.

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

There have been five physical interventions since December 2021. The physical interventions have reduced the risk of children being sexually exploited. Staff speak Inspection report for children’s home: 2660064 3 with children about why they have been physically restrained and encourage them to share their views. This helps staff to learn from children’s views to improve the quality of their care.

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

Staff attend multi-agency meetings to review children’s safety needs. This ensures that support for children reflects their current needs.

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

Staff have a good understanding of whistle-blowing and safeguarding procedures. They spoke confidently about the process for reporting safeguarding concerns to managers and external agencies.

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

Staff have developed good working relationships with the local authority designated officer and the police. The police are aware of the risks to the children and have visited the home to build positive relationships with them.

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

The child who lives at the home currently has been missing from the home on two occasions between January 2022 and May 2022. The child was missing during the inspection. Staff’s communication with professionals was effective in sharing information about the child’s location. The social worker said that incidents of the child going missing from home have significantly decreased, which has reduced the risk of harm to her.

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

Staff encourage consistent boundaries and understand the effects of negative peer relationships for children. However, following an incident between the child at the home and the child who has moved on, staff failed to help them to rebuild their relationship. This does not help children to develop their social skills or understand how their behaviours may affect others.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and is working towards a relevant level 5 diploma. She is valued by staff, who benefit from her support and leadership. Staff are skilled in their roles and have undertaken training such as managing self-harm, physical intervention, child sexual exploitation and going missing from home. The staff are either qualified to level 3 or enrolled on a relevant qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A quality and safeguarding team has recently been established by senior managers to support the manager to develop effective monitoring systems. Internal monitoring provides effective oversight of staff practice and the quality of the children’s care. Managers address shortfalls from the independent person’s reports swiftly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff meet regularly with a therapist to reflect on the children’s needs. This has helped staff to better understand the children and respond to them effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel supported by managers. Supervision is regular and provides staff with the opportunity to share any concerns that they have, discuss their professional development and reflect on the needs of children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2660064 4 Staff participate in regular team meetings. The meetings provide a forum for staff to discuss children’s needs and share practice experiences. This has helped staff to develop their practice and provide consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal investigations are thorough and consider the safety and welfare needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Care plans are clear; however, some information relating to the emotional well-being of a child has not been updated. This does not provide staff with all the information that they need to care for the children effectively. Inspection report for children’s home: 2660064 5

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children are supported to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy, that the toilet is cleaned, and that furniture is replaced in the child’s bedroom. Also, ensure that any repairs are made promptly. 30 May 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff accurately administer and record non-prescription medication. 30 May 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand and help children to understand what makes a healthy, nurturing relationship. In particular, ensure that staff support children who live together to understand conflict and build positive relationships. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.10)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, ensure that children’s care plans are up to date Inspection report for children’s home: 2660064 6 to reflect the current needs of the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2660064 7

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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: 2660064 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Laraine Edmondson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2660064 9 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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