Children's Home run by Jamores Limited in Bexley

Inspection report for children’s home: 2562430 1 Registered provider: Jamores Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living at the home at the time of this inspection. No other children have lived at the home since the last full inspection in January 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered on 18 February 2020. The registered manager post has been vacant since October 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 requires improvement to be 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: 2562430 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/01/2023 Full Good 17/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2562430 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living at this home has lived here for more than three years. The child enjoys positive and trusting relationships with staff. Staff show care, compassion and emotional warmth towards the child. They place the child at the centre of their practice and ensure that the child’s day-to-day needs are met. The child is settled and making good progress in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s wishes and feelings are respected. Staff are creative and use a range of resources to enable the child to express themselves. The child’s complaints are consistently recorded and responded to. This helps the child to feel heard and helps them to understand what action has been taken to address their concerns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of family to the child and work hard to ensure that the child’s plan to spend time with their family is adhered to. They help the child to manage their feelings about not living with their family. Staff show an interest in children’s cultural backgrounds and promote their identities. Staff have positive relationships with parents. One parent said that the staff went ‘above and beyond’ to support them and their child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities. These include weekly football clubs, army cadets, youth club and taekwondo. These activities are helping the child living at the home to interact with other child of their own age. At the weekend, the child enjoys community activities including shopping, going to museums and the cinema. The child enjoyed a summer holiday with staff at a holiday resort in Wales. Staff provide the child with picture albums so that they can keep special memories of their experiences in the home with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have good links with the child’s school. They support the child to attend school and they communicate daily with school staff. Feedback from school is positive and the child is making good progress in their education. Staff attend the child’s school reviews and they help the child at home to complete additional academic work.

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

The child says that they feel safe. They can identify a trusted person to talk to if they have any concerns. The child’s risks and vulnerabilities are well understood by staff, who work closely with other agencies to ensure that appropriate actions are taken to keep the child safe. This ensures that the child is safeguarded effectively.

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

Staff support the child to understand the risks posed to them when accessing the internet. Staff use individual sessions with the child to help them to develop their knowledge and understanding of the risks. There are effective strategies and monitoring systems in place to address any concerns raised. As a result, the child is kept safe when playing games online. Inspection report for children’s home: 2562430 4 Staff understand the risks when the child is missing from home and understand the missing-from-home protocols. Staff follow the child in the community when they attempt to run away and encourage them to return home. Staff work with other professionals effectively when the child is missing from home and ensure that independent return home interviews are carried out when the child has been missing. Incidents of the child going missing from the home have significantly reduced and there have been no incidents since March 2023.

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

The child’s individual positive behaviour support plans are effective. Staff set consistent boundaries and routines for the child. There is a clear reward system that promotes and encourages positive behaviour. The staff have embedded a culture of using restorative approaches rather than consequences. As a result, incidents requiring physical intervention in the home have reduced.

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

There have been no allegations made by the child living at the home. However, not all staff demonstrate having good knowledge of the policies and procedures relating to the management of allegations against staff. Two staff members interviewed during the inspection did not demonstrate adequate safeguarding knowledge and did not know how to escalate concerns. This compromises safeguarding practice.

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good

The registered manager post has been vacant since October 2022. Leaders and managers have taken effective action to ensure that a new manager is recruited. Unfortunately, a new home manager recruited in May 2023 resigned after two months. Leaders are actively recruiting for a new home manager. The home is run by an experienced deputy manager, supported by the responsible individual.

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good

Staff now receive relevant training in line with the home’s policies. They receive regular and effective supervision. Supervision focuses on the child’s needs, experiences and plans. Safeguarding issues are discussed, as well as staff development needs. This demonstrates effective management oversight of staff practice and development.

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good

The child’s case records do not always include important information. For example, details of the child’s most recent placing authority plans, and an updated education healthcare plan, are not on their files. This reduces the manager’s and staff’s oversight and understanding of the child’s needs and progress. In addition, the review of the quality of care provided for the child does not demonstrate appropriate evaluation of the care given.

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good

The home’s physical environment is safe for the child. However, leaders and managers have not ensured that repairs and decorations within the home are carried out promptly. This does not provide a warm and comfortable environment for the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2562430 5 Leaders and managers do not consistently notify Ofsted of all significant incidents, as required. This failure to report serious incidents compromises the regulator’s external oversight of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2562430 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 registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to appointing a manager for the home and registering with the regulator. 11 December

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to serious incidents requiring police involvement or hospital attendance. 30 November

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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

that staff— 30 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2562430 7 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)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to managers ensuring that all staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities when protecting children from harm, including the home’s safeguarding procedures and how to escalate safeguarding concerns.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to ensuring that up-to-date placing authority care plans and relevant information are on a child’s file. 30 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, in order for the children’s home to be a nurturing and supportive environment, they continue to repair and decorate all areas of the homes’ interior. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. This specifically relates to ensuring that completed reviews demonstrate evaluation of staff practice, impact or reflection on how practice will develop or improve, including assessing previous actions set.

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Information about this inspection

Inspector has 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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2562430 8 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: 2562430 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Jamores Ltd, Thames Innovation Centre, 2 Veridion Way, Erith DA18 4AL

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Inspector

Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2562430 10 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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