Children's home run by Homes2Inspire Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2556340 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company that is owned and operated by a national charity. It provides care for up to two children. The home cares for children who may have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by an experienced registered manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2556340 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2556340 3

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outstanding

The quality of individual care and support provided to the children by the manager and staff is outstanding.

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outstanding

Children live in a warm, loving home with a strong family feel. The atmosphere is calm and relaxed. Staff make every effort to ensure that each child feels comfortable, showing great warmth and affection towards the children. Staff take every opportunity to make children feel special, celebrating all achievements and ensuring that the home is a lively, fun and happy environment.

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outstanding

Children’s bedrooms are personalised, and photos are evident in their bedrooms and communal areas. Staff support children to have good memories of their time at the home. Staff help children to keep photos and celebrate their achievements, which are displayed in the home.

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outstanding

The outcomes for all the children from their starting points are outstanding. For example, one child had always wanted to attend a mainstream school. Managers listened to her wishes and were strong advocates in making this happen. Barriers in relation to this were explored and overcome. Managers fought for funding to support this, and it has now been accomplished. This was something professionals never thought was achievable.

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outstanding

Both children have been supported to build trusting and secure relationships with staff members, and this has helped them to develop a sense of permanence and belonging. Children are supported to make life-changing improvements to their health and well-being. Staff have encouraged children to develop healthy lifestyles, resulting in one child achieving a healthier weight. They have also worked closely with health professionals to implement medication-reduction programmes. For example, one child has had their medication reduced, improving their overall well- being.

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outstanding

Staff are child-focused and work together to grow children’s confidence. Children are supported to engage in a range of activities, for example attending concerts, Pride events, London’s Winter Wonderland and watching sunsets. Children have aspirations and have been supported to create bucket lists. Staff support children to work towards these goals. They are also encouraged to develop their independence by engaging in new experiences. Children are happy and motivated, and they make exceptional progress because of this.

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outstanding

Children are encouraged to participate in the writing of their care plans. Their views are recorded clearly throughout their plans, and areas of focus are broken down into ‘bite-sized’, monthly achievable targets. This ensures children are not overwhelmed and maintain a sense of achievement. Inspection report for children's home: 2556340 4 Living at the home enhances children’s lives and increases better outcomes for them. Children are always placed at the centre of their practice. One staff said, ‘It’s honestly the best setting I’ve ever worked in. The house is beautiful, and the atmosphere is positive, and I believe it’s because managers see our strengths, encourage us to be ourselves and praise us for all the hard work we do for the children.’

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outstanding

Risk assessment and risk management processes are of the highest quality. Staff know children well and identify potential risks and triggers. Plans to reduce risks are detailed and highly effective. The therapeutic approach is at the centre of behaviour and risk management.

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outstanding

Children are supported to feel safe and be safe. Children have been carefully and sensitively supported to become more independent. Children feel proud to have gained the trust of staff. This trust enables them to enjoy unsupervised free time in the community. Over time, children develop much-improved social skills and learn to view themselves as positive members of their community.

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outstanding

Allegations against staff are rare, but if they do take place, they are well managed. Children understand that staff and managers will listen to them if they do raise any concerns, and a robust response is given. Children are central to safeguarding processes. There is a high standard of recording of safeguarding incidents. This makes it easy for managers to maintain an excellent oversight of events in the home.

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outstanding

Multi-agency working is excellent. This ensures that strategies to reduce risks are highly effective. The therapeutic approach promotes the full involvement of the ‘network around the child’. This is evidenced by the daily communication between the home and school as well as effective communication with social workers. One professional said, ‘Staff’s communication is excellent.’ Another said, ‘They are tenacious and fantastic advocates for children.’

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outstanding

Due to the exceptional diligence of the staff and the secure relationships that they have with children, children do not go missing.

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outstanding

Staff advise and support children to reduce and manage their negative behaviours. There is good communication between staff and children, structured routines and clear boundaries. This has resulted in a reduction in incidents for children. Staff use de-escalation and calming techniques effectively and, as a result, physical restraint has not been used for over 12 months. This has been replaced by nurturing care and positive behaviour management strategies. Inspection report for children's home: 2556340 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers are skilled and experienced. The registered manager is supported by a very capable deputy manager, and both are passionate, motivational and nurturing. They use their knowledge, skills and experience to promote excellent outcomes for children. Managers have led the staff team extremely well so that they deliver exceptional outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Stakeholder feedback has been unanimously excellent. A consistent comment that has been noted from professionals is that ‘they go above and beyond’ in their roles to meet the needs of the children and to support them to make progress. Another professional said, `They genuinely care about the children. The nurture they provide is lovely to see, and there aren’t many homes where I see it like I do here.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager knows the children incredibly well. She knows their histories and understands their family dynamics. The children have complex attachment needs and do not find it easy to trust others at times. The manager has built trusting relationships with children, and they know she is a dependable adult. The manager recognises how important the core staff are for these children. Children speak positively about the care that they receive from a nurturing staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive regular professional supervision and attend team meetings. These involve development-focused discussions. For example, staff are given scenarios to explore to enhance their professional curiosity. Staff are full of praise for their manager and the deputy manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff morale is exceptional. Staff work well together and share the core values of the service. Practice is clearly child-focused. Staff have considerable experience of working with children who have experienced trauma. Children value the fact that staff take so much pride in their progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team has used creative and well-researched guidance to inform their practice in meeting the complex needs of children. This learning has been shared across the staff team and has increased opportunities for children to have safe, structured environments to socialise and develop friendship groups. This has increased children’s self-esteem and self-confidence. The home has already started to widen this learning out to other homes in the organisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers carry out diligent monitoring of the home’s systems. They analyse and evaluate children’s progress and quickly identify areas of weakness. External monitoring of the home is also strong, providing a constructive challenge to the staff group. Performance management is highly effective, ensuring that staff are always looking for opportunities to improve. Inspection report for children's home: 2556340 6

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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: 2556340 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House, Valiant Office Suites, Valley Drive CV21 1TQ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Craig Whitchurch

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Inspectors

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Linda Mason, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2556340 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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