Children's Home run by Esland North Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2637140 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for one child who may have emotional, behavioural or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

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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: 2637140 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/05/2022 Full Good 25/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2637140 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has remained at the home since the last full inspection. He continues to receive care from a nurturing and compassionate team. The manager and staff provide a loving and stable home, which has enabled the child to feel safer and more relaxed. He is developing his own identity knowing that he is accepted for who he is. As a result, the child is increasing in confidence and making very good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have spent considerable time supporting the child with his routine. He can manage his personal hygiene independently and his sleep pattern has improved enormously. These are significant steps forward, which have improved the child’s quality of life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is attending school and benefiting from learning new skills. His teachers say that he has good skills in core subjects such as mathematics. The child is beginning to socialise with other pupils. Attending school regularly has been a notable achievement and the home celebrated end of term with a surprise ‘prom’ night. This helped the child to feel proud of his progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have worked creatively and with persistence to support the child with health appointments. This was something the child felt fearful of due to past experiences. As a result, the child’s overall physical health has improved significantly, and he is now receiving treatment for an ongoing medical condition. The child is also eating a more varied diet which has helped him to gain some weight.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has enjoyed a wide range of exciting activities, particularly over the summer. He has been on several camping trips, where he enjoyed fishing and cooking outdoors. The child’s parents were able to join him for one holiday. The child’s parents regularly spend time with him at the home, including birthdays and Christmas. This is important for the child’s identity and emotional well-being. Events are captured in photograph albums, which provide the child with a sense of continuity in his life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff ensure that the child is involved in his care planning. His wishes and feelings are listened to and acted on. The child is subject to restrictions of his liberty. These restrictions included limited access to areas of the home until recently. The child has become comfortable with the restrictions and so they are still in place. Following inspection, the manager understands that the arrangements should be under regular review, so the child has full access to all areas of the home when he is ready. Inspection report for children’s home: 2637140 4

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

The manager and staff work hard to keep the child safe. They have managed a number of serious incidents where the child has become overwhelmed by his feelings. Physical interventions have been required to keep the child and staff safe from harm. The staff have shown commendable resilience and compassion during these times. Many incidents have been managed well and they have reduced in duration and frequency. However, some have not been as effective when the child has been particularly distressed. The responsible individual recognises this and has plans to extend the skills and approaches of the staff team to match the child’s needs in this area. The child has made some progress with managing his feelings in healthier ways. This is due to building more trust with the staff and talking to them about his past experiences. The child receives support from the in-house therapist, and the staff have consultations with her to help them understand the child’s needs. Staff

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

implement consistent boundaries, so the child understands what it means to feel safe and secure. The manager has created risk management plans to keep the child safe in a range of situations. These are generally kept relevant and up to date. There is one plan that had not been thoroughly considered. The child had not come to harm; however, there was not enough guidance for staff to mitigate possible risks. This could leave staff in doubt about actions to take. The child does not go missing from home and time outside is always supervised. Staff are helping the child to build his confidence and move towards increasing his independence, for example paying for items in shops and having short periods where he has reduced levels of supervision. This work is happening at the child’s pace, with safety as a priority. Leaders and managers have good oversight of complaints and allegations. They work effectively with the relevant agencies to respond in a timely way. The child has

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

regular opportunities to speak to his social worker if he has a concern, and the home’s complaints procedure is accessible to him.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since May 2022. She has developed in confidence and professionalism. The manager has an unwavering commitment to the child to help him to discover and reach his full potential. The manager provides the child with the right levels of reassurance and gentle challenge to help him grow and develop.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff enjoy their work and have respect for the manager. They have absorbed her passion and motivation to help the child live a full life. The staff are well supported and receive good-quality supervision meetings with their manager. This maintains their levels of resilience when they need it. The manager always Inspection report for children’s home: 2637140 5 acknowledges times when staff ‘go above and beyond’ what is expected of them to meet the child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The team benefits from regular training. This is frequently reviewed to ensure that staff have the relevant knowledge to meet the child’s changing needs. Staff gave clear examples to the inspector of where their training has helped them to develop their skills effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is well supported by the responsible individual and, together, they have good oversight of where the home needs to develop. The manager has the confidence to address shortfalls in practice and performance issues. Ofsted has been notified of some serious incidents affecting children’s welfare. However, there have been occasions where this has not happened. This can impact on the regulator fulfilling its safeguarding responsibilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals have confidence in the manager. She has developed some positive relationships with a range of external agencies. The manager’s knowledge of the child and views about his care planning have been commended in a recent court hearing. As such, the manager has been influential in the decision-making about the child’s future. Inspection report for children’s home: 2637140 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any areas of the home with limited access to children are kept under review following regular assessment of the children’s needs. These reviews should be recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations. including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  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 (40(4)(e)). Examples of incidents that are likely to be considered serious affecting the welfare of a child include: a child being the victim or perpetrator of a serious assault; a serious illness or accident; a serious incident of self-harm; or serious concerns over a child’s missing behaviour, particularly where the child is considered to be at grave

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Recommendations

risk due to age or vulnerability or where they have been missing for a considerable period of time and their whereabouts is unknown. This is not an exhaustive list and homes must assess each case individually, taking into account any patterns of behaviour or unusual behaviour which may indicate an increased risk to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraphs 14.10 and 14.11)  The registered person should ensure that all staff understand that, as a result of past experiences, children will have a unique understanding of their circumstances which will affect their response to restraint by adults responsible for their care. The registered person should ensure that staff can utilise this understanding in their communication with children during and following restraints to help them implement practice which meets the needs of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’,

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Recommendations

page 48, paragraph 9.54)  The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: 2637140 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Esland Ltd, Suite 1 & 5 Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Richard Matthews

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Inspector

Laura Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2637140 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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