Children's home run by Orchard Children Homes Ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 2626458 1 Registered provider: Orchard Children Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home was registered in May 2021 to care for up to three children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in May 2021.

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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: 13 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: 2626458 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/09/2022 Full Good 16/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2626458 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved out of the home and two children have moved in. At the time of the inspection, three children were living at this home. Children are making good progress due to the care they receive from staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children well when they move out. One child moved into their own accommodation and is now living independently. Staff were successful in supporting the child with an independence plan for their new home. As a result, the child had a positive experience of leaving this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning arrangements for children are well considered. External professionals confirmed that children are doing well, staff understand the children’s needs and children have positive interactions with staff. The key strength of the registered manager and staff is that they advocate for children to enable them to achieve the best possible outcome. Children are making exceptional progress, due to the good quality of care they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place a strong emphasis on educational attainment. They support children with their homework and have provided children with access to private tuition for subjects in which they require additional support. Children have received awards for meeting their educational targets. This has resulted in children making good progress at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Children are supported to understand their own health needs and staff promote the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle. This helps children to make better choices relating to their health. As a result, children’s health has improved and specific health issues are no longer a concern.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities. This is a key strength of the support that children receive. Staff have encouraged children with their individual talents and they have joined local clubs. Children have developed their talents in ice skating, dancing and football, which has led to better self-confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have meaningful discussions with staff. This supports their overall emotional well-being. Staff are creative in helping children to understand their emotions and feelings. For example, staff use various therapeutic strategies and interventions. This helps children to talk about their anxieties openly without fear of judgement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported well to keep in contact with people who are important to them. Parents said they can see that their child has come on in leaps and bounds and they have noticed a positive change in their child. Children have better relationships with their family and friends. This has helped children’s overall development. Inspection report for children's home: 2626458 4 Children do not have access to the snug room at night. This is because staff use the room as a bedroom when they are on sleep-in duties.

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

Children said that they feel safe at the home, staff protect them from harm and they can rely on the registered manager, who will listen to them if they are upset about anything. Children feel valued, respected and cared for.

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

Staff are positive role models who encourage positive behaviour from children. There is a learning culture which supports staff to develop a better understanding of children’s individual needs and adapt their responses to keep children safe and meet their needs. With the support of the therapist, staff develop and implement effective de-escalation techniques. This has resulted in incidents of physical intervention, going missing from care and other significant incidents reducing over time.

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

Staff use physical restraint as a last resort. They keep detailed records which demonstrate the need for intervention. This means that restraint is used in a reasonable, proportionate way and only when necessary.

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

In one isolated incident, one child left the home without staff’s knowledge. The registered manager carried out a review of this incident and has taken effective action to ensure that such incidents do not happen again. As a result, there have been no missing-from-care incidents since then.

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

Behaviour support plans are well considered. The registered manager works in collaboration with the therapist to identify strategies to support children with their individual needs. However, the plans do not always capture the guidance shared by the therapist. This undermines the effectiveness of the home’s approved therapeutic model of care. Despite this, staff understand the children’s individual needs and it has not had a detrimental impact on the quality of care children receive.

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

Staff receive guidance from good risk management plans, which helps them to protect children from harm. However, details relating to one child’s deprivation of liberty order are not clear and leave room for interpretation. This means that when new staff join the team, they do not receive clear guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is supported by a dedicated registered manager who has high aspirations for children. She is supported by an equally effective responsible individual. External professionals and parents said that the communication and coordination of the children’s care is positive. This is because it is led by an effective registered manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive supervision that promotes their learning and development and helps them to carry out their roles and responsibilities. . Staff speak highly of the support they receive from the registered manager. One staff member said that the registered Inspection report for children's home: 2626458 5 manager is motivational and has helped create a homely environment for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff work closely with the therapist through monthly therapy consultation meetings. This has resulted in staff developing a better understanding of the children’s early childhood experiences. This helps staff to understand how to tailor the support and care they provide to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have attended several training courses. However, the training staff receive in understanding the risks in relation to children who display harmful sexualised behaviour is limited.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s workforce development plan does not provide guidance in relation to the timescales and process of staff induction, probation and supervision. In addition, details of how staff poor practice is managed are not clear. This does not support staff’s continuous professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and responsible individual’s oversight of the quality of care provided to children is well considered. Leaders and managers take prompt action and are reflective in their approach to making improvements. However, they do not record the lessons learned that inform their future practice. This undermines the improvements being made to the quality of care provided to children and the overall effectiveness of management oversight. Inspection report for children's home: 2626458 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children having access to the snug room at all times of the day and night.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 December

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff receive specialised training to enhance their knowledge and skills to help understand harmful sexual behaviour displayed by children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that children’s care, behaviour and risk plans reflect the guidance shared by the therapist and learning captured by staff and other professionals. This includes the guidance given to staff relating to deprivation of liberty orders. The registered manager should ensure that they record all the lessons learned and how these have informed future practice, as Inspection report for children's home: 2626458 7 part of their management oversight. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that the workforce development plan clearly

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Recommendations

outlines the process and agreed timescales for staff induction, probation and supervision. This includes details of the process for managing and improving poor staff performance. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: 2626458 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Orchard Children Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Orchard Children Homes Ltd, 2nd Floor, 118 Calais Road, Burton-on-Trent DE13 0UW

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Inspector

Sam Dulay-Kainth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2626458 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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