Children's Home run by BREAK in Norfolk

Inspection report for children’s home: SC060743 1 SC060743 Registered provider: Break Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to four children who have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma along with family and placement breakdowns. It is owned by a registered charity.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023.

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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: 27 September 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: SC060743 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/09/2022 Full Good 29/06/2021 Full Good 17/09/2019 Full Good 19/09/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC060743 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. One child has moved in since the last inspection. All four children are settled living at the home and most have been living there for over a year.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good relationships with the staff. Children have developed a sense of belonging. One child said, ‘Staff listen to you. They are really good at making you feel at home.’ Children said that they can express themselves and share their worries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have enjoyed a wide variety of activities, including one child participating in a sailing trip to Belgium. Two children climbed Snowdon during a holiday. Staff encourage children to engage with new hobbies and interests. One child has been supported to gain funding for his passion for outdoor adventure sports. Children regularly spend time in their local community, including going to the gym and visiting local beaches.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children now attend full-time education. One child attends mainstream school and is making good progress. Two children are making good progress and learning new life skills on alternative vocational courses. Previously, children were not in education or only in part-time education. One child is not in any education, but they have applied for college courses and have upcoming interviews. In addition, children are starting to make friends and build relationships through attending school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s culture and identity needs. One child, their social worker and the staff met to discuss how the child would like to participate in religious festivals linked to their heritage. The staff were creative in making a plan that worked best for the child to learn about and engage in this experience. This helped the child to achieve a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children sometimes struggle to get along with each other and they have made complaints about their experiences of behaviour from other children that they find challenging. Staff are supporting children to develop skills to manage conflict in their relationships, but this is not always effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff regularly spend time talking to children about their feelings and experiences. However, staff are not always consistent in their recording of this for all children.

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

Children become safer living at this home. One child has gone missing from care on six occasions since the last inspection but, over time, these episodes have become less frequent. Staff make detailed records about the actions they take to search for and locate the child, including their work with the police. There is good management Inspection report for children’s home: SC060743 4 oversight when the child has been missing from care. The manager appropriately challenged the local authority’s care plan and suggested how staff could support the child in different ways to stay safe when absent from the home but still maintain contact with important family members. The manager advocated for the child in accordance with the child’s views about seeing their family.

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

There have been no episodes of restraint since the last inspection. Staff manage children’s behaviours well. It has not been necessary for room searches to take place because there are no concerns about children’s safety or well-being.

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

Two members of staff have raised concerns about professional practice. The senior leadership team explored these events appropriately and took suitable steps to address them, in line with staff conduct policies. Staff said that they feel confident to raise concerns.

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

Staff understand the risks that children may face online and have measures in place to safeguard against these. However, the records of follow-up conversations with one child are confusing. They do not show a clear timeline of the support and conversations that took place with the child to help them to keep themselves safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The previous registered manager left in November 2022. A new manager was appointed and registered with Ofsted in June 2023. The new manager has yet to enrol on a level 5 qualification but is within the time frame to do so. A new deputy manager has been appointed. The two requirements and one recommendation from the last inspection have been met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff persistently advocate for children. One child was supported to complain to their local authority about the lack of appropriate dental care provided to them. This complaint was upheld and the child is receiving the required health support. Other children are being supported to share their views about where they want to live. Staff clearly record children’s views and share these with relevant professionals such as social workers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision is regular and focuses on improving children’s experiences. The manager has changed the supervision record to include discussion about how the home uses its model of care each month. Questions are asked in each supervision to ensure that any safeguarding concerns are discussed. Staff have additional reflective conversations with the in-house therapeutic team. Staff said that this additional support to think about trauma and attachment is useful in helping them to understand the children’s experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive relevant training. Eight out of 10 staff have achieved a relevant qualification. The other two staff are within timescales to achieve the qualification. All staff have completed the home’s mandatory training. Staff receive additional training from the in-house therapeutic service. Staff said that this gives them a toolkit for how to best respond to children in a trauma-informed way. Inspection report for children’s home: SC060743 5 Staff spoke about models and approaches that they use in practice to help support children’s needs. However, staff’s recording does not consistently evidence how they apply the models and approaches.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff update the home’s care plans consistently. However, these plans are not always informed by up-to-date local authority care plans. Some children’s records did not have recent updates of their care plan, care review records or personal education plans from the local authority. Inspection report for children’s home: SC060743 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, 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(b)) In particular, ensure that children are supported to repair their relationships and that children are given equal opportunity to build positive relationships with staff to talk about their feelings and experiences. 30 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 30 October 2023

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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: SC060743 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Schofield House, 1 Spar Road, Norwich, Norfolk NR6 6BX

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Inspector

Rebecca Hannell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC060743 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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