Children's home run by Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2682837 1 Registered provider: Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd 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 seven children who may experience social, emotional or mental health difficulties. There were five children living in the home at the time of inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private organisation that operates several registered children’s homes.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2022.

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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: 14 February 2023

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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: 2682837 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2682837 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are positive about their experience of living in the home and receive care from skilled and experienced members of staff. Staff speak about children with knowledge and affection. A child said staff are ‘excellent’ and ‘make time for [us]’. Staff understand the children’s needs and celebrate the progress that children make. Achievements and celebrations are compiled in memory and photo books that the children can access. One staff member said they feel ‘enriched’ by supporting the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress educationally. All children who are in school are engaging well. One child is currently undertaking GCSEs and being supported by staff to do so. For two children, whose access to mainstream education has been disrupted as a result of moving from outside the local area, there are clear provisions to support academic progress. These plans are designed to support individual children’s learning styles and involve a range of tuition, local vocational centres and physical activities. Staff are working closely with external professionals to secure a suitable school placement for these children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s social and emotional needs are met. Children participate in leisure and community-based activities specific to their interests, such as football, swimming and Rangers. One child spoke about expression through poetry and creative writing. One-to-one sessions between staff and children support children to make sense of their feelings and wishes. Staff use nurturing approaches to develop secure relationships with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are clear about the progress that children are making and regularly review support plans to make sure that they are making a positive difference. The registered manager has developed a new system of monthly consultation with children to help them understand and contribute to the plans in place to care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers and parents speak positively about the care that children receive. They are confident that the home communicates any concerns or issues immediately and they report that they trust staff to make good decisions and provide good care to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are well understood. Regular children’s meetings ensure that there is opportunity to think about how living together affects them. These meetings provide the opportunity for children to lead and this ensures that they are able to have a meaningful impact on the running of the home. Regular one-to-one sessions enable children to think about key areas that are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop skills and strategies to manage their own conflicts and to process difficult feelings. As a result, the levels of incidents have reduced and children speak Inspection report for children’s home: 2682837 4 with huge pride about how learning to improve behaviours has made a positive difference to their lives and relationships with staff and each other. One child described being supported by staff to use a mood chart to identify the links between mood and behaviour. The child said, ‘I understand myself better.’

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

Staff understand children’s vulnerabilities. Comprehensive and regularly updated risk assessments clearly inform staff as to how to support children to stay safe. Direct work is planned, but is also undertaken according to need. Children are enabled to address their individual vulnerabilities and risks, which supports them to develop insight and safely gain greater independence. For one child, this has meant developing awareness of healthy eating and confidence in their morning routine.

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

Where children have demonstrated a need to understand healthy relationships, staff have shown resourcefulness and creativity in response. A safe environment for age- appropriate discussion has been created to help children to understand the risks presented to them and the potential of harm to others. Staff draw on the support of external agencies and use online resources to support this learning. One parent spoke of the effectiveness of these one-to-one sessions. They said that their child feels ‘happy and comfortable’ to discuss these issues with staff.

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

Staff respond to children’s distress with skill and sensitivity. Children are supported to talk about incidents that they have been involved in, to share their views and to reflect on how they might learn from them. Comprehensive behaviour management plans are in place for all children and are kept under review. Children demonstrate capacity to talk about difficult feelings and show empathy and tolerance towards their peers.

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

There is, however, some use of language in plans that detracts from the nurturing culture of the home. Staff were observed referring to children as ‘YPs’, and there is use of phrases such as heightened and dysregulated within reports.

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

There has been a single allegation relating to a member of staff. When allegations occur, the manager is diligent in her responses. Information is shared promptly with external safeguarding professionals and appropriate action is taken to ensure the safety of children. Any lessons learned following incidents are shared with staff. This ensures that they are well informed about the support children need and understand their role to keep children safe.

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

The response to children who go missing is robust. There is clear training for staff on how to respond if children do go missing. There is evidence that protocols are followed. Children are supported to return to the home safely and staff talk with children to help them understand the risk of being missing and the expectations in terms of letting staff know where they are. This has resulted in a reduction of missing episodes. Inspection report for children’s home: 2682837 5 Complex medical conditions are managed well. Staff are aware of children’s health needs and receive training from qualified healthcare staff to ensure that they are able to support children to stay healthy and safe. Leaders and managers also make sure there is good multi-agency work with relevant clinical professionals to maintain good oversight of healthcare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have high aspirations for the children and staff. The registered manager has worked hard with her deputy managers to create a culture where high standards of care and positive role modelling is paramount. Children have responded well to this and they speak positively of leaders, who they feel are accessible and support them well. Children are also clear they can speak to anyone within the staff team if they have worries or concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision for staff provides them with the opportunity to reflect on the impact of the work. When incidents have occurred, staff are offered a good level of support, and thematic issues such as safeguarding and whistleblowing are always explored. There is also a comprehensive training plan in place to ensure that all staff have the skills to meet the children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have a good knowledge of the strengths and areas for development for the home. Leaders have been creative in how they have implemented new systems, such as children’s meetings. They continue to evaluate the success of these to ensure they are working effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers share a positive working relationship with other professionals. The manager advocates well for children and appropriately involves other professionals when there are concerns regarding care, educational or safeguarding needs. The manager ensures that decisions made are in children’s best interest.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager responds to complaints appropriately and ensures that clear systems are in place to address these. Children report that the manager listens to them. Complaints are addressed and resolved effectively by the use of reflective discussions between children and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The shortfalls identified at the previous inspection have been addressed. As a result, children are now consulted more effectively in matters relating to their care. In addition, practice has improved to ensure that when new children move into the home, their needs can be well met and remain compatible with the needs of the existing group of children living in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2682837 6

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Recommendations

 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. Staff should record information about individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. (‘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: 2682837 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 73 And 74 Maple Leaf Business Park, Manston, Ramsgate CT12 5GD

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Inspectors

Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Tash Williams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2682837 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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