Children's Home run by Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited in Kent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC023740 1 SC023740 Registered provider: Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to three children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties. In accordance with its statement of purpose, the home specifically accommodates boys.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 25 July 2018.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection. none Inspection report for children’s home: SC023740 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/06/2021 Full Good 04/03/2020 Full Good 05/12/2018 Full Good 13/03/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC023740 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved out of the home and three children have moved in. Three children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. They are making good progress and benefit from the stability and structure that the home provides.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff’s relationships with children are warm and relaxed. Staff provide parental and tactile care. One parent said that the interactions are ‘heart-warming’. This reassures and comforts young children who live a long distance from their family homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children have good levels of school attendance. Children who have been out of school make significant strides in their learning. Children’s efforts are celebrated, and they relish the praise and recognition. Children’s days are structured, and they benefit from good routines. Staff work closely with school staff. Handovers are detailed and any concerns in school are shared quickly and addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s emotional well-being improves through supportive relationships with staff and regular therapy sessions. These sessions explore past traumas and help children to understand their family backgrounds.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Sometimes, children have minor disagreements with one another, and staff support them to work through their differences. Staff have regular and meaningful conversations with children to help them understand one another and build tolerance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and support children to attend sports clubs. Children are always out and about as staff make things happen. Children enjoy football, rugby and swimming as regular activities. This keeps children healthy and active. The beach is within walking distance, and children make the most of this and the local parks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The house is spacious and over three floors. The interior has been refurbished. Communal areas are modern and fresh, and children’s bedrooms are spacious and reflect their interests. There is no garden. However, the small enclosed paved area to the front of the house is unkempt. The flowerbed has weeds, and rubbish and soil lie in the corner. This does not provide a nice impression for children arriving at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children eat a balanced diet with home-cooked meals, fresh fruit and vegetables. Meals are not always organised beforehand, which makes dinnertime late. The pantry, which contains snack foods, is kept locked. There is usually fruit and vegetables for children to snack on in the kitchen. However, these are not always made available or prepared. This has left children without enough accessible snacks. Locking the pantry does not teach children how to make healthy choices and manage their snack intake. Inspection report for children’s home: SC023740 4

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

Children are safe and supervised closely by staff who understand the children’s risks. The manager updates risk management plans to reflect changes at the home and in the group dynamics. This forward thinking helps to prevent incidents.

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

There are disagreements as the group of children changes and they adjust to one another. Generally, children live alongside one another amicably. Despite some tensions, the children enjoy group games and activities. Staff use positive reinforcement and celebrate children’s success and efforts. Consequences are used when required; however, these are few and far between and reflect the incident. This helps children to take responsibility and learn from their mistakes.

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

The number of incidents at the home has reduced as the group of children has changed. However, over the last six months, several serious incidents have not been notified to Ofsted as required. This affects Ofsted’s ability to oversee the home effectively.

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

Fire prevention measures include evacuations during which children practise leaving the house safely. Staff make sure that all new children are shown how to leave. Combined with personal evacuation plans, this protects children from the risks of a fire at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced, established and qualified for the role. She has worked in most roles in residential childcare and is a hands-on, practical manager. Recent changes to the staff team have meant that the manager has covered several shifts. Although this prioritises children’s needs by providing continuity of staffing, it has taken a toll on management and administration tasks. There are several outstanding tasks, combined with poor delegation and organisation. So far this has not reduced the quality of children’s care; however, it has the potential to do so. The operations manager has identified this and is providing regular support two days a week.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The small team of staff work well together to prioritise children’s needs. Staff are willing and motivated to cover shifts and support one another. They want to do their best for children and work consistently to provide security and stability for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision meetings and team meetings. However, the minutes from team meetings are not recorded well, which means that any actions from the meetings may be lost.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inexperienced staff benefit from a planned induction and core training. However, due to several staff leaving, there are very few staff with a first-aid qualification. Inspection report for children’s home: SC023740 5 There are some shifts when none of the staff are trained in first aid, which fails to ensure that staff know how to respond to accidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has met the previous requirements and recommendations and has made improvements. Refurbishment of the house continues at a good pace. A clear workforce development plan identifies training and development opportunities for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The regional manager oversees the monitoring of the home and has identified several areas to improve. There is context to this shortfall. Due to three new children and several staff leaving at the same time, the manager has needed to make significant adjustments to assigned tasks. Staff expertise has been lost, and the manager is trying to manage too many competing demands. This has not been raised as a shortfall because it has been recognised and addressed with clear support plans in place. Inspection report for children’s home: SC023740 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

ensure that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed and furnished 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)(c)(i)(ii)) 31 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

at all times, at least one person on duty at the home has a suitable first-aid qualification. (Regulation 31 (2)(a)) 28 April 2023

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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

In particular, inform Ofsted of all safeguarding incidents that are notifiable events. 17 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC023740 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is well maintained. In particular, ensure that the front garden area is free from rubbish and weeds and provides a welcome and well-kept entrance. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, ensure that minutes from children’s meetings and team meetings are written up and distributed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC023740 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited, 17 Leigh Road, Ramsgate, Kent CT12 5EU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Leslie Davenport

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Inspector

Deirdra Keating, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC023740 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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