Children's Home run by Anchor Care and Education Ltd in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children's home: 2637127 1 Registered provider: Anchor Care and Education Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is privately owned and provides care for up to four children with social and emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is qualified and registered with Ofsted.

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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: 10 October 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2637127 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/07/2022 Full Inadequate 15/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/07/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2637127 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team shows genuine commitment towards supporting children. The children have positive relationships with staff. This helps children to settle in following their move to the home and gets them on track to make progress. The good relationships children have with staff also support them to feel safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and settled. They benefit from staff showing them emotional warmth and genuine affection. Staff ensure that they recognise and celebrate each child’s progress and achievements. Children are also able to recognise the progress that they make. This is captured well using photos, memory books and other records, helping children develop a sense of belonging. As a result, children are nurtured and feel secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to develop their self-esteem and a positive body image. They are good at sensitively supporting children who are exploring their own sense of identity. Staff make sure that children do not feel judged or stigmatised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have been supported to develop important age-appropriate life skills. This is supported and encouraged daily, for example, encouraging children to make their bed, tidy their room and get involved in food preparation. This prepares them well for their eventual move to adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some areas of the home are starting to look tired and some maintenance issues have not been addressed in a timely manner. For example, some carpets are stained, paintwork is dirty in areas, some paint has started peel and one area of the home had a strong smell of urine. This does not promote a homely environment. The manager has a redecoration plan in place to address these issues.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers have challenged relevant professionals when children have not received their entitlement to education. As a result, one child is now attending education for the first time in two years, which is significant progress for them. A second child remains out of education, despite the manager’s tenacious efforts. The home has not been able to evidence that a timetable of structured educational work has been regularly attempted with the child. This prevents the child from being prepared for their return to school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback is regularly sought from children. However, on occasion, there is a lack of follow-up action to demonstrate children have been listened to. Managers have not always had conversations with children to provide reassurance in response to their expressed views. Inspection report for children's home: 2637127 4

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

Children are safe. Overall, risk assessments are followed and provide clear guidance to staff about how to protect children. Staff understand the children’s plans and assessments well and ensure that they are adhered to.

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

Children’s risk-taking behaviour has significantly reduced. For some children who had a history of going missing before moving to this home, incidents of going missing are now very rare. On the one occasion that a child went missing, they were quickly located and welcomed home as a result of procedures being followed by staff. A return home interview undertaken by an independent person assisted in planning to reduce risk in future.

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

Staff ensure there is sensitive monitoring and consistent advice to support children to reduce and manage negative behaviours. Structured routines and clear boundaries have resulted in a reduction in the use of restraint. On the three occasions that it has been necessary to use restraint to safeguard children, this was proportionate, debriefs took place afterwards and the manager provided effective oversight of all incidents to ensure that practice was appropriate and safe.

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

Staff help children to be safe when using social media and electronic devices. A variety of strategies to protect children are used, such as phone contracts setting out expectations and daily monitoring of devices. Staff are appropriately trained to help children to manage online activity safely. When checks have identified concerns, appropriate action has been taken to educate the child on associated risks. This promotes children’s safety.

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

Complaints are thoroughly investigated. Leaders robustly investigate each complaint in line with the home’s policies and procedures.

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

The inspector found that a child has had access to a ligature cutter, despite their self-harm risks. The manager’s learning from previous incidents of a similar nature was not demonstrated. However, immediate action was taken by the manager to make sure that the item is stored safely.

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good

The manager and deputy managers are caring and committed. They work well as a team. They have led the staff team through a very difficult period and have been successful in maintaining staff morale. The management team is enthusiastic and passionate about making a difference to children’s lives. This motivates the team of staff, who say they feel valued by leaders and managers.

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good

Although some aspects of leadership and management require further development, progress has been made in raising standards at the home since the last inspection. This can be attributed to the skills and commitment of the management team. Inspection report for children's home: 2637127 5 Despite a period of disruption and change, the staff at the home feel supported and there are indications that a cohesive approach is now being taken to ensure that children will be kept safe and their needs will be met.

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good

Staff induction processes have improved. Staff now undertake a full range of training before starting work in the home. This equips them with the skills and knowledge they need to provide good-quality care to children. Training opportunities continue throughout each staff member’s career with the organisation.

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good

Most staff receive regular supervision. This provides them with an opportunity to reflect on the needs of children, any safeguarding issues and on their own practice. However, for one night staff member, records of their supervision are out of date and not accessible to managers. This limits managers’ ability to monitor staff practice.

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good

On one occasion, insufficiently qualified and experienced staff were caring for the children overnight. Children were supported by one unqualified agency staff member and a new staff member in their probationary period. While there was no impact on children on this occasion, this has the potential to impact in the future because the matter had not been identified by the manager.

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good

Management quality assurance systems are not yet effective and need further embedding. The manager has not ensured that actions detailed in the fire risk assessment have been completed within a suitable time frame. Monthly maintenance audits have not been completed for the home and learning had not been taken from a near-miss incident in relation to where ligature cutters are stored.

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good

The manager had identified some shortfalls and had started to take action to improve these areas. However, improvements are in their infancy and require time to become fully embedded. Inspection report for children's home: 2637127 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, 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 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 the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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)(d)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that there are suitably experienced staff on each shift to meet the needs of the children they are caring for. Also, to ensure that quality assurance systems are used to monitor the quality of care in the home and improve professional practice. 11 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of its children and is a homely, domestic environment. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislation; however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than institutional impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation Inspection report for children's home: 2637127 7 processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened

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Recommendations

to. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that children who are not in full-time education are supported and provided with informal learning opportunities to sustain or regain their confidence in education. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 27, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should ensure a record of supervision is kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33 (4)(b). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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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: 2637127 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Anchor Care and Education Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Saxon House, Moseleys Farm Business Centre, Fornham All Saints, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP28 6JY

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Inspectors

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Rachel Griffiths, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2637127 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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