Children's home run by Protea Care Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2702515 1 Registered provider: Protea 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 privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to four children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a registered 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 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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2702515 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children's home: 2702515 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the home’s first inspection since it was registered. Children say that they like living at the home. Staff and children have quickly developed strong relationships that are supporting children to feel increasingly settled and to make progress. Children like spending time with the staff and know they can go to staff for help and support. As a result, children are happy and making good and strong progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the importance of education for the children and know it is crucial for children throughout their lives. Consequently, three of the children are in full-time education. Staff provide a variety of educational activities for one child who is waiting for a school place. The manager has sourced and funded sessions at a local forest school. This support ensures that children develop a wide variety of skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care plans are sufficiently detailed and accurate. They address children’s health and educational and emotional needs, and the time children spend with their families. Therefore, staff know how to work with each child and support them to make the progress they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to access appropriate healthcare services. This could be further improved by addressing one child’s speech and language needs. When health advice has been given, staff support children. This has been effective with children in maintaining good oral hygiene and reducing weight. Children take part in regular exercise. They are healthy and have the right support when needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are listened to and acted on when possible. There are regular children’s meetings which all children attend. Numerous key-work sessions are held between staff and children. These are effective, with issues dealt with sensitively and supportively by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support an older child to develop their independence skills, including cooking and managing their personal hygiene. This could be further improved with an independence and pathway plan, to guide the efforts of staff to help the child in this area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s individual needs are at the centre of staff practice. Staff support children to keep in contact with family members, including taking children long distances to meet their family. This helps children maintain close relationships with important people in their lives and maintain their identity.

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

Children’s safety plans include an assessment of risk that is specific to the child. Safety plans and risk assessments focus on known and potential risks to children. Inspection report for children's home: 2702515 4 There are also general risk assessments for activities and risks within the home. The manager and staff monitor these areas closely. Children are supported by staff to recognise and understand behaviours that are specific to them and how to manage these behaviours. This helps to raise children’s awareness and understanding of what can lead to challenging incidents. Children’s vulnerabilities and more concerning behaviours have decreased for children since they moved to the home. This indicates that children feel safe and are protected by staff.

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

Staff manage children’s behaviour well. They are aware of situations that may affect each child. Staff are trained in de-escalation techniques to prevent incidents escalating. As a result, they rarely resort to physical intervention to keep children and others safe. This ensures there are few incidents and children are safely supported.

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

Children have not gone missing from care and are therefore not affected by the known risks associated with going missing. There are appropriate plans and policies in place to guide staff should this become an issue.

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

There are clear policies and procedures in place to help staff keep children safe. This includes awareness of child exploitation, online risks to children and risks in the locality. Safe practices are implemented for storage and use of medication and sharp items. Staff understand safe ways to help and protect children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy their jobs and say they feel supported by the manager and senior leadership team. One staff member said, ‘I absolutely love it here.’ This is testament to the support and encouragement that staff receive from the managers and leaders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is supported well by an experienced responsible individual. The responsible individual spends a lot of time in the home and the children like being with him. The manager receives regular supervision and support. As a result, the manager has been supported and guided to lead a settled home, where children are thriving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good plans to develop the home and its workforce. There is a comprehensive staff training programme. Staff receive regular and effective supervision with a member of the management team. This provides staff with time to reflect on their practice and develop their knowledge and skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager holds monthly team meetings. These are well attended by staff. Staff are kept updated on changes in plans for the children, home plans and any issues that arise. This has helped to develop and strengthen the teamwork in this relatively new staff group. Inspection report for children's home: 2702515 5 The manager uses good and rigorous quality assurance processes. This ensures he has a thorough oversight of daily life at the home. Weekly checks throughout the home are undertaken. The manager has recently developed a comprehensive monthly quality assurance audit. There are monthly visits from an independent visitor which further strengthen quality assurance processes. These could be further improved with more attention to accurate reporting. The reports also need to be sent to Ofsted in a timely manner. The responsible individual has addressed this with the independent visitor. Inspection report for children's home: 2702515 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child needs additional health or well-being support, staff work with the child’s placing authority to enable proper and immediate access to any specialist medical, psychological or psychiatric support required, and challenge them through regulation 5 - engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met, if this does not happen. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)  The registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that each child’s transition is planned and help each child to prepare for leaving, both practically and emotionally. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.9)

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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: 2702515 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Protea Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Howard Roth & Co, 317 Horn Lane, London W3 0BU

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Inspectors

Shaun Caplis, Social Care Inspector Alli Tandy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2702515 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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