Children's Home run by Esland North Limited in Wiltshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2519260 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private provider and offers care for up to three children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that care is provided for children with social and emotional difficulties and associated complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home. However, one child declined to speak with the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since May 2022.

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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 requires improvement to be 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

Date of last inspection: 19 October 2021

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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: 2519260 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/10/2021 Full Good 29/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2519260 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in this home from their individual starting points. Children have been supported to express themselves in healthier ways, develop friendships outside of the home, and spend positive time with family members. One child said that living in the home was ‘alright’, with a smile on his face. Interactions between children and staff are warm and friendly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with positive experiences in the community. Children have taken part in fundraising activities, and have raised money for local charities and causes. Photos of children’s involvement in community events, including a Halloween party and summer fete, adorn the walls of the home. As a result, children are supported by visual reminders of positive events that support their a sense of belonging in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s family members and friends are supported to spend positive time with them. Staff work with external professionals to ensure that family members are supported to understand the care their children receive, and they are able to contribute in positive ways. This is helping children to build safe and consistent relationships with the people that are important to them. One family member commented on how well staff take care of their child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education remains a challenge. When children are not in full-time education, routines and activities are encouraged, although the provision of meaningful educational activities is limited and act as no substitute for formal learning. When necessary, the registered manager has escalated concerns about educational provision, but actions have not been sufficient or ambitious in promoting positive educational outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has successfully moved on from the home. Staff supported the child’s family members to respond to the child’s needs effectively. Staff remained available to the child and his family members, which has helped to ensure that the move was a positive experience for those involved. The success and ongoing progress of the child were recognised by the child’s social worker, who thanked the registered manager and staff team for their contribution to his care.

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improvement to be good

One child said that he felt safe in the home, although he does not always feel that staff listen to him. On one occasion, staff did not identify or report a concern made by a child about a member of staff. When the registered manager became aware of the concern, it was not reported to all of the relevant professionals. Learning from this incident has taken place and, during the inspection, the concern was reported to the local authority designated officer. Inspection report for children’s home: 2519260 4 Care plans are written to the children and seek to help children feel valued and understand the support that is available to them. However, plans are vague with regard to how staff care for children and meet their needs. For example, educational plans lack information about how to improve educational outcomes, and there is limited information about how staff promote children’s sense of identity.

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improvement to be good

Individual behaviour support plans provide staff with most of the strategies they need to keep children safe. However, not all key risks are identified. As a result, it is not always clear how staff and children are supported to understand risk or how to respond to it safely.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment checks are used by the registered manager to help determine the suitability of staff to work with children. However, the registered manager has not had sufficient oversight of recruitment checks for agency members of staff. Consequently, the registered manager has not been able to assure themselves of agency staff’s suitability for the role.

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improvement to be good

Incident reports provide an overview of what happened, and the range of strategies used by staff to support the child. Incident reports allow for staff to reflect on the events preceding an incident and identify what could be done differently in the future. Debriefs and key-work sessions with children are used to encourage further reflection. As a result, children and staff are helped to learn from their experiences and are supported to respond in safer ways in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager maintains oversight of the home and has a good understanding of the needs of children. The registered manager recognises what the home does well and has taken appropriate steps to address the requirement and recommendations raised at the last inspection. The home’s quality of care review clearly outlines areas for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a range of training opportunities, which supports them to meet the children’s needs. Team meetings and staff supervisions provide staff with a space to reflect on the needs of children and the care that staff provide. As a result, staff are supported to identify how the care offered to children can be continually developed and improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals is positive. Social workers and independent reviewing officers can identify the progress their children have made since living in the home and commend the care provided by the team. Professionals recognised the strong leadership and advocacy for children by the registered manager. One social worker voiced disappointment that the registered manager is leaving their role. Leaders and managers have made plans for the ongoing managerial arrangements of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from staff is mixed. All staff said that they enjoy working in the home and feel supported by the registered manager. However, some staff demonstrated a lack Inspection report for children’s home: 2519260 5 of understanding about nurturing care. For example, staff were not always able to understand the rationale behind the registered manager’s decisions or appreciate why it is important for children to be able to access all areas of their home. As a result, staff responses to children are not always well informed or nurturing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The location risk assessment provides an overview of the risks in the local area and the services available to children. The location risk assessment does not consider the interaction of risks associated with the location of the home and the needs of individual children. However, it does contain some useful emergency information. Overall, the location risk assessment can be used by staff to keep children safe and promote their welfare. Inspection report for children’s home: 2519260 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; and

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that when children are not receiving full-time education, they are provided with meaningful educational and learning opportunities. In addition, there should be clear and supportive plans in place for achieving full-time formal educational attendance. 20 March 2023

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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

that staff— 20 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2519260 7 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; 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)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that all allegations against members of staff are reported to the relevant professionals. Staff should be supported to identify concerns and take appropriate actions to ensure that children are protected from potential harm.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, care documents should provide staff with the information they require to keep children safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d)) 20 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2519260 8 In particular, the registered person should ensure that all safer recruitment checks are complete for staff before they work in the home, including for agency members of staff.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met; doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. In particular, staff should be supported to understand the importance of nurturing care, including the use of consequences and the importance of children’s right to access shared areas in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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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: 2519260 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Esland Ltd, Suite 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Kimberley Adcock-Coombs

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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2519260 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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