Children's Home run by Acorn Norfolk Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report for children’s home: 2673265 1 Registered provider: Acorn Norfolk Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to two children with autism spectrum disorder and associated learning difficulties. There is a school on site. The inspector only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the first full inspection since the home registered with Ofsted in February 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home registered with Ofsted in February 2022.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2673265 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home. The child lives at the home during term time and goes home for weekends and school holidays. The child requires high levels of staff support due to his complex needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child attends the on-site school. The staff support the child to attend full-time education. He is progressing academically and starting to socialise with peers of his own age.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of the child’s communication needs. The child uses verbal communication supported by pictures and social stories. These prompts help him to express himself and understand social concepts and expectations. The progress he has made in expressing his views has resulted in him being able to enjoy activities at the home and in the community. The child enjoys a range of activities that include eating out, flying drones, construction toys, exploring science fiction and developing fantasy worlds.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of the child’s physical and emotional well-being needs. The staff work closely with the parents to ensure that any medication is reviewed when necessary. The child is being supported by a therapist, who has helped him to understand what to do when he is feeling worried or anxious. He is also being helped by a speech and language therapist. This is helping him to grow in confidence and build positive relationships with peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to develop his independence skills. The child has developed his skills in self-care, personal hygiene and domestic tasks, such as loading the washing machine and helping with cooking tasks. However, a plan to support the child to access public transport with staff has not progressed.

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

Staff know the child well and understand his vulnerabilities. The staff use appropriate de-escalation strategies to support the child when he is feeling anxious or worried. This helps him to feel cared for, safe and listened to.

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

Staff understand how to whistle-blow and the safeguarding procedures. They know whom to contact should they have any safeguarding concerns for a child.

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

Staff use praise and rewards to recognise when the child does something well. The child has responded to this approach positively. The incentives have helped the child to develop his communication skills and his self-confidence.

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

Staff use pictures to visually support the child to understand how he can complain and who he can speak to about any worries or concerns. An advocate visits the child Inspection report for children’s home: 2673265 3 regularly. This ensures that the child’s voice is heard and that his rights are protected.

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

Risk assessments and care plans are in place for the child. These include actions for staff to take should he be low in mood or present with suicidal ideation. However, an incident where he ran into the road is not reflected in the child’s care plan or risk assessment. As a result, staff do not have all of the information necessary to reduce risks for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified. The manager has high expectations for the child and works well with staff to plan for the child’s development and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that managers support them. Supervisions are regular and provide staff with the opportunity to discuss the child’s care, his progress, and any concerns that they have. The staff are also able to discuss their own professional development and training needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are regular and provide staff with a forum to discuss practice and plan care. This helps the staff to provide the child with consistent and well-planned care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has embedded a model of care into practice. The staff spoke positively about this and said that it supports the child consistently. The staff benefit from training that meets the individual needs of the child. All staff are qualified to level 3 and are in the process of completing their advanced training in understanding autism spectrum disorders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers and staff have built excellent relationship with the child’s parents. This has helped the staff and parents to work together consistently. Both parents spoke positively about their child’s progress, stating that his progress was ‘miraculous’ and that they ‘couldn’t have expected any more from staff’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring systems provide some oversight of the child’s care. However, oversight of rewards and support work are not always completed. Therefore, learning to improve practice and identify patterns is not always effective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is using an electronic system to record and save the child’s documents. The child’s documents are being saved by staff in different areas, making it difficult to navigate the system to access relevant information. Furthermore, updates to records are not saved. This could have a significant impact on safeguarding information being made available to relevant professionals and agencies, which could place the child at risk of harm. Inspection report for children’s home: 2673265 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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that identified risks for children are recorded in the child’s risk assessment and reviewed. 25 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are prepared for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. In particular, ensure that children are supported to access public transport as stated in their care plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control and discipline are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and that any patterns of behaviour are identified to improve practice and support for children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should ensure that records kept electronically can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view them and, if required, be

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Recommendations

reproduced in a legible form. IT systems should ensure the safe storage of these records and business continuity planning should be in place to prevent loss or damage to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2) Inspection report for children’s home: 2673265 5  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, ensure that wording in records is clear and that direct work with children is recorded and stored. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2673265 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Acorn Norfolk Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Inspector

Laraine Edmondson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2673265 7 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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