Children's Home run by Flying Spur Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report for children’s home: 2640082 1 Registered provider: Flying Spur 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 and learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 24 January 2022

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2640082 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2640082 3

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inadequate

One child was living at the home at the time of this inspection. Since the last inspection, three children have moved on from the home. Two of those children moved on in ways that were not in line with their care plans. Children’s experiences and progress have been negatively affected by shortfalls in care planning, responses to safeguarding concerns and the leadership and management of the home.

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inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to plan effectively for children to move to the home. One child moved to the home despite the manager stating to a social worker that the child already at the home should not be placed with another child. Another child later moved to the home, despite the manager stating to social workers that the children should not be placed together. The manager said that had the child not moved from the organisation’s sister home, he would not have accepted the placement due to the level of risks. The manager’s group dynamic risk assessment failed to consider the effect that children’s needs and behaviour may have on each other. Consequently, children already living at the home became withdrawn and anxious.

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inadequate

Children’s progress in education has been mixed. One child engaged well in their education and was making good progress. However, another child has had poor engagement in education. Staff have worked with this child’s school to support the child, but this has not proved successful. The child has not been to school for several weeks. There is no clear plan on how to engage the child in educational activities while they are not attending school. The child has poor sleep routines and there are limited strategies to support this to improve. This does not help prepare the child to re-engage in education.

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inadequate

Staff work with children to meet their health needs. Children have access to a therapist, who visits the home regularly. This provides children with support for their emotional well-being. Staff can access support from the therapist, which helps increase their understanding of children’s needs.

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inadequate

Children access a good range of activities. One child goes to a weekly singing club. They enjoy this experience and have recently been able to increase their time there, demonstrating good progress in their engagement with the group.

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

Staff have not responded effectively to incidents of bullying. Three incidents of bullying took place towards one child in a relatively short period. The manager’s reviews of these incidents identified possible consequences to address the behaviours. However, these consequences were not implemented. Staff did not undertake any reflective or restorative work with the children involved to help them Inspection report for children’s home: 2640082 4 understand the effect of their behaviours or support them to rebuild relationships. A further significant incident then followed. The failure of the manager and staff to respond to incidents of bullying and set clear expectations of behaviours has meant that children have not been adequately protected.

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

Managers have not always responded to concerns relating to children’s online safety and sexual exploitation appropriately. The incident was not promptly or accurately referred to the relevant professionals. The manager stated that part of the reason he had not reported the concern to police was that he was worried about the potential impact on the child of their phone being removed.

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

Very limited work has taken place with another child to educate them about online risks. When the child has not engaged in key-work sessions, managers have failed to review plans, meaning that this work has not taken place. Poor responses to risks of online safety and sexual exploitation fail to ensure that children are well protected.

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

Children’s risk assessments do not include all known risks for them. One child said that they feel unsafe at the home due to bullying. However, the child’s risk assessment makes no reference to incidents of bullying or the circumstances in which incidents occurred. This means that staff have not been provided with clear strategies on how to manage these risks and help the child to feel safe.

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

One child made an allegation of harm against a staff member. This was recorded in the child’s daily record, but not in the relevant incident form. The manager subsequently failed to identify the allegation on their review of the daily record. This meant that the allegation was not referred to the local authority designated officer or the child’s social worker. Therefore, no investigation took place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager is suitably experienced and is working towards a relevant level 5 qualification. However, he does not provide a visible presence at the home. This has negatively affected the oversight that he provides. The manager’s monitoring has failed to identify that children’s plans and risk assessments are poor quality, allegations against staff, and ineffective responses to safeguarding concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Records are not well organised. During the inspection, managers struggled to find some records, including key-work records relating to specific risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Feedback from external professionals was mixed. One child’s social worker was complimentary about how the home works with the child and in relation to communication with the home. However, another social worker and a team manager raised concerns about how effectively managers communicate with them and how staff implement children’s plans. This included communication about safeguarding concerns. Leaders and managers acknowledged some challenges in the relationship with one local authority. However, they have not appropriately raised their concerns in relation to this. Consequently, steps have not been taken to improve working relationships. Inspection report for children’s home: 2640082 5 Internal quality of care reviews do not include feedback from children and other relevant people. In addition, the care reviews do not set clear actions to improve the quality of care provided to children. The reviews are not used to consider how

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

children and others view the care provided and to use feedback to drive improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not ensured that all staff receive regular supervision. One new staff member did not receive supervision for over two months when they started in their role. This was despite them having limited experience of working in similar settings. Another staff member went over two months without supervision during a period with regular and high levels of challenging behavioural incidents. Lack of supervision means that staff have not been provided with the individual support that supervision offers. Opportunities to use supervision as a forum to consider how effectively children’s needs are being met have been missed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2640082 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)(vii))(b))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge to recognise and respond to incidents of bullying, and to support children to understand the impact of bullying behaviours on others;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that all safeguarding concerns are shared fully and promptly with relevant external professionals in line with safeguarding protocols; 17 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2640082 7 ensure that managers and staff help children to understand the risks of sexual exploitation and online safety, and provide them with strategies to raise concerns and protect themselves;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that all staff and managers know how to report allegations against staff and that they do so without delay;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that managers take direction from the relevant external professionals on how to manage allegations, including carrying out thorough investigations when directed.

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Requirement Due date

*The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided at the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that leaders and managers have effective systems to plan for children to move into the home and that planning considers the known risks, the likely impact of the move on other children at the home, and whether staff have the skills required to meet all the children’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that leaders and managers seek to identify learning from any placement breakdowns and take action to make improvements to the care provided to children because of this; 17 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2640082 8 demonstrate how leaders and managers monitor staff practice, record outcomes and identity learning, training and development for individuals and the team. In addition, demonstrate how the manager’s practice is monitored and reviewed and training and development needs are identified.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that care planning considers the needs of all children in advance of children moving to the home. 17 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) 2(a)(iii)(iv)(v)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, identify and respond appropriately to incidents of bullying. Provide children with support to understand and opportunities to reflect on behaviours which affect 17 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2640082 9 relationships so that they can identify and reduce harmful behaviours.

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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

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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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 (b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, address issues in working relationships with children’s local authorities as they arise. 31 March 2023

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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

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)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, establish daily routines and structures which enable children who are not attending education to access educational opportunities at the home and prepare them to return to school. 17 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff receive regular supervision in line with their skills and experience. 31 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2640082 10 In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (2)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the quality-of-care review incorporates the views of children and sets out actions to develop the home. 1 May 2023

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2640082 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Flying Spur Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Filby Hall, Main Road, Filby, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR29 3HN

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Inspectors

Joe Matkar-Cox, Social Care Inspector Tom McGhee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2640082 12 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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