Children's Home run by Little Acorns London Beach Farm Limited in Kent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC023651 1 SC023651 Registered provider: Little Acorns London Beach Farm Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately run home is registered to provide care for up to eight children with social and/or emotional difficulties. There is a registered school on the same site as the home. Five children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The inspectors only inspected the social care provision on this site. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since November 2022.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC023651 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/10/2022 Full Good 05/05/2021 Full Good 21/05/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/11/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC023651 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in all areas of their lives, such as in developing good sleeping routines, eating healthily and learning self-care skills. The care that children receive is tailored to meet their individual needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by a permanent staff team that understands their needs and responds to them in a warm and nurturing way. Children benefit from staff who promote positive and safe behaviour. For example, staff use techniques such as redirection and distraction. This helps children learn how to communicate their frustrations in ways that do not lead to self-injurious behaviours.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to take part in activities away from the home, such as Cubs and Scouts. They also enjoy a wide range of activities locally and nationally. For instance, they visit amusement and activity parks, play crazy golf, go to the cinema and eat out. Recently, the children had a summer holiday to a theme park in Paris.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is promoted well by the manager and staff. Children make good progress with their education at their respective schools. There is frequent and good communication between professionals from children’s schools and the staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well documented and understood by staff. Children have individual and personalised health plans that support staff in their care. There are clear protocols in place for children who have epilepsy.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s complaints are taken seriously and acted on quickly by the registered manager. However, the feedback children receive about the complaints they make is not shared with them in their chosen communication style. This is a missed opportunity to fully engage children in this process.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a large detached property that is shared with the on-site school. Children do not have their own garden that is separate from the school and which is for their use only. There is a fenced sensory garden in the grounds. This is little used as it has become overgrown and is unkempt. The remainder of the garden had items that had not been stored safely and could have posed a risk to children when out playing. This was rectified by the registered manager during the inspection. The downstairs bathroom is currently undergoing renovation, and there are plans to renovate the kitchen.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to stay in touch with their families and former carers if it is in their best interests. This includes staff taking children to their family time and staying with them if this is what is needed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC023651 4

p.3

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

Children benefit from a stable staff team that understands their needs well. Children’s needs and risks are clearly recorded and understood by staff. Their assessments and plans are child-centred and written in child-friendly language, and they are written to the children. Staff say that these plans help them care for the children effectively.

p.4

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

Children do not go missing from this home. Robust plans and processes are in place should a child go missing. Children are given the choice as to where they wish their key-work sessions to take place. Key work often takes place away from the home and alongside an activity of the child’s choice. This enables a more fun approach to these sessions.

p.4

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

Currently, children are not permitted to be unsupervised with one another in any area of the home. The registered manager has identified that this policy needs to be revisited so that it reflects the needs of the children who are currently living at the home.

p.4

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

Physical restraint is used in the home as a last resort and only when required. Incident records are clear and reflect the required information about what happened, who was involved and the effectiveness of the intervention. However, children do not always have a debrief after a restraint within the required timeframe. This prevents children from understanding what happened in a timely way.

p.4

good

The manager has registered with Ofsted since the previous inspection. The registered manager is motivated and passionate. They spend time directly with the children, eat meals with them, camp with them and go on their trips and outings.

p.4

good

The registered manager has high aspirations for the children and wants to see them thrive. They expect staff to have the same high aspirations for the children as she does.

p.4

good

There is a new responsible individual in post. This has had a positive impact on the home. The registered manager and the responsible individual have a positive working relationship, and the registered manager says that they feel well supported in their role.

p.4

good

The training needs of staff are identified, and appropriate training is given in a timely way. Staff value their training and feel that it makes a difference to their practice.

p.4

good

The supervision of staff is regular and allows for reflection on practice. A therapeutic approach is now in place at the home. The registered manager and the responsible individual are steering the implementation of the approach. Staff feel supported by Inspection report for children’s home: SC023651 5 the registered manager and feel that they can approach her with any concerns that they have.

p.4

good

There are currently a range of monitoring systems in place at the home that do not always provide clear information for the manager. For instance, the shortfall regarding the timing of debriefs for children following physical interventions had not been identified by leaders and managers. This is because the current data system does not capture this. Furthermore, the systems currently used to store data across a range of sources are not kept as securely as they could be. Inspection report for children’s home: SC023651 6

p.5

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.

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(h))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, monitoring systems should ensure that discrepancies are identified and explained. 27 October 2023

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d)) 27 October 2023

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

p.6

Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

p.6

Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

p.6

Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and 27 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC023651 7 has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children understand the outcomes of the complaints that they raise. Specifically, they should ensure that children’s preferred communication methods are used when outcomes of complaints are concluded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The registered person should ensure that electronic records are held in accordance with data protection principles. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)

p.7

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: SC023651 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Little Acorns London Beach Farm Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: B3 Kingfisher House, Team Valley, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE11 0JQ

p.8

Inspectors

Jules Harrild, Social Care Inspector Mike Simmonds, Social Care Inspector Lee Kirwin, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: SC023651 9 regulates and 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9