Children's Home run by Shalamar Children Limited in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 1 SC475088 Registered provider: Shalamar Children Limited 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 aged between seven and 17 years who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2020.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/01/2023 Full Good 05/10/2021 Full Good 14/01/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness 16/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, four children were living at the home. Since the last inspection, one child has moved out in line with their wishes and one child has been welcomed into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make very good progress at this home. They are settled and benefit from a calm, nurturing and positive environment. Staff know the children extremely well and positive relationships are evident between staff and children’s family members and professionals. Children trust staff and want to spend time with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use a therapeutic approach. They respond to children in a playful and emotionally warm way that helps them to make progress. Staff understand the approach and feel confident to implement it in their work with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from having a wide range of animals at the home. This links the development of practical skills with a therapeutic element. Goats and chickens in the garden, alongside three cats, a snake, a lizard, hamsters and mice, add to the already homely and nurturing environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s specific spiritual needs, ethnicity and culture are identified when they move into the home. Staff understand children’s needs and meet these well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff think of creative ways to capture positive behaviours. They use a daily ‘compliments book’ to record and reflect on children’s progress. Staff act on children’s various interests, such as fishing trips, shopping, films at the cinema and days out. Celebrations such as birthdays, Christmas and Halloween are carefully planned and captured in exceptionally detailed memory books for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children in education at local mainstream schools, colleges and alternative education provision. For those children preparing for semi-independent living or a return home, planning for college is an integral part of their moving-on plan. The manager and staff are committed to and enthusiastic about children’s learning. The manager consistently communicates with other professionals regarding plans for education, especially when a move to the home results in a change of education provision for a child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious and set in rural countryside. Children enjoy spending time in the exceptionally large and well-maintained garden. However, the home would benefit from repainting and some modernisation.

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

There has been one missing-from-home episode since the last inspection. There is a strong and proactive response to children going missing. Staff follow children and Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 4 inform the police quickly about incidents. Staff work intensively with other professionals to ensure that children return safely. Relationships with the local policing team are very well developed. The children and young people’s police officer for the area describes the home as ‘perfect’. They said, ‘The home is really well managed; the manager is open to ideas and suggestions and there is a stable staff team.’

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

At the time of the inspection, there were low levels of self-harm and no reports of bullying. Staff know children well and use de-escalation strategies effectively. There has been a small number of physical interventions with one child since the last inspection. These are well recorded, and staff and the child have had debriefs within an appropriate time frame.

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

Children are well looked after by a safe and well-trained staff team. Recruitment checks are strong. Staff understand their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. They are confident to raise concerns to keep children safe. Incidents are well recorded and have management oversight. New and emerging risks are identified quickly and included in risk management plans.

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

Two complaints have been raised since the last inspection. These were responded to, investigated and acted on by the manager. Feedback to the complainants was timely and the manager evidenced lessons learned.

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

Staff recognise when children have made positive choices. Staff use a variety of rewards which help children to build self-esteem and confidence. On rare occasions when consequences are used, they are well considered. This means that children learn from mistakes and make better choices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective action has been taken to address all requirements and recommendations from the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and suitably qualified to level 5. He has a strong and consistent approach to running the home. One member of staff said:

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

‘The manager is always calm and approachable and will give great guidance on how to deal with situations that occur. He always has the best interests of the children at the heart of everything we do and his pure passion for the job shines through every day.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring and management oversight are effective. Monthly audits are undertaken by the manager. A creative way of mapping incidents enables the manager to monitor and review children’s progress of children. The manager has good oversight of records and a strong system to ensure that incidents are well recorded and necessary actions, debriefs and reflections take place. Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 5 Staff benefit from regular team meetings during which children are discussed in detail. This helps staff to review the progress that children make. Frequent supervision sessions enable the staff to review and develop their childcare practice. Staff say that they value supervision and find this to be highly supportive and reflective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A deputy manager enables a focus on the timely supervision and training needs of bank staff. All staff hold a relevant level 3 qualification or are working towards it within the required time frame.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of recording is good. However, some language written and used to describe children at the home is not child friendly. As a result, there are missed opportunities to ensure that language used is positive and caring. Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should provide a nurturing, homely environment. In particular, the communal living areas should be decorated and modernised in keeping with the other areas of the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that records relating to children are written in child-friendly language and that language used to describe children is appropriate. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC475088 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Shalamar Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 63a, Thames Industrial Estate, Princess Margaret Road, East Tilbury, Essex RM18 8RH

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Inspector

Emily Stevens, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 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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Inspector

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