Children's home run by Benecare Limited in Sevenoaks

Inspection report for children’s home: 1225887 1 Registered provider: Benecare 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 two children aged eight to 18 years, who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 20 June 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, there have been two children living in the home.

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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: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1225887 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/01/2020 Interim Not judged 10/09/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 1225887 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build positive relationships with staff who provide nurture and individualised care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children move into the home following a careful matching process. In this process, the registered manager considers the needs of children already living in the home, the staff skills and the home’s location. When children move out of the home, careful plans are put in place to ensure that children experience a smooth transition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff value children’s education. One child received home tutoring while a mainstream provision was identified. The child has now successfully moved to a local school and is making new friendships and is beginning to make academic progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use child-focused care plans to ensure that children receive consistent and well-planned care. Plans are regularly reviewed to ensure that they reflect children’s changing needs. This level of planning helps staff to provide effective and well- considered care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting point. However, this progress is not routinely captured in records. As a result, there is a missed opportunity to evidence children’s achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s health needs. They work closely with all health professionals to ensure that children’s health needs are dealt with effectively and promptly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a well-presented and maintained home that is warm, welcoming and provides space for them to live comfortably. This is enhanced by two kittens called Sid and Barney.

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

Safeguarding arrangements in the home are good. Staff follow detailed missing from care protocols and respond swiftly when a child goes missing from home. Records capture all the staff’s actions. However, children are not routinely offered a return home interview. This is a missed opportunity to enable a child to talk to someone independent of the home.

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

Staff are skilled, experience and knowledgeable in managing children’s behaviours. Sanctions are rarely used, and when they are used these are restorative in nature. Staff are good at de-escalating difficult situations and can provide effective boundaries that help to reduce incidents occurring. However, when incidents do occur, records are missing key information. This omission is not picked up through the home’s internal monitoring processes. Inspection report for children’s home: 1225887 4 Children know how, and feel able, to make a complaint if they are unhappy with any aspects of their care. Although these complaints are dealt with swiftly, records do not show the resolution and outcome of the complaint. This creates a missed opportunity to enable managers to check that the complaints procedure has been followed and to identify any patterns and learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is motivated to give children positive experiences. Through her leadership, she ensures that staff support children to enable them to reach their full potential in all aspects of their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management systems that help managers to monitor and review the quality of care are not always effective. As a result, managers are not always aware of shortfalls in records. This omission means that shortfalls in record-keeping go unchallenged.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. This provides opportunities to reflect on and to develop their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive appropriate training to support the needs of the children in the home. For example, a child who is due to move into the home soon identifies as non- binary. The manager has ensured that staff have received training to enable them to support the child’s needs. This demonstrates a child-centred approach and effective forward planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers deal with any allegations effectively. A recent incident was thoroughly investigated. However, the outcome response has not been received to enable the manager to bring this to a conclusion.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals, including social workers, speak positively about the staff and the progress children are making. Inspection report for children’s home: 1225887 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 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that monitoring systems are effective so that continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home are formally captured. 31 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure children are satisfied with the resolution and receive a record of the outcome of any complaint made. 31 August 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns home after being missing from care that the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.3) Inspection report for children’s home: 1225887 6

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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: 1225887 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Thatch Vine Farm, Stockers Hill, Boughton- under-Blean, Faversham, Kent ME13 9AB

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Inspector

Rebecca Fisher, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1225887 8 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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