Children's home run by Castle Homes Care Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report for children's home: SC065378 1 SC065378 Registered provider: Castle Homes 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 company. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who have faced traumatic childhood experiences and, as a result, may exhibit complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

Ofsted has received an application to register from the manager.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC065378 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/07/2021 Full Good 21/01/2020 Full Good 06/11/2018 Full Good 10/01/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC065378 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the previous inspection in July 2021, no children have moved into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child moved out of the home into semi-independent living. Managers and staff work hard to ensure that children’s moves from the home are positive and well planned. They put into place detailed transition plans to support children to develop skills such as cooking and budgeting, ready for independence. As a result, children are ready for their moves on from the home. In the case of the child who recently moved on, they have stayed in touch with the team and continue to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with positive life experiences. Children are encouraged to socialise and engage in fun activities. One child has a keen interest in basketball and staff support them to attend a weekly club. He hopes to study in America and join a basketball team. Staff encourage children to have high aspirations. The team has also sourced work experience for one child in painting and maintenance. The support from leaders and the staff team means that children gain valuable experience to support them with their career choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a sense of belonging at the home. One child said that the staff team and the other child in the home feel like their family members. Leaders and staff model positive relationships, which makes the children feel safe and secure, in a family-type environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff celebrate the achievements of children in the home. They provide children with rewards which are meaningful, such as trips with staff to the cinema and the beach. This strengthens the positive relationships between children and staff. Children have been nominated for awards by their education providers and social clubs, and staff have attended awards ceremonies each time. One child recently celebrated their five years anniversary at the home with staff by going out for a meal. As a result, children feel valued and appreciated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and staff support family time for children. There have been improvements in children’s family time arrangements. Leaders, staff and the placing authority have worked collaboratively to support children to increase their time with their family. One child had initially seen family inconsistently and supervised. Staff have supported this child to get the train independently to have overnight stays with their family unsupervised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a concern around mould growth in a bathroom that children use. This is potentially hazardous and could impact the health of children. Improvements have been made to the home environment. One child recently helped the maintenance team to decorate the lounge, creating a homely space. However, some areas of the home require further attention. Blank walls and fire exit signs around the home create an institutionalised feel. Inspection report for children's home: SC065378 4

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

Managers and staff act quickly to address concerns that affect the safety of children. For example, staff identified a potential concern for one child in relation to exploitation. Managers worked collaboratively with the placing authority, Prevent team and therapeutic services to ensure that action was taken to safeguard the child. Staff educate children on the risks of exploitation and, as a result, there have been no further exploitation concerns.

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

Staff understand the risks to children well. When children go missing from the home, staff implement the missing-from-care protocol. Managers and staff have worked with the children’s wider network to locate them. As a result, children have felt cared for by the team around them.

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

Children have not made complaints or allegations against staff but have been given information by staff about how to do so. Children in the home say that they feel able to speak to anyone about any concerns that they have at any time.

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

Staff are effective in de-escalating incidents and only use physical intervention as a last resort. The manager ensures that conversations are held with children and staff following incidents of restraint. Also, that restorative work is carried out to repair relationships between children and staff following the use of a physical intervention. On a few occasions, leaders have not reviewed the effectiveness of physical interventions within timescale. On one occasion, the manager reviewed the effectiveness of a physical intervention that they had been involved in. As a result, incidents are not always independently scrutinised to ensure that the intervention was appropriate.

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

Consequences are not always proportionate. On one occasion, a child was given three consequences for one incident. This was later identified by the manager, who retracted one of the consequences. However, there had not been a review of the consequence for a month, the delay meant the child still received two consequences for a single incident. This was not a proportionate or fair outcome for the child.

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

Managers and staff have a good understanding of online safety and help children to learn how to access the internet safely. Staff have installed an app on children’s phones to check they are only accessing age-appropriate material. The manager has also gained consent from the children and their social workers to use the app to track the children should they go missing. However, there is no clear guidance for staff on when they should use the app to track children. This could result in staff tracking children unnecessarily, infringing on their privacy. Inspection report for children's home: SC065378 5

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good

Since the previous registered manager left in June 2022, there have been two interim managers at the home. The changes in manager have led to inconsistency and a lack of oversight.

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good

The monitoring and oversight of the quality of care requires improvement. Incidents have not always been reviewed thoroughly. On one occasion, the manager had failed to identify when staff did not intervene as detailed in a child’s behaviour support plan. This incident escalated to involve damage to property and the child going missing. The manager’s oversight did not reflect that they had considered staff’s practice as a trigger. There had been no follow-up with staff, to reflect on their actions during the incident and how these may have caused the incident to escalate. This shortfall means there is a risk of similar practice being repeated by the staff members towards children.

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good

Managers have failed to act on recommendations that a review of the home’s fire risk assessment should be completed annually. A review has not taken place since June 2021. This delay has hindered managers’ oversight of the home’s compliance with fire safety guidance.

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good

The manager is starting to develop new auditing systems to improve oversight. They have recently implemented a new auditing document which covers key areas in the home environment, consequences and rewards, safeguarding and recommendations from the independent visitor. This enables the manager and staff team to ensure that key tasks are not being missed by staff in the home.

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good

The recruitment of new staff is not always safely managed. On one occasion, the manager did not assure themselves that all the required safer recruitment checks had been completed for a new staff member. This does not ensure that all those employed at the home have undergone checks that show they are suitable to work with children.

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good

Staff receive training to support them in meeting children’s individual needs. Since the last inspection, the team has been provided with specific training to care for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or foetal alcohol syndrome. The staff are proactive in requesting additional training sessions to ensure that they can provide the best levels of care. This supports the relationships between staff and children. The additional knowledge and skills of staff have enabled children to feel safe, knowing that the team around them understands how to meet their needs. Inspection report for children's home: SC065378 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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the registered person ensuring that the home is free from mould and other hazards to children’s health. In addition, that the fire risk assessment is reviewed. 2 March 2023

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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

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

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the registered person ensuring that they have full oversight of incidents that occur in the home and that staff practice is reviewed to ensure that any areas for improvement are identified.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff receive clear guidance on when it is appropriate for staff to use an app to 16 March 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC065378 7 track a child’s location, to avoid infringing on the child’s privacy.

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Requirement Due date

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

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 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 (3)(a)(vii) (b)(ii) (c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that consequences and physical interventions are reviewed in a timely manner for their effectiveness and proportionality. 16 March 2023

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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, 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)) 16 March 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC065378 8 In particular, this relates to the registered person ensuring that a full employment history is obtained for new employees. In addition, that all references have been applied for and received.

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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: SC065378 9

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Children`s home details

Registered provider: Castle Homes Care Limited

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Children`s home details

Registered provider address: The Forge, Church Street West, Woking, Surrey GU21 6HT

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Inspector

Chanel Bryant, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC065378 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 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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