Children's home run by The Little Flower

Inspection report for children's home: SC462631 1 SC462631

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to three children with physical and/or learning disabilities. At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since March 2013, when the home was registered.

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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: 22 February 2022

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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: SC462631 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/02/2022 Full Good 05/03/2020 Full Good 29/01/2019 Full Good 29/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC462631 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality individualised care from staff who know their individual needs and vulnerabilities. Staff work well to ensure that children’s needs are met. They ensure that they maintain each child’s particular routines, which helps them remain settled. A parent said, ‘The care is amazing.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers have a clear understanding of the good progress that children make from their starting points. Staff work closely with parents and schools to agree children’s progress targets. This approach is successful. Children’s mobility increases, they learn to make choices, they develop communication and personal care skills, grow in confidence and their health outcomes improve. A member of staff said that they were ‘happy to see their [children’s] personalities bloom’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy lots of activities after school and at the weekends. Staff accompany children to the local shops, to library activities and to picnics in the park. Children participate in music-making and dancing in the home, along with arts and crafts, cultural nights and pamper sessions. An external professional said, ‘Staff will go above and beyond for the children to ensure that they have positive experiences.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children go to school. An effective home communication book ensures that home and school staff are up to date regarding any concerns. Home and school staff visit each other’s settings and share good practice. This results in a unified approach to children’s care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a home-from-home environment. They personalise their bedrooms and they learn to grow plants in the outside garden space. Children enjoy a family atmosphere in the home and they are able to access all the communal spaces in the home.

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

Staff understand the children’s complex needs and vulnerabilities very well. Staff understand children’s communication styles and respond promptly to children’s non- verbal cues. This means that staff’s care is responsive to children’s changing needs.

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

Safeguarding children is a priority. Leaders and managers maintain comprehensive risk assessments for each child. Staff understand children’s risks and the strategies identified to keep children safe are effective.

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

Children do not go missing from the home and staff rarely use restraint to manage challenging behaviour. There have been no physical restraints since the last inspection. Staff make sensitive use of any professionally agreed recommendations that include mechanical restraint to keep children safe from self-injurious behaviours. However, not all restraint has written parental consent in place. Inspection report for children's home: SC462631 4 Staff maintain regular communication with children’s parents, working closely with them to ensure that they are kept up to date about their children’s progress and development.

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

Children’s health needs are well met. Children’s medication arrangements are safe and medication is administered in line with their prescriptions. However, the manager’s expectation that all staff read and sign any changes to the children’s medication is not always followed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The long-serving, experienced registered manager continues to ensure that children receive high standards of care. Staff describe the manager as ‘very supportive’ and say that she creates a ‘warm and caring environment for the children’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s knowledge and understanding of children with disabilities is exceptional. She continues her work in the community. She is the safeguarding lead at a special educational needs’ nursery, a governor at a school for children with disabilities, attends education committees and undertakes charitable fundraising.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff team proactively develop close professional working relationships to ensure the best all-round support for children in all areas of their development and well-being. This includes meetings and consultations with occupational and speech and language therapists, schools and health professionals. A professional describes their relationship with the home as ‘excellent’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive effective supervision and annual appraisals. Staff training is comprehensive and enables them to meet the children’s individual needs. The home is sufficiently staffed and safe recruitment procedures are followed. However, the inspector found one shortfall in the manager’s recruitment checks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has met all the requirements and recommendations set at the last inspection. Inspection report for children's home: SC462631 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure, when children have very complex care needs and may be restrained by mechanical or chemical means, that rigorous assessments, robust behaviour support plans and parental consent in relation to this should be included in the child’s care plan. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.45)  The registered person should ensure that all staff consistently follow the home’s policies and procedures for the benefit of the children in the home’s care. In particular, that all staff follow the home’s ‘read and sign’ procedure so that they are up to date with children’s changing needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home’s Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20)  The registered person should ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. In particular, that there is a satisfactory

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Recommendations

written explanation of any gaps in employment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: SC462631 6

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Cheridah Caesar-Mejias

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Cheridah Caesar-Mejias

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Inspector

Victoria Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC462631 7 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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