Children's home run by Blossom Children’s Homes Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2705504 1 Registered provider: Blossom Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to four children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in March 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children (siblings) were living in the home. The inspector observed and engaged with all three children during the inspection.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2705504 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2705504 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make very good progress from their starting points. They are resilient and more confident and communicative.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are very well met. This is significant for one child, who requires considerable support with a complex medical condition and supervision of their dietary needs. Staff use short, illustrated stories that describe social situations to help to prepare children for attending their medical appointments. As a result, children routinely and actively engage in their health plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school regularly and their learning outcomes are positive. Leaders and managers have worked well with the placing authority and education partners in helping children to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a fulfilling life. They engage in and enjoy a range of activities, which include new experiences, such as going to the hairdressers, local parks and local community centres. The inspector observed the home to ‘come to life’ when children arrived home during the inspection. Children were happy, and they hugged staff and excitedly shared information about their day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work proactively and positively with the children’s parent. Staff also demonstrate a caring attitude towards the parent. The parent praises the way that staff work with them and said, ‘I really like it here and wish I could move in.’ This has helped children to settle quickly in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is safe and homely. Children have personalised bedrooms and are helped to decorate their rooms with their special interests in mind. Staff are respectful of children’s needs and views when supporting them with personal care. However, staff do not keep full and detailed records of the administration of personal care, which compromises management oversight.

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

One child told the inspector that they are happy at the home and have favourite staff who they can speak to. Staff protect children from harm, abuse and neglect, and safeguarding practice in the home is generally strong. Children benefit from staff’s understanding of the impact their disabilities have on their daily lives. Children make choices, move around freely and have warm interactions with staff.

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

Staff promote children’s positive behaviour. They support children to develop very good routines and boundaries. Staff communicate effectively with children, using individualised communication methods. Children request space when they feel heightened. As a result, behaviour management is good and incidents are rare. Inspection report for children’s home: 2705504 4 Children are only restrained when risks are posed to them. Staff plan for children’s daily experiences well. They are able to balance how best to keep children safe with ensuring that they have fun. However, one incident involving the use of restraint was not accurately recorded. This compromises management oversight of staff’s development needs.

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

Leaders and managers seek support from the local authority designated officer (LADO) when required. There is a current investigation in relation to a standards of care concern. The LADO said, ‘The manager has always followed advice given by the LADO.’

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

Despite robust safeguarding training, one staff member spoken to does not demonstrate a good understanding of the home’s child protection and whistle- blowing policies. Some staff have also been slow to discuss emerging concerns in the team and to challenge each other appropriately when there was an isolated incident of poor practice. This compromises safeguarding practice and does not promote a positive safeguarding culture. Leaders and managers have plans to further promote a positive safeguarding culture.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced registered manager is currently undertaking relevant qualifications in leadership and management. The strong deputy manager, senior staff and supportive responsible individual help to strengthen the leadership and management of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from compassionate and effective leadership. They receive help from a committed team of staff who are determined to make a positive difference to children’s lives. There is particularly good partnership working with placing authorities and the children’s parent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervision, team meetings and specialist training to meet the specific and complex needs of the children in their care. Staff say that they feel supported by managers. However, supervision records are not sufficiently detailed in their content or outcomes. This compromises management oversight of staff practice and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The core strength of the staff is their focus on building strong and effective relationships with children, their professional network and their parent. This means that the children remain the focus of all interventions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders, managers and staff plan extremely well for new children moving into the home. However, they do not keep good records of all the work they do in preparation for new children moving into the home. For example, there are no records of a team meeting held to plan for children moving into the home or a cohesive record of all the pre-planning visits to meet with children and core professionals. Inspection report for children’s home: 2705504 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, 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. 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

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

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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;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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. (Regulation 123 (1) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they develop an open culture with professional curiosity and a strong focus on whistle-blowing and safeguarding. 23 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— 23 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2705504 6 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.

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Requirement Due date

if the child dies before attaining the age of 18, for 15 years from the date of the child’s death;

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Requirement Due date

in cases not falling within sub-paragraph (a), for 75 years from the child’s date of birth;

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Requirement Due date

securely in the children’s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there; and

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Requirement Due date

in a secure place after the child has ceased to be accommodated in the home. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they have full and accurate records of: children’s day-to-day experiences in relation to personal care; management oversight of personal care; any incidents of restraint; team meetings and/or planning meetings.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions is kept. Specifically, this relates to ensuring that good records of the content of supervision sessions are maintained for the purposes of monitoring staff practice and development. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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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: 2705504 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blossom Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Private Client, Units 7 and 8, Moran House, 449 to 451 High Road, London NW10 2JJ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Matthew Wakeling

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Inspector

Jayshree Pillay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2705504 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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