Children's Home run by Beacon Residential Homes Ltd in Buckinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2726827 1 Registered provider: Beacon Residential Homes Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to four children aged eight to 18 years old who experience social and emotional difficulties. There are three children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in May 23.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since July 2023, and an acting manager is in post.

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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: not previously inspected

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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: 2726827 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2726827 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress over a short period. They have quickly formed strong relationships with staff. One child said they feel genuinely cared for by the manager and has not experienced this before. These relationships have enabled the children to make progress. Staff talk to the children about the progress they have made and celebrate it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Detailed individual plans provide staff with information about the children to help them understand the children’s needs. The children’s histories are detailed through the plans and include the children’s views about their care. These documents are of high quality and are reviewed often.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves into the home are well thought out by the manager. The manager completes detailed assessments on the children before they move in. The manager gathers a wealth of information to inform the assessment. Children visit the home and meet children and staff before moving in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the children’s education needs. Children who have been out of education before moving to the home are now motivated to explore their options for the next academic year. The staff work closely with the local authority to identify education provisions for children. One child has already returned to school part time, and other children are engaged in online learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the children to express their individuality and develop their identities. A diverse staff team encourage the children to celebrate their individual cultures. Children spend quality time away from the home with friends and family. Staff encourage the children’s interests and hobbies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment lacks character. The walls are all painted the same colour, and stock images of families are in photo frames. Staff are helping children to personalise their bedrooms.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff involve the children in the day-to-day running of the home. Children contribute to menu planning, go food shopping and cook meals. Staff help children to develop their independence skills. However, these skills are not captured to assess the progress made by the children in this specific area.

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

Staff have a good understanding of risk and how to keep children safe. Staff use detailed risk management plans to identify what action they should take when children are at risk of harm. Staff work with the children to teach them how to keep safe and, as result, risks for all children have reduced. Inspection report for children’s home: 2726827 4 Staff manage any conflict between the children well. Staff speak to the children about bullying and encourage restorative conversations between the children to improve their relationships with each other.

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

Staff help the children to understand healthy relationships. Staff have supportive conversations with children about consent and safe sex. Staff provide the children with information about sexual health and encourage them to attend sexual health services.

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

The manager responds well to any concerns about staff practice. The responsible individual works with the local authority designated officer when needed. Poor staff practice identified by the manager is discussed in supervision to identify learning and improve practice.

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

Staff respond to children’s health needs. Staff take children to health appointments and make referrals to specialist health services when needed. Staff help the children to attend therapy sessions away from the home.

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

Staff have not used physical intervention with the children. The staff focus on rewarding positive behaviour. The manager uses team meetings and supervision to guide staff on how to respond to the children’s behaviour. However, staff do not have a behaviour support plan for one child to help them promote positive behaviour, and this has resulted in inconsistent practice from staff.

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

Safer recruitment practices are in place. The manager ensures that external agencies have completed safer recruitment checks. However, agency staff do not receive a formal induction to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has left, and the deputy manager is now the manager of the home. This arrangement has minimised the impact of the registered manager leaving. The acting manager is applying to register with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual and manager work closely together and have a shared ethos and approach to the care of the children. The manager is involved in the care of the children and understands the progress they make. Staff report that the manager is supportive and highly visible in the home. The manager’s involvement enables them to have good oversight of the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has identified areas of development for the home and is reviewing monitoring systems in place to ensure that they are effective. They are in the process of preparing for the quality of care review and have a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported through supervision and team meetings. The quality of supervision is good and is focused on the children, safeguarding and improving Inspection report for children’s home: 2726827 5 practice. Team meetings occur regularly, and managers use this time to shape the culture of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works closely with external professionals and ensures that they are kept up to date with key information about the children. Professionals report good levels of communication with the manager and staff, and they contribute to the children’s reviews.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager reviews the suitability of the home for children. One child did not settle into the home. The manager promptly reviewed the child’s needs with the local authority. As a result, the child moved to a new home. This was appropriate and in the best interests of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have not received the required training to carry out their roles. They have not had in-depth training in the model of care used in the home. Not all the staff have had training in the specific needs of the children, such as child sexual exploitation and self-harm. Inspection report for children’s home: 2726827 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

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, each child should have plans in place to inform staff of how to respond to children’s behaviour, enabling staff to provide consistent care.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, all staff should have training in the home’s model of care and training specific to the needs of the children. 1 September 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children. They will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. This includes displaying pictures of the children and personalising the home environment with the involvement of the children. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: 2726827 7  The registered person should ensure that external agency staff have an induction before they commence work in the home. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.16)  The registered person should ensure that when children are moving to live independently, staff should support them to develop practical skills, such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. The support provided

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Recommendations

should be captured to help the child and staff understand what skills the child has achieved. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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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: 2726827 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beacon Residential Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Zone, G Salamander Quay, Harefield, Uxbridge UB9 6NZ

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Inspector

Mark Dawkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2726827 9 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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