Children's home run by Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited in Thanet

Inspection report for children’s home: SC063116 1 SC063116 Registered provider: Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home for up to six children with behavioural difficulties and emotional trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were six children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

Staff in this home are referred to as adults and this is reflected in this report.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2012.

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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

Date of last inspection: 26 September 2022

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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: SC063116 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/09/2022 Full Good 02/03/2022 Full Good 26/02/2019 Full Outstanding 26/02/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC063116 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The atmosphere in the home is that of a family home. Children make continuous progress through the warm and nurturing relationships they have with the adults who care for them. Children’s views and needs are held central to how the home is decorated, organised and run. Social workers are highly complimentary of the progress children make and the approach the adults take to ensure that the children thrive in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are confident in their surroundings. They excitedly approach the adults to play games, help them or tell them what they are thinking about. During the inspection, children enjoyed pumpkin carving and baking cakes as part of a ’bake- off. This was followed by a celebratory hot chocolate after the activities, to recognise that all had tried hard in the baking competition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend local schools full time, including those owned and run by the organisation, and specialist independent or mainstream schools in the community. Children speak positively about attending school. Strong joint working between adults and education professionals means there is a consistent approach and children have the education placement that is right for them both academically and emotionally.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children maintain relationships with their family and friends where appropriate, with the adults supporting and facilitating family time often travelling long distances. Adults ensure that children are prepared and ready to see their families and share appropriate information with families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s physical and emotional health and well-being is well managed through joint working with the organisation’s specialist workers and therapists in addition to support and advice from child and adolescent mental health services, and other key medical professionals. Children are helped to understand healthy lifestyles and what this means for them. They have freshly made meals and enjoy a wide range of physically and emotionally stimulating activities. Medication is suitably stored and administered.

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

Children feel safe in the home. They all have preferred adults they can go to if they are worried or upset. The adults in the home are aware of each child’s needs and vulnerabilities and quickly notice if a child needs help, support or a hug.

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

The adults in the home recognise that all children’s behaviour is a way of communicating an emotion. They spend time with the children making sure they understand what their worries or concerns are. Should a child require a physical intervention, they are well supported to reflect and understand what was happening Inspection report for children’s home: SC063116 4 and why the adults needed to help them. Debriefs are a reflective space and continue through to one-to-one sessions as needed to help the child explore how they are feeling, and consider their responses in the future.

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

Joint working with safeguarding professionals is strong and all adults know how to respond should there be a safeguarding or child protection concern. Should a child make a complaint, the adults advocate for them. Children feel listened to and know that the adults will help and support them to remedy any problems.

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

Targeted one-to-one sessions and group meetings support children to learn about risks in the community. Topics cover safe people and safe spaces. In addition, the children know how to be safe around the sea, which is close to the home. Children are afforded the opportunity to take age-appropriate risks through some of the activities they undertake, such as scootering and skateboarding, but also walking independently home from school.

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

Children are protected from avoidable risks through regular checks of the firefighting equipment and the home and grounds. Children know how to respond should the fire alarm sound. Safer recruitment is followed to reduce the risk of children being cared for by unsuitable people.

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

Children’s plans are clear on how staff should support them in times of crisis. Plans for one child do not contain details of a potentially self-injurious behaviour that took place once. However, all the adults knew about the behaviour and were aware of how to respond should it happen again.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high aspirations for all the children. They support the adults effectively to provide care as described in the statement of purpose and in accordance with the ethos of the home. The adults work effectively as a team and support or challenge each other if needed to make sure the children have consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The adults have the training they need to meet the needs of the children in addition to mandatory and essential training. They say that supervision is useful and provides a safe space to develop their skills and understanding. The adults are well supported by the manager, whom they can contact whenever they need to. The area manager is a regular presence in the home. The manager finds them and the responsible individual to be supportive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the children’s plans, regularly reviewing and updating them. Children’s progress is monitored and celebrated, no matter how small the change or improvement is. The senior team also helps to monitor various aspects of the home and care to ensure that children are living in a safe and supportive environment. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063116 5 The manager makes good use of the monitoring systems in place. They find the visits by the independent visitor to be effective, aiding development of the home and the care provided to children. The development plan is aspirational and the manager and team caring for the children all seek to provide the best possible care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063116 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s plans and assessments include all circumstances where they may try and harm themselves. 30/11/2023

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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: SC063116 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 17 Leigh Road, Ramsgate, Kent CT12 5EU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Leslie Davenport

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Inspector

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC063116 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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