Children's Home run by Anna House Limited in Havering

Inspection report for children’s home: SC058603 1 SC058603 Registered provider: Anna House Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides long-term care and short breaks for up to six children with learning and physical difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in March 2005, and the manager registered in May 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, five children were living at the home.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 28 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: SC058603 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/02/2023 Full Good 07/12/2021 Full Good 07/01/2020 Full Good 20/12/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC058603 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points. For example, children have developed their personal hygiene skills. Placements are stable for children whose previous placements had broken down after very short periods of time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The communication between staff and health professionals ensures that the children are healthy and developing well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children attend school and have good attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children form positive relationships with staff. Staff use a variety of methods to gather children’s views and share information with children. For example, pictorial templates and tablet apps are used to communicate with children with special needs. This helps staff to consult with children effectively and enables children to make choices about their activities and food.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a variety of activities in the community and in the home. This includes walks in the forest and visits to the zoo.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals spoken to said communication from staff is strong and staff are child- focused. Staff have close working relationships with parents, which further enriches children’s experience and progress.

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

Children receive appropriate help and support to manage their behaviour and feelings. Positive behaviour is encouraged with positive reinforcement and praise, which children respond to appropriately. This has resulted in a reduction in physical intervention incidents and provides children with positive experiences of care.

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

Physical intervention records lack sufficient information about debriefs with children and staff. Furthermore, the manager has not evaluated physical intervention incidents, which compromises his ability to identify and address shortfalls in recording and practice.

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

Children’s risk assessments are regularly updated and detailed and clearly outline their individual risks and vulnerabilities. The strategies to mitigate risks are understood and followed by the manager and staff.

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

Staff do not use information about children to plan effective discussions with them. Discussions with children do not focus on their individual needs and plans. This impacts on children’s ability to understand risk and address their own individual needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC058603 4 Not all areas of the home are well maintained. There are broken radiator covers in some of the children’s bedrooms and some areas of the home look institutional rather than homely. For example, the children’s bedroom windows are secured with chains to restrict opening. Action was taken during the inspection to start to make improvements to the home environment.

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

There are shortfalls in safer recruitment. Checks do not consistently record the reason for any gaps in staff’s employment history or gather information from references about disciplinary action.

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good

The leaders and manager have high aspirations for the service. The home is led and managed by a committed and experienced registered manager. The manager and staff know and understand the children’s needs well. The manager is a good advocate for children. He is not afraid to challenge the local authority when children’s needs are not being appropriately met because of a lack of resources.

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good

Staff are motivated and say they work in a supportive environment. Staff benefit from an informative induction programme and can access a wide range of training to increase their skills and knowledge. However, some staff have not been offered training to meet the specific needs of children, such as training relating to gangs, child criminal exploitation and substance misuse.

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good

Some staff do not always receive regular practice-based supervision. As a result, some do not have regular opportunities to consider children’s needs, reflect on their practice and consider their developmental needs.

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good

The majority of the children’s records are handwritten and illegible. Children’s case records are not always accurate and do not contain detailed relevant information about the children. This makes it difficult to map out a child’s personal journey in the home.

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good

The home’s statement of purpose has not been updated and a copy provided to Ofsted in line with regulation. Inspection report for children’s home: SC058603 5

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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, The 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 registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must monitor and improve the quality of records. This relates to records of key- work sessions and physical interventions which do not detail work conducted with children or highlight the progress children are making. 17 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b)) 17 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). 17 September Inspection report for children’s home: SC058603 6 The requirements are that—

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that they have a record of the full employment history, together with a satisfactory explanation of any gaps in employment, for all staff, and disciplinary information from references.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development.

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff undertake appropriate training to meet the needs of the children in their care, and have regular supervision. 17 September

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that repairs to all areas of the home’s interior continue to be addressed promptly, including to the children’s bedrooms. This will help ensure that the home offers a nurturing and welcoming environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC058603 7

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Registered provider address:

Responsible individual: Margaret Akullo-Odiya

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Inspectors

Melvin Davies, Social Care Inspector Amena Begum, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC058603 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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