Children's home run by Jamores Limited in Bexley

Inspection report for children’s home: 1234166 1 Registered provider: Jamores 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 three children with social and emotional difficulties. There were three children living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in 2016. The manager registered with Ofsted in 2019.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1234166 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/08/2021 Full Good 08/05/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 11/09/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1234166 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children settle well into the home and make good progress from their starting points. They make and sustain meaningful, warm and nurturing relationships with a consistent staff team. One child has lived at the home for over two years. Overall, children feel safe and well cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive child-centred care. They are helped and supported to build positive relationships with each other. Staff are skilled in identifying any concerns about bullying and work with children to help them to understand the risks, learn to live with each other and build appropriate relationships. Children are supported to manage difficult life experiences, which helps them to develop coping strategies and build resilience, enhancing their growth and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are listened to. They have the opportunity to share their views in weekly house meetings and with their key workers. Children’s complaints are recorded and responded to appropriately. As a result, children are more settled and have positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the value of children maintaining positive family relationships. Children are sensitively supported to spend time with their family and others who are important to them. The manager and staff support children and families to overcome any difficulties in their relationships, and they advocate for children. As a result, children spend more quality time with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in their education. Staff are proactive and advocate well for children to ensure that they receive an appropriate education provision. They work with the professional network to ensure that children who are struggling with their education have alternative plans. This ensures that children remain in education and make progress from their starting points.

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

Children say that they feel safe. They can identify a trusted person to talk to if they have any worries or concerns. The stable and consistent home environment, together with the warmth and confidence of the staff, helps children to feel safe and secure.

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

Children receive appropriate help and support to manage their behaviour and feelings. Good behaviour is encouraged with positive reinforcement and praise, which children respond to appropriately. This has resulted in a reduction in incidents and provides children with positive experiences of care.

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

Staff work closely with other agencies to ensure that appropriate action is taken to keep children safe. However, all known risks and vulnerabilities are not always Inspection report for children’s home: 1234166 4 explored when children’s circumstances change. For example, one child who regularly goes missing from home and is at risk of child sexual exploitation does not have a risk assessment to manage this risk. This limits how well children are helped to keep themselves safe.

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

Children receive a well-coordinated response when they are missing from home. Staff understand the risks when children are missing and have a good understanding of the missing-from-home protocol. The manager and staff work effectively with other professionals when children are missing from home. They ensure that children receive independent return home interviews to gather important information to help to manage and reduce risks.

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

Children are supported to understand the risks posed to them when accessing the internet. Staff use individual sessions with children to help them to develop their knowledge and understanding of the risks. There are effective strategies and monitoring systems in place to address any concerns raised. As a result, children are kept safe when playing and working online.

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

Key-work sessions focus on children’s individual needs and are in line with their plans. The frequency of planned and unplanned key-work sessions ensures that key- work sessions are relevant to the children and what is happening in their lives. Staff use information about children to plan effective key-work sessions. Positive relationships between staff and children enable key-work sessions to be meaningful and beneficial for them.

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good

The home is led and managed by a committed and experienced registered manager. The manager and staff know the children well and hold high aspirations for them. Feedback from children, professionals and parents about the leaders, managers and staff is positive.

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good

Leaders and managers regularly work proactively with other professionals and build positive relationships with parents. Professionals and parents receive regular updates about the progress and experiences of children. However, safeguarding information shared by the placing local authority when a new child moved into the home was not promptly followed up to ensure that appropriate action was taken.

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good

Leaders and managers are well informed and have a clear understanding of the progress that children make. They recognise when children are struggling and if the care provided is not meeting their needs. One child who was struggling to settle in the home is now settled and making good progress. Leaders and managers work with the professional network to ensure that alternative plans are in place for children when necessary. This helps children to get the right support to meet their needs and provides them with stability. Inspection report for children’s home: 1234166 5 Staff understand their roles and responsibilities and undertake relevant training. Team meetings demonstrate that staff are able to reflect on practice and the needs of children. Staff benefit from regular supervision, covering a broad agenda. Supervision sessions are reflective, offer staff support and guidance and consider the needs and progress of children.

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good

Children’s records are comprehensive and reflect their everyday lives. Children’s care plans are written from the child’s perspective, which gives them more meaning and brings them to life. However, some children’s files do not include placing authority care plans. This reduces the manager and staff’s understanding of children’s needs and progress.

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good

The home’s physical environment is safe for children. However, repair work, including repairs required in the children’s bedrooms, is not carried out promptly. For example, one child’s bed is broken. This does not demonstrate that children are provided with a warm and comfortable home environment. Inspection report for children’s home: 1234166 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that children’s risk assessments include information about all known risks and that children are helped to learn how to keep themselves safe. 3 February 2023

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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))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to leaders and managers ensuring that they promptly escalate concerns when they feel that a local authority has not responded appropriately to concerns raised about children. 28 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1234166 7 Leaders and managers must ensure that all children’s files have placing local authority care plans to help them to plan effectively for children.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that, for the home to be a nurturing and supportive environment, they continue to repair all areas of the home’s interior promptly, including the children’s bedrooms. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 1234166 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Thames Innovation Centre, Studio 52, Veridion Way, Erith DA18 4AL

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Inspectors

Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Melvin Davies, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1234166 9 regulates and 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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