Children's home run by Kites Children Services Limited in Colchester

Inspection report for children’s home: SC029560 1 SC029560 Registered provider: Kites Children Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is one of two children’s homes operated by a private provider. The home provides specialist therapeutic care and treatment for up to six children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2023.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 6 September 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC029560 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/05/2022 Full Inadequate 09/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC029560 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home. One child recently left the home in an unplanned way.

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improvement to be good

Children are not consistently protected from harm. Staff have failed to follow children’s individual plans. This has led to three significant incidents that have put children at risk, and possibly caused actual harm.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not supervised children adequately. A lack of staff supervision and vigilance for two children has resulted in an alleged offence for one child. Consequently, one child had to leave the home abruptly, despite living there for a long period.

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improvement to be good

Children have accessed inappropriate material online. The staff have failed to implement children’s protection plans. This failure resulted in children continuing to access inappropriate material on two more occasions. Further safeguards are now in place and children are supervised on the internet.

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improvement to be good

The home is decorated to a good standard. Each child’s bedroom is decorated according to their interests. There are pictures around the home of different activities that children have participated in. Four of the children recently went away on holiday, and photos depict memorable moments. This helps to create a homely feel that children can be proud of.

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improvement to be good

All of the children attend education. One child has been supported to re-engage with school after a significant period out of education. The management and staff ensure that all education meetings are attended. This positive focus on education helps to support children’s future aspirations.

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improvement to be good

There is an outreach service attached to the home. They arrange individual and group activities for each child. This is a real strength of the service. They offer children the opportunity to have important individual time away from the home. This helps children to build their identity and self-esteem.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to see family and people who are important to them. Family visits take place at the child’s pace, and in line with their wishes and feelings. Supporting family visits ensures that children can maintain key relationships.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not been proactive in identifying children’s needs and understanding the home’s overall aims and outcomes. At times, the lack of care provided has been Inspection report for children’s home: SC029560 4 detrimental to children’s welfare and well-being. Children have not been able to fulfil their potential. The manager has identified poor care practice and suitable action is being taken.

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improvement to be good

The missing-from-home procedure was raised as a concern at the last inspection. Although there has only been one missing incident in this period, the guidance in regard to how to safeguard the child was unclear. In addition, the staff failed to respond quickly.

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improvement to be good

Children’s plans are recorded in several places, making it difficult to access important information. This means that staff do not always have information to hand that helps them to understand and safeguard the children in their care.

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improvement to be good

Despite the recent challenges at the home, social workers said that the therapeutic approach is working well, and that children are making positive progress.

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improvement to be good

The home employs two psychotherapists. Children are supported through regular therapy sessions, both individually and as a group. Each child’s progress in therapy is recorded and reviewed regularly. This gives children the opportunity to overcome previous trauma and work through their difficult emotions in a safe space.

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improvement to be good

The home has effective links with the local authority designated officer, and consults and reports safeguarding worries to them. All the staff spoken to were clear about the safeguarding procedures.

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good

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2023. She is working towards the level 5 diploma, and is motivated and enthusiastic. She understands the seriousness of the shortfalls identified, and has a clear drive to improve the service.

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good

There are some areas of mandatory training that have not been met within time frames. The fire risk assessment states that fire training is insufficient. In addition, several staff do not have up-to-date safeguarding training. It is important that staff receive appropriate training to enable them to effectively complete their roles.

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good

Supervisions are not always completed within the required time frames. It is important that staff receive regular supervisions to help to drive practice forward. Irregular supervision does not offer the staff the support that they need.

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good

There have been several investigations about staff conduct that were not notified to Ofsted. This does not give Ofsted adequate oversight of the home. However, these investigations have been managed. The manager has challenged poor practice, leading to disciplinary investigations. This shows that leaders and managers are taking events very seriously and setting the appropriate expectations for staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC029560 5 Leaders and managers have implemented a weekly review system. This is shared with team leaders on a monthly basis. This oversight will provide more-effective monitoring.

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good

Leaders and managers are open and transparent about the strengths and weaknesses of the home, and the staff practice failures. They have learned from the incidents that occurred. They have reflected on how to ensure that children are effectively safeguarded moving forward. Building a culture of openness and learning will help to protect children in the future. Inspection report for children’s home: SC029560 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)) 1 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) 1 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC029560 7 In particular, ensure that risk assessments contain clear guidance for staff to follow in respect of children going missing from home.

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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

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)) 1 July 2023

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all mandatory training is kept up to date. 1 August 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) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 1 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC029560 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, the plans, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps that the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. In particular, this information should be accessible and easy to find. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff supervision is delivered in line with the home’s policy. (‘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: SC029560 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kites Children Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Forge, Langham, Colchester CO4 5PX

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Inspectors

Mary Costello, Social Care Inspector Leah Stannard, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC029560 10 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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