Children's Home run by Laurel Leaf Homes Ltd in Newham

Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 1 SC060545 Registered provider: Laurel Leaf Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to eight children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, there were two children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 23 August 2019 and is suitably qualified.

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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: 25 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/01/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/10/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/02/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/06/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

Children are settled in the home. They have personalised their bedrooms and feel safe and listened to. One child described a staff member as being ‘like a father figure’. Staff are friendly and approachable, and children trust them. Children are confident that staff will help them when they have any worries or concerns. One child said, ‘I celebrate every year that I have lived here!’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

Children make noticeable progress with their education and learning. One child’s school attendance has improved, which has helped them to make friends and socialise. Another child is working part time and has also enrolled at college to study for their GCSEs. A social worker said, ‘Staff are committed to the children, and they want them to do well. They do not give up.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

Family time is actively encouraged, and family members regularly visit the home. They are invited to celebrate children’s achievements, cultural festivals and special occasions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

Staff promote children’s emotional and mental health needs and robustly chase up appointments with the child and adolescent mental health services. Additionally, children talk to staff about their feelings, which helps them to manage difficult emotions and past experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

Children are supported and encouraged to develop their independence and learn new skills with staff’s support. One child is now working part time and prepares their own lunch with minimal supervision and support from staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: Good

Children attend drop-in sessions with the home’s manager and feel that they are listened to and that their views are taken seriously. This has helped to bring about positive changes in the home. For example, children have planted flowers in the garden, and the garden has been paved.

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

Children describe staff as ‘nice’ and ‘caring’ and say that they feel protected and safe. Staff and children have regular meaningful discussions about risk, including stranger danger, bullying and fire safety. These regular discussions help children to understand their vulnerabilities and make safer decisions and choices. Children’s safety increases because they are given the information and strategies to help to keep themselves safe.

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

Trusting relationships between the children and staff enhance children’s safety. Children trust staff and talk to them about their feelings, worries and concerns. They are confident that the staff will listen to them and act if they share any concerns or worries. Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 4 Staff do not have essential information to hand when children go missing from home, such as children’s contact information and personal details. This prevents a well-coordinated response to missing-from-home incidents and can cause a delay in children being located and all relevant people being informed when children are missing.

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

On one occasion, staff did not swiftly intervene to prevent a distressed child from harming themself. A child who is known to self-harm when upset was left alone in their bedroom when they were upset and subsequently harmed themselves. Staff attended to the child’s injury at the home; however, they did not seek medical advice to ensure that the child was safe and well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced and suitably qualified manager leads the home. She is committed and available to the children and staff. Children say that they can talk to the manager, and she listens to them and acts on their feedback and requests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is sufficiently staffed to meet the needs of the children. Children take an active role in the recruitment of staff. For example, they are involved in staff interviews and appraisals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff have completed mandatory training. Fortnightly team meetings ensure that the staff are kept updated on any changes in the children’s care plans or needs. Staff say that the current staffing structure works well and teamwork is strong.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Record-keeping has significantly improved since the last inspection. Children’s records are comprehensive, reflect their holistic needs and capture their voice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision takes place monthly, and staff’s learning and development are always discussed. All staff have or are working towards achieving the relevant residential childcare qualification. Staff have their performance appraised annually and their goals and aspirations are discussed. Staff inductions are comprehensive and ensure that staff are aware of the home’s policies and procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff do not always obtain sufficient information from placing authorities to inform a rigorous assessment of children’s needs prior to them moving into the home. This has undermined children’s sense of safety and some children’s placement stability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal and external monitoring of the home lacks rigour. The independent person’s monitoring reports do not reflect the progress made at the home. Additionally, the manager’s quality of care review reports do not include an action plan of how she intends to continuously develop the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulations 5 (a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all relevant information about children’s needs is obtained from the placing authority at the point of referral. 15 December

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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;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi)) 15 December Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 6 In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff take appropriate action to support and safeguard children when they self-harm.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have easy access to all relevant information about children who go missing from home, for example grab packs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)  The registered person should ensure that the quality of care review reports include a clear action plan for the continuous improvement of the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)  The registered person should ensure that the independent person’s monitoring of the home is rigorous and that the reports reflect the findings accurately and sufficiently. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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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: SC060545 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Laurel Leaf Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 42 Stavordale Road, Newham N5 1NE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Noorjahan Gokool Hoota

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Inspectors

Zara Salim, Social Care Inspector Jayshree Pillay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 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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