Children's Home, Residential special school run by SES Turnstone Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report for children’s home: SC452461 1 SC452461 Registered provider: SES Turnstone Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The privately owned home offers a therapeutic model of care. The home provides long-term placements for up to eight children who have traumatic backgrounds and may have experienced neglect or emotional abuse.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a school on site that is also run by the organisation. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager left in September 2023. A new manager is in post and has started the process of applying to register as the manager with Ofsted.

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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: SC452461 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/08/2022 Full Good 07/12/2021 Full Good 10/03/2020 Full Good 30/01/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC452461 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive highly individualised and good-quality support. The staff and managers implement standards of good care. Children make substantial progress from their individual starting points, and they flourish. Children’s quality of life and future opportunities are enhanced because of their experiences at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The experienced, dedicated and skilled staff forge strong relationships with children. Interactions between the staff and children are filled with warmth and compassion. Consequently, children develop a sense of security and stability that they need to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy a diverse and wide range of meaningful activities. For one child, this included attending the Scouts World Jamboree in South Korea. All the children enjoyed the home’s own music and arts festival. Activities at the home and a range of community-based activities help to widen children’s experience of the world around them, and give them new opportunities. Staff use incentives to encourage positive behaviour. One child requested pet rabbits in her bedroom, this included her undertaking research about the breed of the rabbit and the costs. Targets have been set in agreement with the child, which encourage her to keep her room tidy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from parents is positive. They are pleased with the quality of care that their children receive, and are proud of the progress that their children are making. Communication between staff and family members is good.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers said that unsafe behaviours are managed in accordance with agreed strategies, and they are always made aware of any incidents. Professionals said that staff have helped children to make and sustain positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are monitored closely, and staff quickly seek medical advice when children are unwell. Children have a healthy and balanced diet, and exercise and outdoor play are encouraged and enjoyed. However, the arrangements for the safe administration of medicines in the annexe need to be implemented. This is to avoid carrying them through the main building, which creates a risk of spills or errors.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Improvements have been made to the decor of the home to make it feel welcoming and cosy. A recent new annexe has been added for older children to develop independent living skills as they transition to adulthood. However, the home is not regularly given a deep clean, and some repairs have been delayed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC452461 4

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

Staff are well informed and consistent in supporting children. The managers and staff have a comprehensive understanding of the children’s needs. Detailed and skilled support from staff enables children to understand how to become safer.

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

The staff use risk assessments to enable children to take balanced, appropriate risks. For one child, this has enabled overnight stays with friends and independent travel. Planned activities and recognition of achievements help to increase the child’s self-esteem. The child has developed an understanding of how to be safe when out on their own. The home’s therapists and clinicians provide high-quality monitoring of children’s mental health and traumatic experiences. They also provide reassurance and advice to staff who support children in high-intensity situations. Families are given valued support to help them adjust to having a child with high needs, who is receiving residential care and support. The oversight of the use of physical interventions is exceptionally explorative and detailed to ensure that trends are identified in order to protect children. This helps to create helpful strategies to reduce incidents and help children and staff keep

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

safe. Staff receive high-quality training in the safe use of physical interventions. Senior managers constantly evaluate and evolve training to match the changing population of the home. This fosters an open culture of challenge and discussion when children are held to keep themselves or others safe. The implementation of highly effective risk assessments and safeguarding practices actively ensures that children are safe. However, on one occasion, a previous manager failed to evidence the directions given by the local authority safeguarding officer. Therefore, it is unclear whether advice and actions were followed to safeguard the child. This oversight had not been identified through the quality assurance systems.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The arrival of the new manager has been universally seen as very positive. The new manager has been welcomed into the senior management team and is receiving good support. Staff feel very supported by the senior managers of the organisation. Senior leaders remain passionate, and are driven to provide good- quality care for very vulnerable children. The new manager has quickly set about addressing the shortfalls identified under the previous manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have an excellent understanding and knowledge of children’s individual needs and progress. Managers know the home’s strengths and weaknesses. There are plans in place to make continued improvements to the home. When required, the director of operations has completed detailed investigations. These have helped identify when additional support is needed, or where changes could be made. Inspection report for children’s home: SC452461 5 There are enough staff, although the turnover of staff remains a challenge. Managers are using creative ways to try and retain staff. This includes personal coaching sessions. Staff said that these sessions are supportive and help them to feel valued. However, some staff have not received regular supervision sessions, meaning there have been missed opportunities for staff development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers closely monitor staff performance. However, some staff use terms and references in children’s records that could be considered disrespectful. Failing to ensure objective and clear recording means that some information is recorded in a way that is unhelpful to the child. In addition, records of staff induction programmes do not show how newly recruited staff complete each step of their initial training. Inspection report for children’s home: SC452461 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 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the outcomes of consultations with safeguarding professionals are clearly recorded to demonstrate the actions taken. 30 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, provide staff with supervision and induction training in line with the home’s policy.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 30 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s homes are nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children. In particular, they should ensure that repairs are made without delay and that cleaning of the home takes place as required. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: SC452461 7  The registered person should ensure that staff have unconditional positive regard for children. In particular, ensure that records made by staff use language that is child friendly and respectful. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 21, paragraph 4.3)  The registered person should ensure that they make suitable arrangements to manage, administer and dispose of any medication. In particular, they should ensure that arrangements for the administration of medicines in the annexe

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Recommendations

accommodation are safe and adhere to guidelines. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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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: SC452461 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: SES Turnstone Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Old Vicarage, School Lane, Heckingham, Norwich NR14 6QP

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Inspectors

Jamie Cousins, Social Care Inspector (lead) Rachel Watkinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC452461 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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