Children's Home run by SureCare Residential Ltd in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: SC384018 1 SC384018 Registered provider: SureCare Residential 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 four children who may have experienced significant trauma and have behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. There is a school that is also run by the organisation. The inspector only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2021.

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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: 19 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 for children’s home: SC384018 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/01/2022 Full Good 31/10/2019 Full Good 05/12/2018 Full Good 31/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC384018 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. Children’s moves to the home are well planned. The manager consults with the local authority to ensure that she fully understands the children’s needs. The staff support children on arrival and make the move a positive experience. This helps the children to feel welcomed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children all attend education. One child is in college and starts a work- experience placement soon. Another child is attending mainstream school after a period of home tuition. The staff are liaising with the headteacher of the virtual school to support another child’s reintroduction to school. While the child waits for a school place, she has a tutor who she engages with well. Children who have previously experienced gaps in their education are helped to reduce these and work towards achieving their academic potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the children’s health needs and liaise with medical professionals to help the children to improve their physical and emotional health. A therapist regularly supports all the children. One child attends essential health appointments due to an ongoing health condition. This ensures that the child’s health is closely monitored by health professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy a wide range of activities that support their interests and hobbies. These include going to theme parks and museums. One child regularly attends martial arts classes and another child is attending a first-aid course. These activities help the children to maintain active lifestyles and make friends in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have positive relationships with staff and feel comfortable to go to them and share how they are feeling. The staff respond to the children well. One child said, ‘I can go to staff for anything, they always listen to me. If I need them, they are always there.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff celebrate the children’s achievements and link these to rewards and incentives. Rewards are individualised and help children to make positive choices. Incentives have been particularly successful in encouraging children with school attendance and behavioural responses.

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

Children feel safe at the home and are safeguarded effectively by the staff. The manager ensures that the staff undertake appropriate training to meet the individual needs of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC384018 4 The staff manage safeguarding incidents well, which reduces the risks to children. The staff have a good understanding of the whistle-blowing process. They are confident about who to contact if they have concerns for the safety of a child.

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

Effective missing-from-home protocols provide staff with good guidance on managing missing-from-home incidents. The staff work well with external professionals, including police, to share information about children who go missing from the home. One child’s missing-from-home incidents have significantly reduced; she has not been missing for several weeks. The child has started college, made friends and is feeling more settled.

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

The staff use physical intervention as a last resort to ensure that the children are safe. Creative and well-established de-escalation techniques help prevent physical interventions. The children are supported well after an intervention to help them to understand the intervention and to help them to manage their feelings safely.

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

Children’s risk assessments are detailed and provide staff with clear strategies to help keep children safe. The risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated to inform staff of any patterns or triggers to children’s behaviours. This ensures that the support for children is planned and proactive.

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

Staff help children to develop personal safety strategies. Frequent and well-planned one-to-one discussions cover important topics, including online safety and healthy relationships. This improves children’s understanding of their personal safety.

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

There are clear procedures to respond to peer-on-peer harm among the children. The staff have a good knowledge of these processes. Difficult incidents between children have been managed well. Effective support has enabled children to reflect on their differences to reach common goals. This helps children develop an acceptance of one another and improve their relationships with each other.

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

The location risk assessment considers risks in the local area that may present a risk for children. However, risks relating to child sexual exploitation have not been fully considered. Failure to consider this could leave the children vulnerable to unknown risks in the area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and has a level 5 qualification. She has high aspirations for the children and advocates for them. The manager and deputy manager work well together to support the staff team to meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the children’s care. She reflects on incidents with the staff to help them continually learn and improve their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff feel supported by the manager and value her experience. Staff benefit from regular supervision that includes a focus on their personal well-being. These Inspection report for children’s home: SC384018 5 supervisions provide staff with the opportunity to discuss the needs of the children, any concerns that the staff have and their professional development. This has helped to build a resilient staff team and positive staff morale.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff attend regular team meetings. This provides them with a forum to discuss the needs of the children and share practice experiences. The managers deliver training, focusing on the individual needs of the children. Good-quality training develops the staff’s skills to meet the needs of the children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person undertakes regular monitoring visits. However, the manager has not ensured that the independent person has consistently gained feedback from parents or professionals. As a result, their views are not regularly explored in these visits and the additional safeguards intended are not realised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The internal quality of care review contains areas of good evaluation and identifies actions to improve practice. However, the review does not include direct consultations with children’s families and external professionals. This does not provide a range of information to fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC384018 6

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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

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)) 1 December 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. In particular, ensure that views from children, parents, staff and other professionals are included in the regulation 45 report. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that they review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. In particular, ensure that risks relating to child sexual exploitation are considered. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: SC384018 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: SureCare Residential Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Surecare Residential, The Old Snap Factory, Twyford Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire CM23 3LJ

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Inspector

Laraine Edmondson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC384018 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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