Children's Home run by Nelbro Group Ltd in Brighton and Hove

Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 1 Registered provider: Nelbro Group Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties. It is owned and run by a private organisation. There were three children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager at the home since 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At this home, children are consulted with about their care and their views are prioritised. Children’s meetings are frequent and well attended. Discussions include children’s preferences for activities and menu choices. The meetings are also an opportunity for children and staff to take part in restorative discussions and self- reflection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children contribute to decisions about their care planning, which helps them to understand their own strengths and vulnerabilities. In care planning review meetings, children take the lead in discussions about their care. They create electronic slideshows, which are used to present their views and wishes to external professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

By creating a nurturing and homely environment with positive relationships at the centre, staff and leaders support children to step outside of their comfort zones. For one child, this meant taking part in water-based activities during a summer holiday at a coastal resort.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to improve their independence skills. Prior to living at the home, one child struggled with money management, but is now able to handle a small budget with support. For another child, the responsibility of keeping pets is a positive distraction and a learning opportunity. The pets bring a source of comfort, which has a positive impact on children’s emotional well-being. Children are also encouraged to cook and have daily routine charts to help to provide structure to their day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are prioritised. Plans to address children’s long-term health conditions involve input from external specialists and enable children to better understand and manage their conditions with increasing levels of independence. A member of staff commented, ‘Children must be at the centre to give them some control and allow them to feel invested.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to express themselves safely, and there is a progressive attitude to inclusivity in the home. Approaches to children’s exploration of gender, sexuality and cultural heritage are sensitive and non-stigmatising. Culture nights are a fun way of helping children to develop their understanding and enjoy group activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children have access to education. One child was supported to get a place at a specialist college, but found on attendance that this was not educationally stimulating enough. The tenacity of the home’s manager and senior staff has meant that a new educational provision has been identified in a short time frame, while the child has been effectively incentivised and supported to continue attending the current provision in the interim. Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 4 Key work is of a good standard and is both responsive and relative to children’s risks and goals. The staff team is well balanced in terms of their personal experience and professional expertise. The importance of modelling behaviour and strengthening the relationships between children and adults is recognised as being central to the efficacy of these conversations.

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

The children have lived together for several months. A culture of communal living is promoted and has been successful in establishing consistency and stability for the children. Where there is discord or misunderstanding, staff and leaders are swift to respond. Potential bullying and conflict resolution are addressed directly, yet sensitively.

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

Robust matching processes have been introduced to the home and these have been informed by learning from children previously living in and subsequently moving on from the home. External professionals are consulted prior to children moving in to the home and review meetings are held when a new child is due to arrive. This ensures that staff have all the information they need about how to care for children and keep them safe.

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

Staff infrequently use physical restraint to prevent or manage incidents. When physical restraint is used, it is proportionate and necessary to prevent harm to children or others. There is effective management oversight in place to ensure that the use of the measure is appropriate. Debriefs are evaluative and are used as a learning tool to understand what children are communicating through their behaviour, in line with the model of care.

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

There are clear and robust procedures for staff to follow when children go missing from the home. Staff are proactive in their response. They maintain communication with children who are missing and take action to ensure that children return home safely. The manager effectively liaises with external professionals to ensure that responses are coordinated and risks to children are minimised. Children are taught about the potential risks to them when they leave the home in this way, and staff are nurturing in their approach to children upon their return.

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

Staff receive training in specific areas of health and well-being to enable them to meet children’s needs. They are supported by experts in mental and physical health conditions to broaden their knowledge and skills. One consultant offers specialist supervision and learning sessions to staff on a regular basis. These sessions have a focus on enhancing the therapeutic care provided to children.

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

Managers encourage staff to respond to incidents in a way that promotes reflection and learning for the child. The use of consequences is kept to a minimum, and a restorative approach supports children to have a positive experience of learning how to make amends for their mistakes. Staff work collaboratively with children to decide what action may be taken. One child said, ‘We speak about it in the children’s Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 5 meeting, and we all decide what is fair.’ On one occasion, children wrote apology letters to a neighbour and, in another, a child researched and presented their learning to the household by way of restoration.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is currently no registered manager at the home. The manager in day-to-day charge of the home has applied to register with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is ambitious and passionate about providing good-quality, therapeutic care to children. Leaders, staff and children have confidence in their decisions and investment in their approach. One of the aims is to increase the emotional vocabulary of staff and to upskill them in therapeutic care methods. Many of the changes introduced by the home’s manager have had a marked impact, but are yet to embed and thereby demonstrate a sustained improvement to children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision is varied, timely and of a good standard. Structured supervision is complemented by clinical supervision offered by the consultant clinical psychiatrist who visits the home once per month. Where staff practice requires improvement, leaders and managers offer time to reflect and structured plans to generate better practice. However, some appraisals that were carried out prior to the appointment of the current manager are not of a good enough quality to ensure that there is adequate progression for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has developed creative recording systems to oversee the quality of care. However, the recording systems are cumbersome. It is not easy to readily view patterns and trends in children’s behaviour and care, which could limit the efficiency of a response. This is an issue that is being resolved by leaders through the introduction of a new electronic recording system, but it is yet to be established.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and the manager have been praised by external professionals for their excellent communication. One professional said, ‘They are collaborative and really positive.’ The manager liaises effectively with the wider networks to ensure that risks are addressed collectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders employ their therapeutic skills to sensitively challenge external agencies and elicit improvements to children’s care. Creative solutions are found where there may be barriers. This approach has enabled one child to access additional support to broaden their independence skills and expand their support network.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager inspires the celebration of children’s achievements and promotes positive relationships between children and members of the network. One professional said, ‘They will also contact me when [the child] is doing really well… they have helped to break down the barriers between [the child] and I.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised and, as part of this process, there should be a timely plan with clear actions to bring about improvement. This appraisal should take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that information about children is recorded in a way that is helpful to children and whereby information can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view it. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)

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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: 2661371 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 31-33 High Street, Carshalton SM5 3AX

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Inspector

Tash Williams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 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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