Children's home run by Hestia Homes for Children

Inspection report for children’s home: 2670636 1 Registered provider: Hestia Homes for Children Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns the home. It registered to provide care for up to five children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 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 good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2670636 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2670636 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the first inspection of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by a nurturing and friendly staff team. Managers and staff work with professionals and families to ensure that the children’s care needs are understood before they move in. Careful planning, communication, consideration of care needs and choices help reassure children moving in and those living in the home. Children receive a warm welcome and build positive relationships from the onset.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are meticulous in the way they promote children’s educational needs. The managers and staff ensure that children access planned in-house private tutorials combined with other outdoor school activities. This allows children to slowly reintegrate to full-time school routines at a pace suitable for their individual needs and abilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a variety of enjoyable and innovating activities. These activities include bowling, crazy golf, swimming, playing pool and being a member of the local basketball club. Children’s active lives help them to stay physically fit.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff inspire children to take pride in themselves. Staff carefully select skills that need development and support children to complete these according to their abilities. One child proudly informed the inspector that he ‘loved cooking, food shopping and cleaning his room’. Another child showed how he could now use his hearing aids to effectively listen and engage with peers and staff.

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

Staff help to keep children increasingly safe. Staff are guided by exceptionally well- documented and regularly reviewed risk assessments. The leaders and registered manager work alongside staff to provide guidance and coaching on safer care. When required, they implement new approaches to keep children safe in line with current risks presented.

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

Children do not go missing from home. Protocols that meet children’s individual needs are in place and help staff to understand the actions to take if children were to go missing.

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

Staff manage behaviours well. Secure relationships shared by staff and children have resulted in a decrease in incidents that require the use of restraints. Children who struggled with their emotions and feelings when they moved in are now able to self- sooth and positively seek staff support. Inspection report for children’s home: 2670636 4 Trained managers and staff oversee the administration of medication. When medication errors occur, staff seek professional advice as soon as the error is reported. Thorough investigations are completed, and reflective practice sessions or refresher training are undertaken as a result. However, managers have failed to notify Ofsted of serious medication errors. This means that Ofsted has not been able to review the provider’s actions taken in response.

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

Children live in a safe environment. Health and safety checks are completed as required. Clearly documented and individualised evacuation plans provide guidance in line with children’s level of understanding and needs. Fire evacuations take place and are explained to new children and staff.

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

Recruitment procedures are extremely thorough. Leaders and managers carefully recruit and select staff who are suitable to care for children and to help keep them safe.

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

Children live in a clean and nurturing environment. Most of the areas in the home are well maintained, and children’s bedrooms are clean and decorated with personal effects of their choice. However, parts of the garden require securing. Items that could be used as potential weapons should be removed from the garden to prevent serious harm to individuals and damage of property.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is enthusiastic and ambitious in the provision and demonstrates an outstanding level of care to children. She has high expectations for all children to achieve and shares this with a caring and approachable staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and leaders know the children well. They use excellent processes to measure progress made by children. The managers and staff are helped by external evaluation from the independent visitor. They ensure that all recommendations are addressed as soon as possible and use feedback to improve practice. Child-centred target plans are used to help children review their own progress and identify areas of develop. All achievements and progress made are celebrated through effective reward systems.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive regular and effective supervisions. When managers miss supervisions, plans are made to complete these at the earliest available date. Staff informed the inspector that they believe supervisions are very effective. They appreciate the manager’s ‘open door’ policy as it gives them the opportunity to discuss immediate concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers ensure that staff access training programmes specific to children’s individual needs. Staff receive mandatory training when they start work. Further training is given to all staff in line with children’s health and care needs. The manager values staff’s professional development, and she explores a variety of external training and practice-based research for staff. This enhances staff’s understanding and helps them meet children’s care needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2670636 5 The leaders and managers are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. For example, they became aware of the shortage of staff and ensured that highly effective recruitment processes were completed. To alleviate staff shortage, the managers worked alongside staff to ensure that continuity and consistency were maintained in the care given to children. Excellent systems to address staff retention

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

have been implemented to ensure that staff feel valued and appreciated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The managers and staff promote equality and inclusion exceptionally well. Children’s cultural and religious needs are well recognised and respected. The manager promotes children’s choices. Staff value every child’s opinion and ensure that they feel included.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Excellent consultation processes enable children to freely express themselves. Managers and staff use creative ways to support children to share their feelings and wishes. Staff use communication tools such as the Picture Exchange Communication System, Makaton, non-verbal cues and verbal communication to engage with children. Children’s views are listened to and reviewed through well-documented recording systems and, where appropriate, are acted on by staff. Hence, children feel listened to. Inspection report for children’s home: 2670636 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, the 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(c)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 31 March 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is an environment which supports children to stay safe. This particularly relates to ensuring that the garden gates are secure to deter intruders. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.10)

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report for children’s home: 2670636 7 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: 2670636 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hestia Homes or Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Emerys Farm, Beckfords, Upper Basildon, Reading RG8 8PB

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Inspector

Alphie Khumalo, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2670636 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 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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