Children's Home run by Ivory Cottage Limited in Warwickshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2586067 1 Registered provider: Ivory Cottage 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 up 4 to children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager and responsible individual are in the process of submitting their applications to register with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 1 February 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 20 April 2022, a monitoring visit was undertaken in response to concerns shared with Ofsted. A compliance notice was issued under Regulation 32. The provider’s progress in meeting the steps set out in that notice have been reviewed as part of this full inspection. The compliance notice has been assessed has having been met. Inspection report children’s home: 2586067 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/02/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2586067 3

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improvement to be good

Since the monitoring visit in April 2022, one child has moved out of the home. Three children are currently living at the home.

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improvement to be good

Children’s placement plans do not support staff to understand how to meet children’s needs. This is because the plans do not contain up-to-date information or reflect the progress that children have made. Furthermore, one child does not have a placement plan despite living at the home for over three months. This hinders staff’s ability to provide children with the best possible care.

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improvement to be good

Staff’s awareness of children’s needs is further restricted by the absence of essential information from partner agencies, including the children’s placing local authorities. For example, in some instances, children’s most recent personal education plan and child in care review are not in their files.

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improvement to be good

Children are given opportunities to provide feedback about how they feel and to share their views about the quality of care they receive. Despite this good practice, managers do not always provide written feedback to the children to acknowledge their views and explain how they will address their concerns. This can leave children feeling that their views are not listened to and acted on.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are met and understood. Children attend all routine and specialist health appointments. Children are making progress with their health. For example, one child who suffered with nocturnal enuresis is now dry at night. For this child, this is significant progress.

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improvement to be good

All three children attend school and are making progress. One child is currently undertaking her exams and is expected to achieve high grades. A teacher informed the inspector that staff are very proactive and responsive to the child’s educational needs.

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improvement to be good

The inspector observed positive relationships between children and the staff. The children enjoy spending time with the staff and spoke positively about the activities they have done together. For example, two of the children were excited to show the inspector their memory books, which were full of photographs of the children and staff together.

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improvement to be good

The home is well maintained, comfortable and homely. Staff have supported children to make their bedrooms comfortable and to personalise them. Inspection report children’s home: 2586067 4

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improvement to be good

Staff know the children well and understand their vulnerabilities. However, the children’s risk assessments and behaviour support plans are not reflective of all known risks and are not updated when new risks emerge. For example, one child’s risk assessment had not been updated for over three months despite concerns raised around their mobile phone use. The lack of diligence in updating risk assessments has the potential to compromise children’s safety.

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improvement to be good

In general, staff are effective at supporting children with their behaviours. When children are feeling upset, staff use different methods, such as humour, to support children to manage their feelings. As a result, physical interventions are rarely used. When physical interventions are used, children are not debriefed afterwards. This is a missed opportunity for children’s wishes and feelings to be heard and to discuss with the children why a physical intervention was needed. Similarly, staff are not routinely spoken to or debriefed following incidents requiring physical interventions. This means that, in some instances, leaders fail to provide staff with adequate guidance and learning.

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improvement to be good

In general, managers respond well to allegations and work alongside the relevant professionals to keep children safe. However, the manager’s investigation into one allegation was not sufficient. Furthermore, actions set at a position of trust meeting had not been undertaken. During the inspection, steps were taken to address this matter.

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improvement to be good

All staff have been safely recruited to ensure that children are only cared for by staff who are suitable to do so.

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good

Since 4 March 2022, the home has been without a registered manager. There have been two further changes of manager. The current manager has been in post since 6 June 2022 but has not yet applied to Ofsted to be registered. The manager is suitably qualified, is child-focused and has a clear vision for the home. However, the manager has not yet embedded an effective monitoring system to identify and make the required improvements.

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good

The absence of a registered manager and the change of responsible individual have contributed to the variable quality of care provided to children. This issue has been compounded by recent changes to the staffing team, which has meant that agency staff have, at times, been required.

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good

There has also been a recent change of responsible individual. The new responsible individual has not formally notified Ofsted of their appointment. Although relatively Inspection report children’s home: 2586067 5 new in post, the responsible individual has had a positive impact on the home and shares the manager’s vision for how to continue to make improvements.

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good

The responsible individual is open and honest about the barriers the home and staff team have faced. He is committed to supporting the manager in improving the quality of care for children. The responsible individual has taken the necessary steps to address the compliance notice raised at the monitoring visit in April 2022. Some requirements have been met in full. However, further improvements are still required with regards to the leadership and management in the home.

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good

Staff, including agency staff who work at the home on a regular basis, have not had regular supervision. This means that these staff are not provided with an opportunity to ensure that they are supporting children to receive better outcomes. Furthermore, staff have not received an annual appraisal. This means that staff have missed opportunities to receive feedback about their performance.

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good

The staff team is positive about the recent changes that have been implemented following the change of manager and responsible individual. Staff said that they increasingly feel supported and valued. One member of staff told the inspector that the home now feels more settled and is a happier place to work.

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good

The staff team has undertaken training in specific matters that are relevant to the needs of children living in the home. This contributes to staff’s developing skills and knowledge. Inspection report children’s home: 2586067 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff keeping risk assessments and behaviour management plans up to date to reflect all known risks. In addition, it relates to allegations being investigated appropriately. 25 July 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

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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)) 25 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— 25 July 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2586067 7 receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home;

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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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed; (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(ii)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children having updated plans that are reflective of their needs.

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Requirement Due date

satisfy the requirements in paragraph (5)(a) to (c); and

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 27 (7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the responsible individual submitting his application to register with Ofsted in a timely manner. 25 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff having annual appraisals. 25 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that children’s records are kept up to date. 25 July 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2586067 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are able to see how their views are listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that records of restraint are kept and that these records enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure that it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained is given the opportunity express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking

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Recommendations

the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of restraint (regulation 35(3)(c)). Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2586067 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ivory Cottage Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Skytax, 37th Floor, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AA

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Inspector

Lydia Isaac, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2586067 10 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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