Children's Home run by Woodford Children's Services Ltd in Redbridge

Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 1 Registered provider: Woodford Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties. The provider has two other children’s homes and is part of a commissioning partnership contract with eight local authorities.

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered with Ofsted on 1 November 2019. A new responsible individual took over the role in October 2022. The current manager registered with Ofsted on 9 January 2023. She is suitably experienced and qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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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: 2559019 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care that meets their needs and helps them to develop their individuality. They build trusting relationships with staff and have positive experiences. They make progress in many areas of their lives, such as in their personal presentation, emotional well-being and independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff enable children to express their views, wishes and feelings. Children appreciate being listened to, respected and valued. This helps them to build on their confidence and makes them feel empowered to make positive decisions. One child said that some of the best things about the home are being trusted and being given freedom to make good decisions for themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are excellent advocates for children. On one occasion, staff were instrumental in getting the local authority to allow the child to spend Christmas Day in accordance with his wishes, with his friend’s family. The way staff supported the child’s request helped him to quickly develop trust in them and settle in what was, at the time, his new home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place a high value on children’s creativity, learning and education. They provide constant encouragement and strong support to children to engage in education and explore their talents. As a result, children’s educational attendance improves, and their knowledge and skills increase.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy developing practical life skills and independence. One child is pleased to have the opportunity to learn to drive a car, and another is eagerly waiting for their provisional driving licence. One child does occasional work in addition to attending college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

External professionals who were spoken to had only positive things to say about the quality of care that children receive and the progress that the children make. They commented positively about the strong professional partnerships that they have with staff.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and know how to safeguard them. Training in a wide range of safeguarding topics ensures that staff have up-to-date safeguarding knowledge. Team meetings provide regular opportunities for staff to reflect on the impact of their safeguarding practices on children’s safety.

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

Staff ask children how best they can be supported to stay safe, and their views contribute to their safety plans. Staff help children to learn how to safeguard themselves. For example, children watched a video about online safety together with Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 4 staff, and this led to discussions about how best to keep safe when online. Staff often talk with children about the risk of gangs and of being groomed and exploited.

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

Staff follow local multi-agency protocols when children are absent without authority or go missing from care. Staff ensure that other safeguarding partners carry out their safeguarding duties, such as conducting return home interviews when children return after being missing from care.

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

There is an effective balance of care and control in the home. Staff provide firm boundaries and warm nurture to children. Staff do not give negative consequences to children but talk with them about any unacceptable behaviours. For example, staff helped children to understand the impact of bullying on each other and supported children to develop positive relationships.

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

Staff use physical interventions to protect children as the last resort. An example of this is how two staff physically guided two children, who were engaged in a physical altercation, away from each other. However, the recorded information about this incident is inconsistent and fragmented. This makes oversight of the incident difficult.

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good

The manager’s monitoring of the home is limited. Not paying enough attention to detail means that gaps in recording are not always identified. For example, the manager signed off on physical intervention records without ensuring that the information provided was full, clear and consistent. Dealing with a subsequent complaint relating to one of these incidents did not lead to the identification of the gaps in recording, or better the manager’s understanding of the staff’s training needs in relation to recording incidents.

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good

Despite the manager’s recent review of the statement of purpose, this document contains inconsistent information about some basic facts, such as how many children the home can care for, details of the responsible individual and the current children’s homes regulations. In addition, the statement of purpose and the home’s staff workforce development plan do not provide up-to-date information about the current staff’s professional experience, qualifications and skills. The manager’s understanding of the team’s strengths and areas for development is limited.

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good

Staff talk positively about their working environment and the management support that they receive. However, their supervision meetings have become less frequent in recent months.

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good

The independent person’s monthly monitoring visits to the home provide robust scrutiny. Detailed recommendations for the improvement of practice make a significant positive contribution to the monitoring and the improvement of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 5 The responsible individual closely monitors the service and provides extensive supervision, support and guidance to the manager. A development plan for the whole service is being prepared.

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good

Despite the weaknesses identified at this inspection, children’s experiences, progress and outcomes continue to be positive. Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 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 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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(g)(ii)(h)) 16 May 2023

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and 2 May 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 7 notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of all physical interventions provide detailed, clear and consistent information. They should ensure that there is a full review of the incidents, and that any learning is identified and implemented in practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should ensure that all staff who work at the home receive regular supervision. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2559019 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Woodford Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Abacus House, 14-18 Forest Road, Loughton IG10 1DX

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Inspector

Seka Graovac, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 9 regulates and inspects 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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