Children's home run by Belmont Residential Care Ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 2633239 1 Registered provider: Belmont Residential Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This private children’s home provides care for up to three children who may have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and its manager registered with Ofsted on 6 April 2022. This is the home’s first inspection. The manager is working towards gaining a relevant qualification for her role.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home. The child spoke to the inspectors.

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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: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2633239 2

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improvement to be good

Staff do not promote stability in children’s lives. One child had to leave the home because the staff were unable to meet their needs. Another child’s placing authority is planning to move them, following some incidents in the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not promote children’s learning and education. Children do not have educational placements and spend most of the time playing online games. Staff do not ensure that children are engaging in structured educational activities when they are not attending school.

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improvement to be good

Staff monitor children’s health and, when needed, they make appropriate referrals to health professionals. For example, staff requested that one child’s medication was reviewed. The change in medication has had a positive impact on the child’s well- being. The child’s appetite and sleeping have also improved.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children to develop and maintain positive relationships with their families. Staff support children’s families to continue to be involved in celebrations, such as children’s birthdays.

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improvement to be good

The child living at the home talked positively about their experiences. They said that staff are good and they listen.

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improvement to be good

The risk management practices are not proactive. Staff do not consistently identify risks and take effective action to prevent incidents from happening.

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improvement to be good

Some incidents have occurred in the home that indicate weaknesses in safeguarding practice. Staff are reflecting on and learning from these incidents. Safeguarding practices in the home are improving but are not yet consistently good.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always know how to promote children’s positive behaviours. On one occasion, staff’s lack of de-escalation skills led to a significant incident that required help from the emergency services. Since this incident, staff have had additional training in behaviour management to enhance their skills in this area.

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improvement to be good

Keeping children safe online is an area for improvement. Staff’s knowledge of online safety remains limited. Children’s individual risk assessments do not cover online safety sufficiently.

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improvement to be good

Staff’s understanding of the potential for children to negatively influence each other is limited. Staff do not thoroughly assess the potential negative impact that children Inspection report for children's home: 2633239 3 could have on each other. For example, they did not consider the risk of bullying in the home.

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improvement to be good

The child said that they felt safe at home and when accompanied by staff in the community. The child’s sense of safety has been improving since they have been living at the home without other children.

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good

Leaders and managers are not united in their vision for the home and they have different views about how it should be run. Staff are not provided with clear and consistent directions from the leaders and managers. This has a negative impact on how staff work together as a team. Additionally, one of the directors takes on other roles in the home, which is confusing for the staff and children.

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good

Staff talked very positively about the support that they receive from the manager. They highlighted the manager’s strong anti-discriminatory practices as a strength in her leadership. The manager was due to leave on 14 October 2022, which was causing some staff in this recently registered home to feel unsettled.

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good

The home’s admission procedure is not thorough. Decisions are not always made in line with the home’s statement of purpose and in the best interests of children. Staff do not have the knowledge and skills to meet all the needs of children living at the home.

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good

Staff induction is comprehensive. Training opportunities for staff have improved recently to include face-to-face training. The knowledge and skills of staff members are increasing. However, staff do not receive regular professional supervision.

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good

Leaders and managers monitor children’s progress and other aspects of the home. The majority of the recording systems that the home uses are effective. However, staff do not keep the register of children up to date and did not know one child’s legal status. Inspection report for children's home: 2633239 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 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 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)(viii)) 1 November 2022

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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— that staff—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; 1 November 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2633239 5 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

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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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

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)(ix)(x)(xi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff meet children’s behavioural needs, and that staff are able to de-escalate challenging situations and promote positive relationships between children.

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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— that staff— 1 November 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2633239 6 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff safeguard children from online risks.

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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 promotes their welfare.

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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 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 1 November 2022

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)) 1 November 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2633239 7 Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a register of children is kept that includes accurate information as specified by Schedule 4.1. 1 October 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff receive regular supervision. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations. including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2633239 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Belmont Residential Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 15 Belmont Road, Ilford IG1 1YW

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Maureen Gilchrist

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Inspectors

Seka Graovac, Social Care Inspector Zara Salim, Social Care Inspector (shadow) Inspection report for children's home: 2633239 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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