Children's home run by Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy in Southwark

Inspection report for children's home: SC025700 1 SC025700 Registered provider: Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a charitable organisation. The home specialises in caring for children with severe social and emotional difficulties that are usually rooted in early life trauma. It is registered to provide care for up to 11 children.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is on a site shared by the provider’s school. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision on this site.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2008.

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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: 1 November 2022

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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: SC025700 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/11/2022 Full Good 16/11/2021 Full Outstanding 21/11/2019 Full Outstanding 10/10/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: SC025700 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved into the home and two children have moved on. At the time of the inspection, 10 children were living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have a key worker. The key worker is assigned as part of the child’s introduction to the home. The key worker meets the child before they move to the home to support them. This enables highly traumatised children to start forming positive relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Once the children move in, the staff begin working with them using a therapeutic model. Children have a mix of one-to-one sessions with their key worker, including play and art therapy, and group therapy sessions. Children are helped to cope with routine and unfamiliar people. Key workers help children to communicate safely and to build relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young children enjoy physical activities in the extensive, well-equipped grounds. They enjoy group picnics and playing team games. The staff know what the children’s interests are and support these well. The children enjoy different activities, such as horse riding and playing football. These enable children to enjoy healthy and active lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children attend school. Five of the children go to the on-site school and the others attend local schools. All the children are motivated and ready for the start of the school year. The staff have helped children prepare, getting their hair cut and their uniform prepared for the start of school. This helps the children to feel confident.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager acknowledges that the staff team does not reflect the ethnicity of children living at their home. A request to a local authority for an advocate to provide a child with positive ethnic representation has not been acted on. However, this should not be a barrier to a child being supported to understand about their identity and cultural background.

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

The children each have a member of staff they can talk to about their concerns. Children’s meetings are held regularly and these are restorative and therapeutic in nature. These provide a space where children feel able to talk about their feelings and experiences, both past and present.

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

There have not been any incidents of children going missing from the home since the last inspection. However, the manager recognises that most of the children have had negative experiences with the police before moving into the home. The manager has invited community police officers to spend time at the home informally. Inspection report for children's home: SC025700 4 This provides opportunities for positive relationships to be built between the children and the police.

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

There is computer and network surveillance on all the electronic equipment used by the children and the staff. This provides data that is routinely scrutinised by the manager. Individual age-appropriate arrangements are made for older children with personal devices, to minimise the risk of online harm.

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

Each child has a risk assessment on their file, however, much of the information is non-specific and is not kept up to date. Some of the risk assessments contain information that is either historic or very general. This makes it hard to understand the current risks for each child.

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

An allegation of harm made by a child against a member of staff has been recorded but was not reported to the local authority designated officer (LADO) or Ofsted. This meant that professionals who need to have oversight were not informed. Understanding the thresholds for reporting to the LADO is part of ensuring that children are kept safe from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a qualified social worker and working towards a relevant residential childcare management qualification. He is an experienced and established manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good relationships with the children and has moved his office so that it is closer to where the children spend their time in the home. Most of the staff and all the children recently went on a week’s holiday together. This was a positive experience for the children and staff, increasing positive relationships and building childhood memories.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is well established and stable. New staff are suitably checked and there is an extensive interview process, including an interview conducted by two of the children. The children are given a chance to express their views about any potential new staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home employs three family workers to ensure that all the children can spend time with their families if it is in their best interests to do so. Family members and carers are positive about the home and the communication with the staff. At times, staff challenge family members, to provide necessary safeguards for children. This support improves the quality time for children with their families.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is ambitious for children and staff to achieve their full potential. Leaders and managers understand the challenges of running the home. They recognise the need to do more to meet children’s cultural and identity needs. This is identified in the workforce development plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervisions are not routinely of a good standard. Some supervision records are generic in content, with little or no detail of conversations. They lack identified Inspection report for children's home: SC025700 5 actions to ensure staff are supported to progress and develop their practice. One staff member has said they would like to be a deputy team leader, but they have not been provided with any advice or support on how to achieve this. Inspection report for children's home: SC025700 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)) 30 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all the children receive personalised care, which is defined as care which meets each child’s needs and promotes their welfare, taking into account their gender, religion, ethnicity, cultural and linguistic background, sexual identity, mental health, any disability, their assessed needs, previous experiences and any relevant plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.2)  The registered person should consider the use of an independent advocate if a child’s needs are not being met. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 23, paragraph 4.16)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children's home: SC025700 7 needs of the children assigned to their care. In particular, ensure that supervision is recorded, with the supervisor and staff member receiving a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13)  The registered person should notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)

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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: SC025700 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy, 210 Borough High Street, London SE1 1JX

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Inspectors

Eileen Bultitude, Social Care Inspector Tom McGhee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC025700 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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