Children's Home run by Shalamar Children Limited in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 1 SC475088 Registered provider: Shalamar Children Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to four children who cannot live at their family home or in a foster home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2020.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/10/2021 Full Good 14/01/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness 16/07/2019 Full Good 19/07/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 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 enjoy living at the home. Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs and build nurturing relationships with them. These have helped children to make progress in different areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely together to ensure that children have positive routines and consistent boundaries. Children respond well to these. One child moved to the home after experiencing the breakdown of several placements. The child’s social worker said that the consistent care provided by staff has helped the child settle. Another child said that they liked the home because of the clear rules and boundaries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of children’s health needs and work closely with children and other professionals to meet these. One child has complex health needs and has made excellent progress in relation to managing these. The managers have ensured that staff have had training in relation to children’s health needs. This gives the staff the required knowledge to support children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is good support for children’s emotional well-being. A therapist visits every week to spend time with the children. This allows them to build a positive relationship with the therapist. Two children are accessing regular one-to-one therapy sessions, at their request. This work helps children gain a better understanding of their previous experiences and build strategies to manage their emotional well-being. The therapist provides regular reports to staff, which help them think about children’s needs from a different perspective. This includes the consideration of past trauma.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s education. They advocate for children to ensure that they have educational provision that meets their needs. One child who had struggled to engage in education enjoyed a residential trip with the school. This demonstrates the progress the child has made in a relatively short period. Another child has recently been given a regional award for their achievements in education, specifically in relation to overcoming challenges. Good support for children’s education has helped them make significant progress in this area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to create and maintain a homely environment for children. Two cats have recently been adopted, and children value these and other pets. The children also have individual pets, which they have earned through an incentive scheme. The children have developed good self-care skills and learned about the care of animals.

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How children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff have a good understanding of risks and manage these well. For one child, there were significant concerns in relation to criminal exploitation. Staff have worked Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 4 with the child to help them understand the risks and to make positive choices. Since moving to the home, these risks have significantly reduced. Another child has a history of self-harm. Over time, staff have helped the child to develop alternative ways of managing distress. This has helped the child to seek help from staff, and incidents of self-harm have reduced.

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How children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff manage behavioural incidents well. They provide consistent responses to children that help them understand the behavioural expectations. One child who was involved in frequent incidents has become much more settled, with a significant reduction in incidents. Managers have good oversight of incidents and actively seek to learn from them. When managers identify that staff could have responded more effectively, this is clearly addressed with staff. This helps to increase staff’s knowledge of effective behaviour management.

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How children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children’s risk assessments contain clear strategies for staff to manage most risks. This helps provide the staff with clear guidance for different situations. However, risk assessments fail to consider the impact of children’s behaviours. Some behaviours significantly affect others, and a failure to fully consider these means that clear guidance is not provided to staff.

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How children and young people are helped and protected: good

Incidents of restraint are rare. When this is used, it is as a last resort, to keep children and others safe. Managers have good oversight of incidents and ensure that appropriate follow-up work takes place with staff and children. However, some records of restraint are unclear. This leads to ambiguity about exactly which interventions have been used.

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How children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children have made some allegations against staff. Managers have referred these to the local authority designated officer (LADO) promptly. The investigations into allegations have been thorough and transparent. However, on two occasions, the manager has initiated investigations before receiving advice from the LADO. This is not in line with the home’s safeguarding policy. Diverting from the home’s policy risks prejudicing future investigations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and working towards the level 5 qualification. He has a good understanding of the strengths of the staff team and areas for development. He has clear plans in place to further develop these areas and strives to continuously improve the quality of care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 5 Staff feel well supported by managers. The manager is a visible presence and always available to provide support and guidance. Senior managers are highly involved in the day-to-day running of the home, and this helps to ensure that their experience and knowledge is used to help improve care. Managers provide staff with regular supervision. This provides a forum to consider how children’s needs are being met, as well as considering staff’s developmental needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a wide range of training. This includes areas that are specific to the individual needs of children, such as health conditions or risks. Staff also receive significant training in relation to the model of care. They have a good understanding of this model and how it helps improve the care that they provide to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers build effective working relationships with the wider network around the children, including their families and other professionals. They ensure that any concerns in relation to children’s care are communicated to others. The staff appropriately challenge other professionals. Good relationships with others help to ensure that everyone involved in children’s care contributes towards it effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers actively seek and respond to children’s views. Children say that they feel listened to and can talk to staff, who take their views seriously. Regular community meetings provide a forum to discuss topics with the children, including gaining their views about the care that they receive. Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 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

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that allegations against staff are managed in line with the home’s safeguarding policy. 20 February 2023

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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

a description of the measure and its duration. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)) 20 February 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. In particular, consider the impact that children’s individual behaviours may have on other children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 7

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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: SC475088 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Shalamar Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 63a, Thames Industrial Estate, Princess Margaret Road, East Tilbury, Essex RM18 8RH

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Inspector

Joe Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 9 inspects 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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