Children's Home run by St Christopher’s Fellowship in Ealing

Inspection report for children’s home: SC459857 1 SC459857 Registered provider: St Christopher’s Fellowship Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is run by a children’s charity. The provider states in its statement of purpose that is provides care for up to six children who have emotional, social and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home has two additional emergency beds.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2020.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC459857 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/03/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/10/2019 Full Good 13/08/2018 Full Good 30/08/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC459857 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the overall experiences and progress of children living in the home have been mixed.

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improvement to be good

Children’s educational outcomes are variable. During the inspection, none of the children who should have attended school did. Furthermore, staff did not follow the agreed actions to encourage school attendance, such as restricting children’s access to the home’s Wi-Fi. Inconsistencies in staff practice do not ensure that all children make measurable progress in their education and learning. Despite this, staff have built close relationships with education professionals, which is helping to find children school settings that meet their educational needs.

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improvement to be good

Children are provided with opportunities to take part in a range of fun activities that enhance their learning and development. For example, some children have taken part in school activity breaks and leadership programmes. A life-skills worker helps staff and children plan for independence.

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improvement to be good

Children build trusting relationships with staff. Staff understand the children’s rights and they ensure that advocacy is available to them. Staff advocate for children themselves and, when necessary, they source independent advocates.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage and support children to attend their care planning meetings. This means that children are involved in making decisions about their care. Children attend regular house meetings, where meal suggestions, holiday breaks and the proposed kitchen redesign are discussed and agreed. However, one child’s request to get their bedroom light repaired was overlooked. This is now being actioned by the registered manager.

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improvement to be good

The home is a large, detached property with large, communal spaces. However, the garden is overgrown and untidy, which limits children’s options to enjoy this outside space.

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improvement to be good

The recently improved children’s risk assessments and behaviour management plans help staff to understand children’s complex needs and vulnerabilities. They also provide staff with clear strategies to manage risk. However, inconsistencies were found in the information provided in these two documents. This is confusing and could lead to inconsistent practice.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to understand risk and their vulnerabilities through regular discussions with their key workers. Staff work closely with all professionals involved Inspection report for children’s home: SC459857 4 in each child’s care to ensure that children receive the support that they need. Staff’s joint working with children and professionals is increasing children’s safety.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers take complaints and allegations made against staff seriously. They ensure that concerns are referred and investigated appropriately. Additionally, children receive appropriate child-friendly responses to their complaints.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers act on and learn from safeguarding incidents. However, the registered manager has not always shared this learning with the wider staff team. This limits staff’s practice development.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from the home, staff follow their missing-from-care procedures. Children’s care plans outline when the police should be informed. However, staff do not consistently follow the online police reporting system. This potentially delays the police response, which could compromise children’s safety and well-being.

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good

Leaders and managers have an ambitious vision for the home, the children who live in the home, and the standard of care provided. The responsible individual has the children at the centre of his vision.

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good

Since the last inspection, staff turnover and recruitment challenges have led to an over-reliance on agency workers. The over-reliance on agency workers could unsettle children. Leaders and managers acknowledge this and they have recently increased their presence in the home. Additionally, the provider is currently running a recruitment campaign across all staffing roles.

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good

The registered manager described the recent months as challenging. One member of staff said, ‘I feel run down.’ Another said, ‘We do not have enough staff, but there is good team work here and we all support each other.’ Although the staff report feeling well supported by the manager, shortfalls were found in the frequency of some staff’s professional supervision. The manager is missing opportunities to provide all staff with support and guidance through regular professional supervision.

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good

The manager does not keep the record of staff’s training up to date. As a result, she is unable to provide clear and accurate evidence that all staff have undertaken the relevant training to meet the needs of each child.

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good

New staff benefit from an intensive induction programme and have their performance and practice continuously assessed during their probation period. This ensures that new staff are well inducted and are suitable for their roles. Inspection report for children’s home: SC459857 5

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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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all identified risks are consistently recorded across all relevant documents. 19 August 2022

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and manager must ensure that lessons learned and actions to be taken from any safeguarding 19 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC459857 6 investigation are shared with the staff team in a timely manner.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff receive supervision in line with the statement of purpose; and that staff’s training records are kept up to date. 19 August 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment. In particular, the home’s garden should be maintained to a suitable standard so that children can enjoy the outside space. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that police protocols for responding to missing persons incidents are consistently followed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.29)  The registered person should ensure that children are able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. In particular, a child’s broken bedroom light should be replaced. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11) Inspection report for children’s home: SC459857 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: SC459857 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: St Christopher’s Fellowship

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Putney High Street, London, Wandsworth SW15 1SZ

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Inspector

Victoria Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC459857 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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