Children's Home run by Blue Mountain Homes Ltd in Doncaster

Inspection report for children’s home: 1264438 1 Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties. There are currently three children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 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

Date of last inspection: 7 December 2021

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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: 1264438 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/12/2021 Full Good 06/09/2021 Full Inadequate 10/12/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/10/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 1264438 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are three children living in this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated and nicely furnished. Children are consulted about what they would like in their home and staff act on their wishes. One child wanted a snug area in the lounge, with cosy beanbags and fairy lights. Staff involved the child in purchasing these items and the child now has an area where they can relax and feel comfortable in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a warm welcome when they move into the home. Children meet staff and are encouraged to decorate their bedroom to their liking. This helps children to have a sense of belonging and ownership in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences living in this home. One child is a keen ice skater and is taking lessons to improve her skills. Another child accompanies her on these sessions. This builds children’s relationships with one another. Children have been on holiday within the United Kingdom and abroad. This gives children opportunities to be away from the demands and pressures of day-to-day life and have new experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend their education and have support from a careers adviser who helps them make decisions about their future learning. Children travel to their place of education on their own and this builds their resilience and confidence around using public transport.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to learn new skills which prepare them for adulthood. This is supported by a detailed independence booklet which shows the progress children make from their starting points. Children learn how to manage their own finances, how to prepare meals and where to access support for their health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend routine health appointments and they enjoy good physical and emotional health. When specialist support is needed, the manager and staff are proactive in sourcing this. Staff work with the professionals together to ensure that children get the support they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff align their direct work with children to focus on relevant topics for each child. This meaningful work helps children to improve their understanding of topics such as substance misuse, online safety and healthy relationships. This allows children to be more informed of the potential impact on their life and how it can affect their future. Inspection report for children’s home: 1264438 4

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

Children have trusting relationships with the staff and the manager. Playful conversations between the children and staff create a relaxed atmosphere in the home. Children spoke positively about their relationship with staff. This provides confidence that children can identify a suitable adult to speak to if they feel unsafe.

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

Staff advocate for children to have support from substance misuse services and access to therapists. Children learn about the impact that illicit substances can have on them and are supported to talk about their substance misuse in targeted key- work sessions. This allows children to make informed decisions about their health.

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

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities of the children. Staff use incentives to motivate children to achieve individual targets to help them make progress. Children respond well to staff and know that staff not only care for them, but care about them. When the risks in the community increased for one child, the provider moved the child away from the home and ended the placement to keep them safe.

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

Focused training on child sexual exploitation and county lines helps staff to understand their safeguarding expectations. This allows staff to spot the signs and better support children. When staff spot changes in children’s behaviours, they use their relationships to de-escalate situations to avoid having to intervene. When staff have had to use a hold, detailed records are kept of all incidents, with the manager completing debriefs with staff and the children.

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

When children have been missing from home, staff follow the safety plans to support children’s safe return home. Staff and the manager work in partnership with the police and social workers to review children’s missing episodes and safety plans. The manager is quick to request meetings when children are missing from home for long periods. Children have opportunities to discuss their reasons for going missing with an independent person. This gives them an opportunity to express any concerns that led to them going missing, or provide additional details about their whereabouts or their experience of being away from the home.

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

Staff use consequences that are proportionate to the behaviour that they are intended to address. Key-work sessions alongside the consequence encourage learning, to avoid similar behaviours being repeated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is in the process of completing the required qualification for this role. She has an excellent understanding of the children’s needs and risks and how the children have progressed. The manager is a strong advocate for children and ensures that the children’s needs are central to her working practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager regularly consults with children individually and she ensures that they have opportunities to give feedback about how they feel and how their care Inspection report for children’s home: 1264438 5 experience could improve through the children’s meetings The manager responds to any questions the children have and keeps them updated and involved in all aspects of their care. This helps children to feel listened to and their views acted on.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular team meetings enable staff to openly discuss their practice. This is built on further through reflective supervision and annual appraisals. This supports staff to develop their practice and knowledge to work with children. Staff feel supported by the manager, and one staff member said they enjoyed working at the home due to the ‘support and friendliness’ of the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has timely debriefs with the children and staff to reflect on all incidents. This helps the staff to think about what they could have done differently and for children to learn from their behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records are detailed and are written from the perspective of the child. The minutes from a child’s looked after review had not been received until several weeks later. The manager had not challenged the local authority for these. This meant staff did not have all the relevant information about the actions. In addition, the registered manager has not notified Ofsted of all significant events relating to children. This does not enable the regulator to maintain good oversight of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 1264438 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

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

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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. (Regulation 5 (c)) 23 December

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)) 23 December

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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: 1264438 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 17 Leeland Mansions, Leeland Road, West Ealing, London W13 9HE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pradeep Manaktala

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Inspector

Aasia Hussain, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1264438 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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