Children's Home run by Azalea Care Ltd in Peterborough

Inspection report for children’s home: 2682522 1 Registered provider: Azalea Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private organisation. It provides care for up to five children with physical or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 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 good

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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: 2682522 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. Both children attend school full time. Staff communicate with school staff and monitor children’s educational progress and achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage in activities to build their life skills, and they are encouraged to take responsibility for self-care tasks. Both children were observed preparing a meal with the support of staff and were excited to share the finished dish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with primary health services and attend routine appointments. If specialist support is needed, this is identified and referrals are made. Staff recently attended a virtual consultation with the child and adolescent mental health services to discuss a child’s needs so that additional support can be provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain relationships with their family and other important people. Staff provide transport and supervision when needed. Some children spend time with their families at the home. This helps families to feel connected to the child and their care experiences. Families feel involved and informed about children and their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents, carers and professionals said that children make progress at the home. One child’s parent said that their child can manage personal care tasks more effectively and that his communication has improved. The staff made adaptions to the home to accommodate his needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child’s placement ended due to escalating risks. A professional for this child said that despite the unplanned end, some progress was made, and staff had done all they could to support the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is brightly decorated and furnished. The interior of the home has an area, designed as a garden, which extends a garden feel into the dining area. This inventive use of space provides children with a safe play area. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their own taste. There is also a well-equipped sensory room which is regularly used. However, the designated smoking area for staff is at the top of the driveway, which exposes the children to staff smoking as they come and go from the home.

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

Children feel safe and build trusting relationships with staff. One child writes down her feelings in a notebook for staff if she does not feel like talking. She understands the staff’s role to keep her safe from self-harm. One non-verbal child communicated with staff, using pictures and symbols, to express feeling sad and tired. Inspection report for children’s home: 2682522 3 Observations of interactions show that both children feel relaxed and confident at the home.

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

Children have individual plans and assessments at the point of moving into the home. Impact risk assessments clearly explore the risks of children living together. Children’s plans are regularly updated to reflect their progress and developing needs. However, more consideration needs to be given to using reins for one child. There is no planning to review or reduce the use of these as a protective measure.

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

Rewards, consequences and restorative work are used to encourage children to think about their behaviours and how their choices impact them and others. Children receive small rewards for good behaviour. When children display negative behaviour, they are supported to apologise to staff and peers. This allows children to begin to make informed choices and take appropriate responsibility for their actions.

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

Effective and focused key-work sessions support children. Staff use pictures and symbols to support a non-verbal child to improve their personal care and communication. Progress and achievements are celebrated with children as part of these sessions. This helps children to recognise their own progress and take pride in their successes.

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

Staff are adequately trained to meet the children’s needs. All staff have received training in disability and autism awareness and are appropriately trained in the use of restraint. Staff understand children’s support needs and risks and can identify when children have made progress. They understand how to keep children safe from risks such as self-harm and exploitation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and is currently working towards her level 5 qualification in leadership and management in children’s residential care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has ambition for the children. She sets high standards for staff and how they support children to achieve. Issues of staff practice that fall below expected standards are addressed. These are challenged during supervision sessions and team meetings. When learning is identified, practice is changed to improve children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by managers. Supervision is used to support professional development. Staff feel that they can discuss personal and professional issues and that managers are responsive to their needs. One staff member said that the manager understands her learning style, communicates, and gives instructions in a simple way that makes sense.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide good oversight, using regular audits. This process monitors the quality of care planning and paperwork. It tracks children’s progress against their targets. Monthly and quarterly action plans are produced to ensure that shortfalls Inspection report for children’s home: 2682522 4 are addressed and that children’s plans remain up to date and relevant to their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is no effective system in place to record children’s views and the actions taken to respond to these. On one child’s file, it has been recorded that he is not able to give his views. The child is non-verbal; however, there is no evidence of how staff have tried to enable his participation. Therefore, the systems to ensure that children are listened to and responded to are not effective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Incidents of restraint are not consistently recorded and the paperwork is confusing. Different reporting formats cause confusion. The views of children and staff are not routinely or clearly recorded by the manager. This means that opportunities to learn from the experiences of children and staff are missed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2682522 5

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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 children’s wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that non-verbal children’s wishes and feelings are sought, recorded and responded to. 1 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 1 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2682522 6 within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used, or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(b) (3)(a)(v)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the use of restraints is consistently recorded and that children and staff are routinely debriefed following incidents.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all aspects of a child’s well-being are considered, including their physical, emotional and social well-being, both for the child's immediate future and for later life. In particular, they should ensure that children are not exposed to adults who are smoking. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.2)  The registered person should implement a behaviour management policy which meets the children’s individual needs. The policy should recognise children’s aspirations and strengths and enhance their quality of life. Measures of control should be subject to review to ensure that the use continues to meet the child’s needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraphs 9.35 and 9.36) Inspection report for children’s home: 2682522 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: 2682522 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Azalea Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Lyana Sinclair Russell

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Inspector

Tom McGhee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2682522 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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