Children's home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 1258134 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private company that is owned and operated by a national charity. It provides care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an acting manager in place. The acting manager has not yet applied to become registered.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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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 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: 8 November 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

At the full inspection on 8 and 9 November 2022, Ofsted identified serious and widespread failures that meant children were not protected and their welfare was not promoted or safeguarded. The care and experiences of children and young people were poor, and they were not making progress. As a result, Ofsted issued Inspection report for children’s home: 1258134 2 compliance notices in relation to the protection of children and the leadership and management of the home.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit was carried out on 13 December 2022 which identified improved safeguarding practices and strengthened leadership of the home. Consequently, the compliance notices were found to be met. Inspection report for children’s home: 1258134 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/11/2022 Full Inadequate 14/07/2021 Full Good 08/07/2019 Full Good 23/01/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1258134 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been significant and positive developments since the last inspection and monitoring visit. The physical environment has improved, which has included a new bathroom being fitted. Cleanliness has also improved throughout the home. However, children need more help from staff to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. Also, there is some damaged furniture which needs replacing in a child’s bedroom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to see their families. The manager and staff ensure regular communication between them and children’s families in order to update them regularly about their child’s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with continued support from staff, even when they leave the home in an unplanned way. A ‘staying close’ package is provided, and staff ensure that children experience a positive goodbye from staff, including a farewell gift and a meal out. This helps children feel cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children are supported to share their wishes and feelings. Staff and children discuss a wide range of topics, and these are always relevant to the children’s interests and views. This helps children feel listened to and valued. Children’s meetings are not always effective. One child said, ‘They are boring.’ Staff are keen to make children’s meetings more effective and more interesting for children, but changes are not yet embedded.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are not currently attending their education and there are some barriers to their learning. Staff are not always creative enough in finding alternative solutions when children do not want to attend school. This does not fully support children with their educational progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are not involved in a wide range of activities. Staff are not creative in supporting children to explore their interests. This limits social experiences for children.

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

Staff rarely resort to physical intervention to manage behaviour. When it is used, leaders and managers support the children and staff to reflect on the incident so that appropriate support can be given. Children’s risk assessments are routinely updated after incidents to ensure that staff know what to do to keep the children safe.

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

When children go missing, staff are clear about actions required. Staff follow the missing-from-care protocol and work with external professionals supporting the children. This ensures that children are protected from the known risks when they are missing from care. Inspection report for children’s home: 1258134 5 Positive behaviour support plans are detailed and help staff understand the support children need. There have been examples of where staff have not consistently followed these plans. For example, an incident occurred which could have been avoided. A member of staff took a child out, leaving one staff member with children who had been struggling to manage their emotions. This resulted in an incident occurring that needed police involvement. The manager said, ‘The incident wouldn’t have been what it was [had the support plans been followed.]’ The manager has already dealt with these shortfalls and has acted swiftly to take action to protect

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

Sanctions are not used often and when they are used, they are proportionate. Following any incident, debrief meetings take place with children and staff involved. This helps to reflect on and discuss the support needed to reduce the likelihood of future incidents occurring.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a clear management structure in place, which promotes stability within the team and for children. The manager and deputy manager are reflective about the positive progress made for children and in identifying areas for improvement. The manager’s recent quality-of-care review provides evidence of this continued reflection on improvement in children’s lives and in the home. This helps with positive development of the service and care provided for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One member of staff describes the manager and deputy manager as ‘supportive and approachable’. More than one other member of staff echoed this. Another member of staff said, ‘They give me the confidence to do my job correctly, and help me improve in any areas I struggle with.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision is held regularly. There is a clear agenda, including discussion about safeguarding children and staff’s well-being. There is no recorded discussion about practice issues. This means staff’s development and progress are not clearly monitored.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy manager’s oversight and review of the care provided to children is good. This helps managers to identify how to support staff’s development and therefore improve the care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

More than one member of staff raises concern about future admissions into the home at this current time. However, they feel confident that the manager and deputy will work hard in ensuring that this is well planned.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Serious incidents are not always shared with the regulator in a timely manner. This prevents a thorough evaluation from being carried out and restricts Ofsted’s ability to evaluate how well children are safeguarded at the service. Inspection report for children’s home: 1258134 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children.

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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

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a) (2)(b)(ii)(iii)(vii)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to the registered person ensuring that improvements required in children’s bedrooms are addressed without delay. 6 April 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

that staff— 6 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1258134 7 help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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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

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v) (b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the manager having plans regarding children’s education and structuring days for children who are not in school, so they continue to learn.

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(I)(ii)(iii)(b)) 6 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1258134 8 This specifically refers to the registered person ensuring that staff are being creative in supporting children to develop their interests and hobbies.

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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 any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that Ofsted is notified of serious incidents without delay. 6 April 2023

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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: 1258134 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House Valiant Office Suites, Swift Valley, Valley Drive, Swift Valley Industrial Estate, Rugby CV21 1TQ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Craig Whitchurch

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Inspector

Kathryn Hurley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1258134 10 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 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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