Children's home run by Woodford Children's Services Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 1268886 1 Registered provider: Woodford Children’s Home 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 up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties. The home follows a therapeutic community model of practice. The provider owns two other children’s homes and is part of a commissioning partnership contract with eight local authorities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in May 2018. The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2020 and is suitably qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home. The inspectors spoke with all the children and also held a discussion with a child who has recently left.

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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

Date of last inspection: 26 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1268886 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/01/2022 Full Good 09/10/2019 Full Good 20/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1268886 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

C hildren are thriving in a nurturing, therapeutic-based, family-style environment. Children have been living at the home for over a year, and they have a good sense of stability and belonging. A child scored the home as ‘10 out of 10’ and highlighted how staff have ‘motivated’ them. A social worker described how their child has made ‘amazing progress’ and said that the home ‘goes way and beyond to support and encourage’ children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities which offer them new life experiences, such as going on holiday. Children have a strong voice in this home. They influence their choice of key worker, individual incentives, the home’s decor, activity and menu planning, and staff recruitment. Children can also keep pets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children become more confident and caring. They are encouraged to be themselves and develop their gender and sexual identity. Staff demonstrate an active commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, which helps children to develop their identity. Staff support children’s religion, and children take pride in their cultural heritage.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are enrolled in school or college. This is commendable for some children, who have overcome barriers to attending education. Staff provide a significant level of support with educational attendance, which includes escorting children, collecting them, and staying with them, if needed. Staff do not always provide suitable activities when children are not attending school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support older children to achieve their goals, which includes facilitating mock interviews, applying for their national insurance number and provisional driving licence. Children are developing some basic independent living skills, such as doing their laundry, cleaning their rooms and baking. There is not a structured approach to helping older children to learn the skills they need for adult life.

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

Children confirm that they feel safe at the home. One of the home’s strengths is the trusting relationships that children develop with staff, which enables children to discuss their anxieties. Staff have a good understanding of children’s trauma. Since living at the home, there has been a significant improvement in the children’s emotional well-being.

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

Children are calmer and they are learning to reflect and manage their feelings. Children learn to accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions and they receive meaningful rewards for positive behaviour. Leaders and managers also award certificates in recognition of children’s achievements. Inspection report children’s home: 1268886 4 Staff educate children on their vulnerability and personal safety. When children are away from the home, staff make welfare calls to ensure that they are safe. Staff identify, understand and manage risks to children. Where there are concerns, leaders and managers actively involve the professional network, to safeguard the child.

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

On children’s admission to the home, staff provide each child with their own fleeced blanket, which provides them with sensory comfort. A relative highlighted that their child is ‘happier’. Children know how to make a complaint and their grievances are appropriately managed. Staff advocate for children when they raise complaints about other professionals’ practice. An example is treatment by the police.

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

Staff have access to a wide range of safeguarding training. Allegations are managed appropriately. Some minor shortfalls were identified in record-keeping. For example, the fire drills record does not include the duration of the evacuations, and the complaints record does not include the dates when complaints are concluded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from experienced, compassionate and forward-thinking managers. Managers lead a committed and culturally diverse staff team. A social worker stated that they are very pleased with the support and care and would recommend this home for other children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a clear vision for the service, which relates to developing its accreditation as a unique therapeutic community. A source of pride has been helping an older child to successfully move to semi-independent living. Staff are providing an outreach service to this child, to help with their transition to independent life.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy making a positive difference to children’s lives. Staff have regular individual supervision sessions, team meetings, therapeutic support and annual appraisals. The additional support from a psychotherapist ensures that there is meaningful reflection on the home’s ways of working.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers embrace the digital age, for example by capturing the children’s activities in social media videos.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirements and recommendations raised at the last inspection have been met. Leaders and managers are aware of the service’s strengths and the areas for development. There is a recognition of the need to upskill staff, which includes providing further training in relation to gender and sexuality, autism spectrum disorder and mental health.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are ambitious for children and enthusiastic to improve outcomes for them. There are a range of monitoring arrangements, which includes regular audits. A local authority quality assurance officer described the system used to measure children’s outcomes as ‘very innovative’. The only shortfall is that the quality of care review does not include parents’ opinions. Inspection report children’s home: 1268886 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, provide training in relation to gender and sexuality, autism spectrum disorder and mental health. 31 December

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers; 31 October 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 1268886 6 promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

The system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of parents. (Regulation 45 (5)) 31 October 2022

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Recommendations

 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, this refers to recording the duration of fire drills and the outcome date of complaints. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that when a child is moving to live independently, staff support them to develop emotional and mental resilience and practical skills. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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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 children’s home: 1268886 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Woodford Children’s Home Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 More London Place, Riverside, London SE1 2RE

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Inspectors

Sharon Payne, Social Care Inspector Zara Salim, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1268886 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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