Children's Home run by Pebbles Care Limited in Leeds

Inspection report for children’s home: SC417795 1 SC417795 Registered provider: Pebbles Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned. It provides care for up to four children aged between eight and 18 who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2022.

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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

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: SC417795 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/04/2021 Full Good 02/04/2019 Full Good 24/07/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC417795 3

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improvement to be good

Children’s overall experiences and progress are hindered due to shortfalls in how well children are helped and protected and the effectiveness of leaders and managers.

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improvement to be good

The manager does not yet have effective systems in place to ensure that the children’s living environment is clean and well maintained. Although the home has a homely and welcoming feel, there was some damage in the children’s bedrooms and one bedroom was not clean and tidy.

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improvement to be good

Children say that they are happy living in this home. They enjoy the various activities and experiences that are offered to them, such as going on holiday, trampolining and rock climbing. Staff understand the value of positive experiences and encourage the children to take part in them. These experiences are captured in colour photos for the children to look back on.

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improvement to be good

Children speak positively about the manager and staff. Children have at least one member of staff who they trust and feel able to speak to if they are worried or concerned. Children know how make a complaint and are confident that the manager will respond to any complaints that they make.

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improvement to be good

Professionals say that children make progress because of the support that they receive from the staff. One child’s social worker said, ‘They (staff) are attentive to [name of child]’s needs and provide [name of child] with love and respect.’ This approach enables the children to build secure and trusted relationships with the staff.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to attend education in line with their wishes and feelings. When children struggle to attend school, the staff continue to promote and provide educational activities during the school day. Children are supported to attend clubs and groups, such as Army Cadets, which helps to increase their social skills and independence.

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improvement to be good

Children’s achievements are rewarded and celebrated. The organisation holds an annual awards evening, where children are presented with awards for various achievements. This is something that the children enjoy and is an event that they attend with all staff.

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improvement to be good

Children and staff are not safeguarded effectively from the risks of fire. Although each child has a risk assessment and safety plan that are clear in relation to the Inspection report for children’s home: SC417795 4 risks of fire, the staff do not implement these consistently. As a result, children have set fires in their bedroom on two occasions. Although these incidents did not cause harm to the children, the risk of fire is significant.

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improvement to be good

The safety of all is compromised. Staff are not vigilant to the risk of fire. They fail to identify and address concerns when children cover smoke detectors with their socks. In addition, not all children are aware of the fire evacuation procedure.

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improvement to be good

The welfare of the children has not been consistently maintained as the staff’s supervision of the children has been ineffective. Consequently, one child has left the home in the middle of the night without staff knowledge. However, the manager has now carried out a full investigation and has identified appropriate training that all staff have attended.

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improvement to be good

Staff are proactive in looking for the children when they go missing from the home. The manager has worked closely with the relevant local authority and the police to help reduce the risk of missing-from-care episodes for the children. The local authority missing-from-home procedures are followed by all staff. The manager listens to the children and has put plans in place that the children say will help to prevent them from going missing.

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good

Shortfalls were identified in the manager’s monitoring and reviewing systems. Staff meetings do not evidence discussions with the staff about the risks of fire, following on from incidents. The leaders and managers identified that there are some shortfalls in some of the records due to a recent challenging period in the home. This means that the leaders and managers cannot oversee the quality of care in the home effectively to ensure that the children receive safe care.

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good

The manager reports all safeguarding incidents to all relevant professionals, in line with requirements. However, the notifications made to Ofsted do not clearly evidence all the actions that have been taken by staff to reduce the risk of future incidents. These notifications do not provide sufficient information to enable Ofsted to evaluate effectively how well children are being safeguarded.

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good

Children trust the manager and are confident that she cares about them. This is because she is passionate about working with the children. She cares about the children living in the home and advocates on their behalf. The children say that they like the manager. One child said, ‘They all (the staff) listen to him, especially [name of manager].’

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good

Staff speak positively about the manager. They say that she has the children’s best interests at the heart of her practice. Staff say that they can speak to the manager about any concerns that they may have, both professionally and personally. This has resulted in a team of staff who support one another during the more challenging times in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC417795 5 The manager identifies training that will support children’s individual needs. Staff training is up to date and staff development is discussed during supervision sessions. The manager uses the organisation’s psychological consultation support to continue to embed the home’s model of therapeutic parenting in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC417795 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that: all children are supported to understand the fire evacuation procedure; all staff are vigilant and aware of the risks of fire; and the home is free of hazards. 28 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 28 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC417795 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets children’s needs. Children’s homes will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. In particular, the registered person should repair damage in the home and ensure that all rooms are clean, tidy and free of hazards. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a) to (d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. The information provided should give sufficient detail to allow the regulator to evaluate how well children are being safeguarded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)

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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: SC417795 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pebbles Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

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Inspector

Jo Birtwhistle, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC417795 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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