Children's home run by The Senad Group Limited in Derby

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC020193 1 SC020193 Registered provider: The SENAD Group Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to 25 children with severe learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorder and who display associated challenging behaviour.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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This monitoring visit

This children’s home was judged inadequate at the full inspection on 23 and 24 May 2022. This monitoring visit is to judge whether the compliance actions set following the inadequate judgement have been met.

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This monitoring visit

Following that inspection, several statutory requirements were set, together with compliance notices in relation to safeguarding children and leadership and management. A restriction of accommodation notice was also issued. This monitoring visit found that some progress has been made. However, the compliance notices have not been met in their entirety. These have been restated and the restriction notice remains.

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This monitoring visit

Risk assessments fail to give staff a clear understanding of children’s needs and vulnerabilities, including the consideration of their previously known risks. For example, one child was targeting another child and a lack of guidance for staff resulted in the child feeling frightened. Another risk assessment failed to provide guidance to staff on how to manage a known risk associated with a child climbing and placing themselves at risk.

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This monitoring visit

Opportunities for children to undertake activities continue to require further improvement. This is impacting on the development of children’s social skills. One Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC020193 2 child now has increased anxiety when activities are offered and this affects his ability to regulate his behaviours away from the home.

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This monitoring visit

Staffing levels remain fragile. There are still occasions when children do not have their identified staffing ratios. This has, at times, left staff feeling unsafe and impacted on morale. As a direct result, some staff have felt deflated.

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This monitoring visit

There is an inconsistent approach to behaviour management. A core group of staff know the children well. They are confident in implementing behaviour management strategies. However, less experienced staff are not yet confident in this area. This impacts staff’s ability to work consistently as a team and in line with children’s plans.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers are supporting staff to develop their skills and knowledge. Staff have completed the required mandatory training, including communication training. This is equipping them to communicate effectively with children and better understand the needs of children.

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This monitoring visit

The home is now in a good state of repair. All maintenance works have been completed. The children can enjoy a warm, inviting and clean environment. A beautiful cafe area has been created in the main building, where children are able to spend time with one another and their families. This develops children’s sense of belonging and comfort.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers understand the areas that require improvement. They have implemented an action plan to address these areas and make the required changes. The numbers of children remain relatively low, to give managers and staff the opportunity to make the improvements required and get the home back on a progress trajectory. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC020193 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/05/2022 Full Inadequate 24/08/2021 Full Good 21/01/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 09/04/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC020193 4

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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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s privacy will be respected and the circumstances when it may have to be limited;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to prepare for any review of the child’s relevant plans and to make the child’s views, wishes and feelings known for the purposes of that review; and 14 August 2022 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC020193 5 make each child aware of and, if necessary, remind them of each of the matters in sub-paragraph (d)(i) to (iii);

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives;

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Requirement Due date

keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about—

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Requirement Due date

what advocacy support or services are available to the child, how the child may access that support or those services and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy provision; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the views of each relevant person are taken into account, so far as reasonably practicable, before making a decision about the care or welfare of a child. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(i)(iii)(c)(d)(iii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; 14 August 2022 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC020193 6 encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(x)(xi)(xii)(xiii)(b)

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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. 14 August 2022 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC020193 7 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)(d)(e))

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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

promotes their welfare. 14 August 2022 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC020193 8 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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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 has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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; and

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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)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration; 14 August 2022 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC020193 9 within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person"—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(iv)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC020193 10

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The SENAD Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: SENAD Group Ltd, 1 St Georges House, Vernon Gate, Derby DE1 1UQ

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Inspectors

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Bev Allison, Social Care Inspector Caroline Brailsford, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC020193 11 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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