Children's Home run by Esland North Limited in Warwickshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. The home is registered to care for two children with social and emotional difficulties and who have experienced childhood trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2023 and is suitably experienced.

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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: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected. Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the first inspection since the home opened in May 2023. At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. This child’s move was well planned and supported by the home’s manager and staff. This has helped the child to settle into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and the manager are getting to know the child and they are starting to build positive relationships with him. Consequently, the child is beginning to make progress in a range of areas, including education and emotional well-being, and he is starting to engage in therapeutic support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to make progress in their education. As the child had been out of school for a prolonged period, the manager has worked closely with education professionals to ensure that a bespoke package of education is in place for the child. As a result, the child has recently attained a qualification. In addition, staff also support the child’s learning by taking them out on enrichment activities that align with the child’s educational studies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to have positive experiences and develop their own hobbies and interests. Staff have supported the child to enjoy a wide range of activities, such as, visits to a castle and war memorial park, trampolining, and trips to a local scooter park. This has helped the child to have fun, build relationships with staff, and build their confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to maintain good physical and emotional health and well- being. Staff are helping the child to lead a healthier lifestyle, including ensuring that the child is offered a healthy, balanced diet and is taking part in regular physical activities. Staff have ensured that the child is registered with local health professionals and attends routine appointments. In addition, the manager and staff work closely with the organisation’s therapist, who gives guidance on how to support the child’s emotional and behavioural needs. This means that the child’s health and well-being are promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively promote time for the child to spend with their family and friends. Staff understand that these relationships are integral to supporting positive outcomes for the child. As a result, the child has re-established relationships with their family members through this support from staff. This also helps the child to understand their identity and contributes to their life story.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children’s wishes, feelings and views being heard. Staff ensure that the child has opportunities to share their views through key- work sessions, young people’s meetings, and direct work on important matters, such as internet safety. This means that the child participates in and is able to influence Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 4 their own care. Furthermore, it helps the child to build trusting relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is nicely decorated, welcoming and homely. The child’s bedroom is personalised, with suitable furniture. While there has been minor damage caused to the home, the manager ensures that repairs are completed in a timely manner. The manager acts promptly when any risks are identified in the home environment. For example, the flooring in the hall and lounge is due to be replaced as it can be hazardous when there are spillages. This means that the child lives in a comfortable and safe environment.

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

The managers and staff have positive regard for the safety and well-being of children. Staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe. Staff ensure that there are clear, consistent boundaries in place. In general, staff and the child adhere to these. As a result, incidents in the home are rare. When incidents do occur, managers ensure that there is reflection to support staff learning and develop their understanding of the child.

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

The child’s written support plans and risk assessments are comprehensive and regularly reviewed. They provide staff with clear guidance and strategies to support the child and reduce risk. Staff are working with the child to understand their triggers, risks, and behaviours. This is supporting the child to become safer.

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

There have been no allegations or complaints. There have been no incidents of the child being away from the home without authorisation. However, staff were able to tell the inspector what actions they would take if they were concerned for a child’s welfare and if a child were to go missing from the home.

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

Staff manage children’s behaviours well. There have been two occasions where staff have needed to use physical intervention as a last resort. The manager has oversight of all incidents, and they hold debriefs with staff following any intervention. However, the manager has not always ensured that the child has been spoken to in a timely manner. This is a shortfall. It does not give the child the opportunity to reflect on and improve their behaviour when information is still fresh. Furthermore, it impacts on the manager’s ability to effectively review the incident.

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

Staff understand the risks around internet safety. They take effective action to help the child to keep safe online. Staff talk to the child about the dangers of being online, and are monitoring and make regular checks on devices so that staff can monitor who the child is talking to.

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

The manager ensures that safer recruitment processes are in followed, reducing the likelihood of unsuitable people working in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership of the home is effective. The home is managed by an enthusiastic and committed manager. He is ambitious and is creating a culture where children and staff are supported to achieve their aspirations. The manager is passionate about achieving positive outcomes for children and embedding the therapeutic model of care into the home. This ethos is shared by an equally dedicated staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers use effective monitoring systems to review the quality of care that children receive. The manager is supported by the responsible individual, who knows the home well and visits regularly. Together, they have a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development, and have detailed development plans in place to support the continual development of the service. These systems help managers to identify and act on shortfalls, develop the service, and ensure that children receive good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has sufficient staff to care for the child. There is a core staff team in place. While there are staff vacancies, the home does not use agency staff, preferring to use staff from other homes in the region. These staff are trained in the home’s behaviour management and therapeutic model of care. This helps to maintain the continuity of the care that the child receives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff spoken to by the inspector said they felt well supported by the manager. There is a robust induction plan in place for new members of staff. There are also regular, reflective team meetings, as well as monthly meetings with the home’s allocated therapist. The manager ensures that staff have training to meet the children’s individual needs. Staff have a variety of skills, experience and qualifications. This ensures that all staff have the skills and training necessary to work with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervisions are of variable quality and have not always taken place in accordance with the home’s policy and procedure. One staff member had not had supervision for two months. This is particularly important as this is a new staff team, who are learning to work together. The lack of consistency in the timeliness of supervision sessions means that the child is potentially not provided with consistent care. In addition, this does not support staff to develop in their role. The responsible individual has recognised this and is developing a plan to improve the quality of supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose clearly demonstrates the aims and objectives of the home. This helps parents or placing authorities to have a clear understanding of the service’s aims. However, it does not include the qualifications of staff who work in the home. The manager rectified this during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff are developing good relationships with other professionals. These professionals speak positively about the standard of care that the child Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 6 receives and the progress that the child has made. The manager will challenge those professionals who are not meeting the children’s needs effectively. Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 7

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered manager must ensure that staff receive practice-related supervision in line with the organisation’s policy and procedure. 25 August 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they develop and keep under review a statement of purpose (regulation 16 and schedule 1). The home’s statement of purpose should be child-focused, indicating how the home provides individualised care to meet the quality standards for the children in their care. Specifically, the statement of purpose should meet the requirements stated in schedule 1. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained is given the opportunity express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than five days after the incident of restraint (regulation 35(3)(c)). Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. Children should be offered the opportunity to access an advocacy support to help them with this (regulation 7(2)(b)(iii)). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60) Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 8

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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: 2724044 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Esland Ltd, Suite 1 & 5 , Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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