Children's home run by Beacon Childcare Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2546172 1 Registered provider: Beacon Childcare Limited 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 private organisation and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who have suffered early childhood trauma and have associated emotional and behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in November 2019. The registered manager is experienced and holds the level 5 diploma in leadership and management.

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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 for children’s home: 2546172 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/04/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2546172 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living at the home. They have developed positive and trusting relationships with staff. They are happy and enjoy time with staff and other children. Children and staff have positive relationships that are developed through informal talks, for example in the kitchen, on the way to school or in structured key-work sessions. The home is comfortable and has a safe and homely feel. The children choose the decoration for their bedrooms. As a result, the children see this as their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Because of the good support that they receive from staff, children make good progress from their starting points. There is a strong focus on ensuring that children have a structured daily routine and children learn appropriate social boundaries, develop life skills, access education and keep well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made good progress with their education. Each child is attending a provision that is suited to their needs. There is very good daily communication between the home and teachers, which supports children’s learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. They have access to local health services and attend routine appointments. Children take part in a variety of recreational activities. They particularly enjoy playing in the renovated garden, with its trampoline and football goals. Children benefit from participating in activities in the community. Enjoying a variety of activities enables children to develop confidence and feel integrated into the wider community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work very closely with the children’s families. They ensure that there is positive family time when children meet with family members. Staff treat the children and their families with respect and sensitivity. For example, one child was being supported by staff to attend the funeral of a close relative.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are actively involved in the day-to-day running of the home and in decisions about their care. They are helped to make choices that shape their lives and their experiences of living at the home. This helps children to feel valued and listened to. Children have individual meetings with staff. The children share their views and feelings about important issues in their lives. Staff also regularly meet with the children at group meetings. This ensures that the well-being of each child and their views remain at the centre of life at the home.

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

Children say that they feel safe in this home. Staff and managers know the children well. Risks are identified early on and responded to well. Staff help children to think about risk and what it means for them, and they also learn how to keep themselves safe.

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

Children say that they can speak to staff or managers if they have concerns or worries. The manager has a good understanding of what action to take should an allegation of Inspection report for children’s home: 2546172 4 harm be made by a child against a member of staff. The manager understands the role of the local authority designated officer and the procedures of the organisation. This helps to safeguard children

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

Children living at the home now do not have risks associated with drugs, alcohol or self- harming behaviour. Nor do they go missing from home. One child who has recently moved on from the home was having frequent missing episodes and threatening to self- harm. Staff responded appropriately to these concerns and supported the child at hospital and with emergency service intervention when this was needed. Ultimately, the staff could not meet the child’s increasing needs safely and the child needed to move on. A well-planned transition took place to support the child move into their next placement. Despite the child having to move on sooner than anticipated, they made marked progress during their time in the home with their health and education.

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

Staff are aware of changes in children’s behaviour that may indicate that a child is not coping. Restraint is rarely used. However, the manager has good oversight of all incidents and involves external professionals, if required. The manager ensures that all those involved in restraint incidents are given the opportunity to have a debrief. This helps staff and children to make sense of these incidents and identify any learning to take forward.

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

Regular checks and risk assessments take place regarding health and safety in the home. These are subject to monitoring by the registered manager. However, a review of the suitability of the location of the home and local area risks has not included consultation with key local agencies, such as the police and the safeguarding partnership. The lack of up-to-date local knowledge undermines the effectiveness of this risk assessment.

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

The home is tidy, clean and overall well maintained by staff. However, the bathrooms need some minor refurbishment. In one, the flooring is cracked and in another the shower sealant needs replacing. Managers took immediate action to address these areas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This home is led by a dedicated, knowledgeable and committed manager who has high aspirations for each child. The manager has a positive working relationship with staff and they speak positively about her. The manager and staff have worked to develop a very positive culture in the home. They prioritise the children’s needs effectively and place children at the centre of their care practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates for children’s rights and works positively with families to understand important decisions children make about their lives. The manager ensures that there is open communication with all those involved in children’s lives. She promotes children’s needs and is not afraid to challenge and escalate concerns when needed. One social worker commented: ‘The manager is friendly, professional and communication is excellent.’ Good partnership arrangements with a wide range of agencies and professionals benefit children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2546172 5 There have been changes in the staff team. Staffing has been an issue and the manager and staff have worked additional hours to maintain continuity of care for children. Recent recruitment activity means that there is now a larger staff team, albeit some staff are sessional workers. However, there are sufficient qualified and trained staff to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

meet the children’s needs. Recruitment has been challenging for managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel valued and well supported, both professionally and personally. They benefit from reflective supervision, regular team meetings, a wide range of training, structured induction and good-quality appraisals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff are well supported with a thorough induction. Core staff undertake good- quality training specific to children’s needs. For example, all staff have undertaken bereavement training, which has enabled them to have the skills to support a child. However, some sessional staff have not yet completed some training courses allocated to them. The manager took action to start to address this immediately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is very ambitious for each child. She is aware of the current strengths and weaknesses in the home. She has a clear development plan for the staff and the home. This plan is shared with and contributed to by the team and wider management. She is very proud of the progress each child has made and she is committed to this continuing and there is good capacity to further improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirement and recommendations raised at the last inspection have been met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2546172 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 registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that the review includes feedback from relevant people. 31 July 2022

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. This relates to the bathrooms being refurbished. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. This relates to ensuring that bank staff have received important training to meet children’s needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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) Inspection report for children’s home: 2546172 7 Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2546172 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beacon Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 28 Phoenix Business Park, Avenue Close, Aston, Birmingham B7 4NU

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Inspector

James Tallis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2546172 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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