Children's home run by G&S caring for children and young people ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 2685330 1 Registered provider: G & S Caring for Children and Young People Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private company. It provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a manager, who is registered with Ofsted.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2685330 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children's home: 2685330 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy living in this home. One child said, ‘Staff are the best thing about the home.’ The home is warm and welcoming with a family feel. This gives children a sense of belonging.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy positive relationships with staff who truly care about them. Children are confident to speak to staff about personal matters, such as their identity. The children can talk about their feelings. The staff are strong advocates for children. For example, staff advocated on behalf of a child to support him to attend a school of his choice. This has led to the development of strong relationships and means that children are able to influence their experiences and feel involved in their care planning.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s memories are captured through photos and presented in personalised journals. These journals provide children with a record of their experiences while at the home. The staff recognise that children flourish with positive reinforcement and praise. Children’s positive praise books capture and applaud their successes. Celebrating children’s achievements underpins the home’s child-centred approach when caring for children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff help new children to move into the home in a planned and thoughtful manner. These transitions consider the needs of the child. However, placement planning meetings are not always convened within the required time frames. Children’s case files do not contain all the information, and one child’s local authority care plan is out of date. This potentially leaves staff with a lack of information, which may hamper children settling and making progress.

p.3

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

The manager and staff understand the risks posed to and by children. The children’s individual risk assessments are thorough. They provide staff with strategies to minimise any risk to children. This supports staff in taking action to keep children safe. For example, one child brought an inappropriate item into the home. The staff acted immediately to ensure that other children and staff were safeguarded. Managers and staff act quickly and decisively to ensure that any concerning incidents are managed effectively and to reduce potential risk to others.

p.3

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

Staff rarely physically intervene to manage children’s behaviour. Staff are skilled in managing behaviour and resolving conflict without things escalating. When physical intervention has been used, the recording of incidents is comprehensive. However, at times, there have been inaccuracies in recording. This has not impacted on children’s safety. There is evaluative management oversight of incidents. This helps to ensure that children are safeguarded because this evaluation leads to learning from incidents and helps to reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence. Inspection report for children's home: 2685330 4 Children are supported to make a complaint if they feel aggrieved. For example, a child, with the assistance of a children’s rights officer, was supported to complain about a previous school. This supported the child to have their voice heard and reinforced to them that their views, wishes and feelings matter.

p.3

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

The managers are committed to children’s safety. They use thorough safer recruitment processes to recruit new staff. Consequently, children are cared for by safe adults.

p.4

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

The manager has carried out a location risk assessment. However, it does not consider up-to-date data about criminal activity in the local area. There is a lack of consultation with relevant professional agencies. This is a missed opportunity to reduce risk and to fully review the home’s location to ensure that external risks to children are minimised.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2022. With the support of a dedicated management team, she has led the home through a difficult period. The managers are committed, motivated and strong advocates for children. They place children at the heart of all that they do. They have high expectations and strive to ensure that children are supported to make progress in all areas of their lives.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All the staff report excellent support from managers. One staff member said,

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

‘The manager supports the team, offering support, supervision, job chats and working closely with the children. She is respectful, kind and nurturing to all and goes above and beyond to ensure staff are safe, comfortable and supported.’

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes certain that staff are well trained and complete a range of mandatory training before they work with children. Staff have specific training to equip them to meet the individual needs of the children in their care.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are visible and support the staff through modelling best practice. However, the manager struggles, at times, to carry out management tasks. For example, staff have not had supervision meetings with their manager in line with the organisation’s policy. Despite this, all staff report very positively about the support they receive from the manager and leaders.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Not all placements have had planned endings, and some placements for children have come to an end because of increased risk-taking behaviour by children. The manager and leaders identified that they were not able to keep children safe. This increase in incidents impacted on other children, which led to one child being excluded from school. Leaders and managers have changed their approach to Inspection report for children's home: 2685330 5 accepting children into the home. Referrals are scrutinised and they are committed to accepting new children when they are confident that staff can meet their needs. Inspection report for children's home: 2685330 6

p.4

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

p.6

Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that: children’s local authority care plans are up to date; placement planning meetings are carried out within the expected time frames; and children who move on from the home have a positive experience. 8 March 2023

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that all staff receive regular recorded supervision. 8 March 2023

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are accurately recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should consult with professional agencies to identify any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and have strategies in Inspection report for children's home: 2685330 7 place for managing these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

p.6

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: 2685330 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: G & S Caring for Children and Young People Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 11 Foxglove Close, East Goscote, Leicester LE7 3QS

p.8

Inspector

Linda Mason, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2685330 9 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9