Children's home run by Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: SC402370 1 SC402370 Registered provider: Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned home with a school on the same site. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision at this school.

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to 54 children aged between nine and 17. Twenty-seven children were living at this home at the time of the inspection. Many of the children have emotional and social needs, and some children have additional needs.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 7 December 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Considering the identified shortfalls at the previous inspection, Ofsted reimposed a restriction notice which prevents new admissions to the home.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Ofsted carried out two monitoring visits prior to this full inspection. Due to progress being made in relation to the safety of children, the restriction notice was lifted on 22 February 2022. Inspection report for children’s home: SC402370 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/12/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/10/2021 Full Inadequate 23/07/2019 Full Outstanding 13/08/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC402370 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has been through a difficult period since the last full inspection in December 2021. However, improvements are evident in the care of children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they are very happy in this home. They like the staff and one child said that he feels loved. Another said: ‘Staff are nice, and the house is brilliant.’ The children are looking forward to a trip to Paris later in the year.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is much improved. New furniture is more robust, and the houses are looking more homely. Significant work has been carried out to ensure that children are safer within the extensive grounds of the home. It is now a home that children feel proud of.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Records about children have much improved and are a lot more child-friendly. However, language used by staff in the records can be stigmatising. Children have repeated this language in records they have contributed to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported well to attend school and they are making good progress. Some children said that they really like the school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a good range of activities. These activities are risk-assessed appropriately. Children particularly enjoy going on trips to the coast and theme parks. They also enjoy using the sports hall to play basketball. They like cycling, accessing the field to play football, baking and playing on their gaming consoles.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to explore their own culture, as well as others, with regard to preferred foods, beliefs and identity. For example, a child talked about being able to cook African food and shop for the ingredients. He said that he enjoys this. This contributes to children from a variety of different backgrounds getting along with each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to see the people who are important to them. Staff keep parents informed about the progress their child is making. Generally, parents are positive about the care of their children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, new children have been welcomed to the home. Staff ensure that children moving to the home are well prepared. A parent commented on how her daughter was welcomed to the home. This included seeking the child’s views about how she wanted her room to be decorated prior to her moving in. Inspection report for children’s home: SC402370 4

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding practice has improved since the last inspection. However, some procedures need to be managed more effectively. Examples of this are in the quality of allegation management, and in how procedures are reviewed following incidents.

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improvement to be good

Risk management has improved. Managers and staff understand the risks posed to and by children. Children’s risk assessments are detailed and provide good information for staff. Historical risks are well considered, where appropriate, in current risk assessments. Children are supported to take part in activities that are commensurate with their age and stage of development.

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improvement to be good

Incidents of bullying and sexually harmful behaviour have significantly reduced. Leaders and managers have worked hard to promote a safer and more positive culture in the home. Staff training and better supervision of children, particularly when they are accessing the grounds, has helped this.

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improvement to be good

Incidents of children who go missing from the home are reducing. When children do go missing, staff follow multi-agency agreed procedures well. For example, staff search for children and work with other agencies to ensure the safe return of children. This means that children feel cared for and are safer.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported well to manage their emotions. For example, the home’s nurse has carried out research on self-harm and has implemented support plans regarding the children who self-harm. This is a thorough and comprehensive piece of work. The implementation of the support plans has helped children to manage their emotions better. Staff now have a better understanding about the indicators of low mood and associated risk of self-harm. Staff have devised strategies that they can implement to address self-injurious behaviour. Furthermore, children have contributed to their support plans, adding what they believe are their triggers and what strategies work for them. Consequently, incidents of self-harm are reducing.

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improvement to be good

Children have trusted adults they can talk to. Staff form nurturing, warm relationships with children. This supports children to feel safe and secure.

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good

The registered manager is new to his post but has been working at the home for many years. He is studying towards the relevant management qualification. He has worked tirelessly to meet the requirements from previous inspections. Clear improvements have been made, but some shortfalls remain. Internal audits have also identified that there are further improvements to be made.

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good

The safeguarding of children has improved. However, safeguarding procedures are not yet robust. For example, a child made a serious allegation of physical harm against a member of staff following an incident. Leaders and managers have taken Inspection report for children’s home: SC402370 5 some steps to ensure the safety of children after this incident and allegation. However, the process of managing allegations against staff lacked rigour and professional curiosity during the investigation. Also, risk assessments allowing a member of staff to return to work, ahead of the conclusion of investigations, have not been kept under constant formal review.

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good

Furthermore, a serious safeguarding incident occurred involving a member of staff’s mobile phone. Once the incident came to light, it was managed well. However, the learning from this incident has not become embedded in practice.

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good

Staff are passionate about working with children at this home. Staff have a good induction, and they feel well supported. Staff have good training opportunities that help them to have a better understanding of the children in their care.

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good

Staff feel very well supported and supervision is taking place regularly. However, managers do not currently have reflective conversations with staff that feed into their development plans.

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good

External professionals, and some parents, say that they struggle to get through to speak to a member of staff or their child on the phone. The registered manager is starting to address this, but it is not yet fully resolved.

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good

The registered manager has an in-depth understanding of the children’s needs, and he cares about their safety and well-being. He recognises that the home is on a journey of improvement, and he has plans to support gradual development of the service. Inspection report for children’s home: SC402370 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

This relates to staff and managers being more professionally curious and assertive with external professionals about the accuracy and quality of information provided. 15 August 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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that family members and external professionals can contact staff easily. 15 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC402370 7 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.

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that managers evidence learning from incidents, including safeguarding incidents, to prevent similar incidents happening again. It also refers to the need to ensure that risk assessments about staff are kept under constant review. 15 August 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff supervision 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)  The registered person should ensure that staff record information about individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: SC402370 8

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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: SC402370 9

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8 Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2FX

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Inspectors

Joanne Vyas, Social Care Inspector Laura Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC402370 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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