Children's Home run by Olive Tree Residential Care Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2679041 1 Registered provider: Olive Tree Residential Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered with Ofsted in July 2022. It provides care for up to three children who have been affected by adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and complex behaviours. The home is privately owned and forms part of a small social care organisation which offers therapeutic support.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first inspection since it registered.

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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 inadequate

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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: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2679041 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected. Inspection report for children’s home: 2679041 3

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improvement to be good

During this inspection, the inspector identified significant shortfalls in the leadership and management of the home. For example, leaders have failed to identify and address safeguarding concerns and make continuous improvements to the care that children receive. Consequently, poor leadership and management has had some impact on children’s day-to-day experiences in the home.

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improvement to be good

Despite the shortfalls identified in this inspection, children do make some progress. For example, staff support all children to regularly attend school and children are doing well. One child’s school attendance has significantly improved since moving into the home. In addition, staff communicate and work effectively with school professionals to help children to overcome barriers to their learning. This support helps children to settle quickly and achieve.

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improvement to be good

Since the home opened, three siblings have moved into the home. Staff have effectively supported the children and their family with these moves. One child told the inspector that the home’s children’s guide was given to them before moving in, so they could see photos of the staff and the home. This reassurance helped the children to settle and feel welcomed into the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff and children share positive relationships. Staff use these relationships to capture children’s wishes and feelings and involve them in their own care planning. One external professional said that ‘the children’s most recent care review was brilliant’ and ‘children took part, because of the support they received from staff’. Also, the children shared their Christmas wish lists, that they had completed with staff, with the inspector. These positive relationships help children to feel valued and listened to.

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improvement to be good

Children have access to a range of recreational activities suitable to their interests. For example, two children attend a gymnastics club and proudly showed off their skills to the inspector. Staff have supported another child to play football for a local football club. The child spoke positively about training and the matches they have taken part in. These experiences help to create memories for children and increase their confidence.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children to maintain positive relationships with their families. They recognise how significant these relationships are to children and to their well-being. The children’s grandmother told the inspector that staff make sure she regularly sees the children. Also, she said that ‘staff are amazing’ and ‘life now in this home is 1000% better for the children than what they had before’. This support ensures that children are not isolated from the people who are important to them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2679041 4

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improvement to be good

Leaders do not always respond appropriately and take effective action when children have made allegations against staff. For example, on two occasions, leaders failed to respond to an allegation made by a child. As a result, the local authority and senior leaders were not informed in line with the home’s safeguarding policies. Furthermore, despite being identified during a visit to the home by the home’s independent person, they failed to make recommendations for the manager to take immediate action. These poor responses compromise the safety of children and leave them vulnerable to harm.

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improvement to be good

However, following a recent change in management and an audit carried out by the newly appointed responsible individual, immediate action has been taken to follow up on the allegations identified. As a result, external professionals have been updated and appropriate action to safeguard children is now taking place.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and staff assessment of risk to children is inconsistent. For example, the registered manager assessed one child’s bullying behaviour towards other children to be low risk. This assessment failed to consider the increase in incidents, which resulted in one child being physically harmed on several occasions. Despite this increase, staff still allow children to have time together unsupervised in the home. Failing to adequately assess risks to children could leave them exposed to harm.

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improvement to be good

The home’s approach to supporting children to manage their behaviour requires some improvement. There have been no incidents requiring physical restraint with children, and staff have de-escalated some incidents well. However, staff have issued consequences to children, which are not proportionate or effective. In addition, leaders’ oversight and evaluation of the effectiveness of consequences used by staff is ineffective. Consequently, children and staff are not provided with opportunities to learn and reflect from their experiences.

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improvement to be good

Children’s bedroom doors are fitted with sensors. This means that staff are alerted when children enter and leave their bedrooms at night. However, the registered manager has failed to regularly review this form of surveillance in line with children’s specific risks. This means that the sensors have remained in place when there are no risks to one child. As a result, children’s privacy is not always respected or promoted.

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improvement to be good

Since the home opened, there have been no incidents when children have gone missing. Also, staff work effectively with external professionals and the police to ensure that they have specific information on the children should a child go missing from the home. However, staff are not consistently provided with specific information on what they should do if a child goes missing. For example, staff were not clear on when they should report children missing to the police or what action to take. This has the potential to leave children vulnerable should they go missing from the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2679041 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management of the home is inadequate. The registered manager and deputy manager were not working in the home during the inspection, as they are under investigation for failing to follow the home’s safeguarding policies. Also, the home’s responsible individual has resigned from his position. These inconsistencies and lack of management oversight mean that leaders do not understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Consequently, they are unable to identify, or address, shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders fail to effectively assess staff knowledge and ensure that staff have the skills to meet children’s needs. For example, staff training is not used to improve and develop an inexperienced staff team. This has led to shortfalls in how staff manage bullying incidents between children and their understanding of the risks. In addition, the home’s objective is for staff to work restoratively with children, but staff are not achieving this due to a lack of training, experience and understanding. These shortfalls have an impact on children’s overall experiences in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring and review systems are ineffective and do not identify the improvements needed in the quality of care provided by staff. For example, internal and external systems used by managers have failed to identify and ensure that safeguarding action is taken when children have made allegations of abuse against staff. On another occasion, a child raised a complaint, and this was not acted on or acknowledged by leaders. As a result, important information is missed, and systems are not in place to promote children’s welfare and well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not always feel supported or listened to by leaders. This is because leaders fail to provide good and effective supervision to staff in line with the home’s policies. For example, staff in their probationary period do not consistently receive supervision every two weeks as recorded in the policy. Furthermore, staff told the inspector that the induction programme for new staff fails to adequately prepare and equip them with the skills to carry out the role on a day-to-day basis. These poor support systems for staff do not improve the quality of care received by children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home’s director is aware of the inadequacies in the management of the home. He has appointed a new responsible individual to provide support. The responsible individual began working in the home shortly before this inspection took place and has started to take some action. For example, during a recent audit, he has identified several areas for improvement and taken immediate safeguarding action to protect the children. This reassures Ofsted that action is being taken to improve the care that children receive. Inspection report for children’s home: 2679041 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 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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that leaders and staff assess children’s risk effectively and implement the correct strategies to keep children safe. This includes when identifying and addressing the risks in relation to physical aggression and bullying.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to staff’s understanding and implementation of the home’s child protection procedures and the action to take when a child is harmed by an adult in a position of trust. 12 January 2023

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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

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 12 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2679041 7 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; and

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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)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that the home’s child protection and safeguarding policies are followed in the home. This also relates to staffing and ensuring that the home has suitably trained and skilled staff to work with children and protect them from harm.

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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

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the manager’s oversight and monitoring of risks to children and significant incidents in the home. It further relates to the manager’s oversight of the quality of care children receive in the home. Managers must also have clear monitoring and review systems in place to improve practice and understand children’s progress. 12 January 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if— 12 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2679041 8 the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the provider should ensure that the use of sensors on children’s bedroom doors is regularly reviewed and not used for any longer than is necessary, as recorded in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; and

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, all staff must receive regular supervision in line with the home’s policy to support their development in the home. 12 January 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(vii)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that all behaviour management records and consequences given to 12 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2679041 9 children are regularly reviewed. Furthermore, leaders need to ensure that they evaluate and review the effectiveness of consequences used with children in the home.

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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

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. (Regulation 44 (1) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the independent person’s report must provide specific actions and recommendations that the registered person may take to improve the quality of care received by children in the home. This relates specifically to the actions a manager should take when a child has made an allegation against a member of staff. 12 January 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2679041 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Olive Tree Residential Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Chantry View, Moat Lane, Newborough, Burton-on- trent DE13 8SS

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Inspector

Dean Wilton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2679041 11 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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