Children's Home run by London Borough of Hillingdon in Hillingdon

Inspection report children’s home: SC032502 1 SC032502 Registered provider: The London Borough of Hillingdon Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by the London Borough of Hillingdon. The home provides care for up to 13 children. In the statement of purpose, the provider states that the home mainly works with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. The service also occasionally accommodates local British children who need to be supported.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been operational since November 2003. The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 12 children were living at the home. The inspectors spoke with nine of the children during this inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 12 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: SC032502 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/01/2022 Full Good 24/04/2019 Full Good 09/10/2018 Full Good 18/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC032502 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care that makes them feel valued and secure. They develop meaningful relationships with staff, who they feel they can talk to about important things in their lives. Children make good progress from their individual starting points. As a result, children are settled, confident and independent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a structured admission process which helps managers and staff to understand the specific needs of children who have travelled to the United Kingdom to seek asylum. Staff have a compassionate understanding of children’s experiences and their resilience. Staff help children to understand their life journey and motive them to plan for a positive future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children influence their own care plan, the running of the home and staff development. An example of the latter is a child sharing their experiences during a staff training course on working with unaccompanied children. Children benefit from regular visits from the local authority’s children’s rights team. Children are also supportive to each other. There is a sense of belonging from knowing that they share similar experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from staff who focus strongly on their education. Children attend school and enjoy learning and making new friendships. One child said that they are really happy because they have made significant progress in their English language and are now able to communicate well with others. The home has its own classroom, which children use to study independently. Children’s achievements include completing their GCSEs and obtaining awards.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a home environment which demonstrates a commitment to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion. Sexism and transphobia are challenged and children learn the cultural norms of British society. Children are able to practice their cultural and religious traditions and they learn about other significant events and festivals. There are examples of children fasting during Ramadan, celebrating Eid, Diwali, Halloween, Bonfire Night and Black History Month.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are good health arrangements in place for children. Staff receive specific training to manage children’s health needs, an example being a nurse visiting the home to provide adrenaline auto-injector training. Children receive encouragement to lead a healthy lifestyle through a nutritious diet and regular exercise. There are good links with a local football club and children are able to join a gym, go swimming and engage in keep fit sessions. Staff also support children to get involved in a range of interests and activities, including cooking, sewing and gardening. Inspection report children’s home: SC032502 4 The home’s physical environment is safe for children. However, leaders and managers have failed to ensure that repair work and redecoration are carried out promptly. This does not provide a warm and overall comfortable environment for children.

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

The home provides a stable base for children, and staff work hard to provide a family atmosphere. Children say that they feel safe living in this home. They identify an adult who they can talk to when they have any worries or concerns. A social worker highlighted that staff are proactive in ensuring that the children are safe. Staff have a good understanding of whistle-blowing policies and procedures. Allegations or suspicion of harm are dealt with immediately and shared with the relevant agencies. This ensures that children are safe in their home.

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

The local authority designated officer does not have any information at present to suggest that children are unsafe in the home. There is a willingness from leaders, managers and staff to learn from incidents and consider how to prevent further safeguarding incidents. For example, all staff have completed the organisation’s induction, which has a greater focus on safeguarding, whistle-blowing and professional curiosity.

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

Incidents of children going missing from the home have reduced. Staff are proactive, they maintain contact with the relevant professionals and look for children in the local area. A police officer highlighted that the home works closely with police and assists where possible in missing investigations. Missing-from-home incidents are thoroughly reviewed. Discussions take place with children when they return home and risk assessments are updated. This helps staff to understand what is happening for children and helps to reduce risk.

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

A variety of new practices have been introduced to make the home a safer place for children. Staff have recently benefited from safeguarding training from the police and the local authority designated officer. Children benefit from clear shift planning and staff handover meetings which concentrate on safeguarding them and meeting their individual needs. The warm interactions between staff and the children help with the development of mutually respectful relationships.

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

Staff receive therapeutic support from a clinical psychologist who provides research-informed guidance on how to best meet children’s needs. This enables staff to respond positively to children who have experienced trauma. Staff also help to improve children’s emotional well-being by offering them social activities and new experiences, such as trips to the seaside and visiting London.

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

Children’s known and potential risks are well understood by staff. Staff are proactive and they question children’s changing behaviours. Incidents are thoroughly reviewed with appropriate debriefs and risk assessments are updated. This ensures that staff understand what is happening for children and helps to Inspection report children’s home: SC032502 5 reduce risk. However, leaders and managers do not regularly update the local area risk assessment. This compromises management oversight.

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good

The registered manager is suitably experienced and qualified and is supported by a long-standing staff team. Leaders and managers know the home’s strengths and areas for development. They use both internal and external feedback and monitoring systems to develop staff practice and improve the quality of care provided to children. However, monthly independent person visits do not always happen and reports are not always completed in a timely manner. This was identified as an issue at the last inspection and demonstrates that the service is not consistently being independently scrutinised.

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good

Children’s case records do not always include the important information required. For example, some children’s care plans are not on their files, and they are not produced in a timely manner. This reduces the manager’s and staff’s oversight and understanding of the children’s needs and progress.

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good

Some staff have not had their mandatory training refreshed as required. The registered manager highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic is a contributing factor to this as it impacted on staff completing face-to-face training. In addition, staff have not received annual appraisals, although there are plans in place to complete them. This is a missed opportunity to support staff development and limits management oversight of staff performance.

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good

The home’s statement of purpose has been updated; however, it does not meet regulations as it does not include details of the wealth of experience staff bring to their role.

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good

Staff morale is very positive. Staff receive regular supervision and they feel well supported by leaders and managers. Staff say that they feel valued and that they take pride in making a positive difference to children’s lives. Consequently, staff retention is good, and children receive consistency of care.

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good

Leaders and managers work well with children’s professional networks. Feedback from professionals is very positive regarding the quality of care provided and communication from staff. Social workers describe the service as ‘very effective’ and ‘child focused’. This partnership working provides children with good-quality care and support. Inspection report children’s home: SC032502 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

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

upon request, the local authority for the area in which the home is located; 31 December Inspection report children’s home: SC032502 7 the placing authorities of children;

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Requirement Due date

the registered provider and, if applicable, the registered manager; and

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Requirement Due date

the responsible individual (if one is nominated). (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5) (7)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated from the previous inspection.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the statement of purpose to HMCI and make a copy of it available upon request to—

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Requirement Due date

a child, or a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered;

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Requirement Due date

a parent of a child, or a parent of a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered;

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Requirement Due date

in the case of a qualifying school, the Secretary of State.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e) (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that the statement of purpose includes details of the experience of staff. 31 December

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each 31 December Inspection report children’s home: SC032502 8 calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that the local area risk assessment is regularly updated.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, in order for the home to be a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children, they continue to refurbish all areas of the home’s interior so that they are all of a similar suitable standard. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff refresh their mandatory training as required. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This

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Recommendations

appraisal should consider, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should ensure that records are kept more efficiently and organised in ways that allow for easy access and monitoring. In particular, the registered person should ensure that all children’s records are completed on children’s files and updated in a timely manner. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2

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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 children’s home: SC032502 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Childcare and Early Years Service, 4E/02 Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 1UW

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Inspectors

Sharon Payne, Social Care Inspector Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC032502 10 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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