Children's Home run by Almond Care Children’s Services Ltd in Leicestershire

Inspection report children's home: 2661513 1 Registered provider: Almond Care Children's Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned by a private provider. It provides care for one child with social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children's home

The home is led by a manager who is registered with Ofsted and is suitably qualified.

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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 children's home: 2661513 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/09/2022 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2661513 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is making good progress at the home. They are attending a local school full time despite having been out of education for some time previously. Staff liaise effectively with the school and are encouraging of the child’s attendance and engagement. As a result, the child is expected to be successful in their upcoming exams and is aspirational for their future training and employment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are encouraging of the child’s interests and hobbies. The child has had the opportunity to join several local clubs and to find an activity that they enjoy. Staff recognise the potential of the child becoming socially isolated and therefore nurture opportunities where the child can build friendships. The child’s confidence is growing, and they have recently begun to see peers in more relaxed social settings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has developed warm and trusting relationships with staff. Staff can engage the child regularly in one to one discussion which focus on topics important to the child. Staff are proactive to have meaningful discussions with the child in both a planned and unplanned way. A consistent approach by staff in challenging discriminatory views held by the child has developed their understanding and reduced the number of biased remarks being made. Staff should ensure that recordings include the full details of the conversations and work being completed with the child so that next actions are easily identified.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are effective in maintaining boundaries and offer a consistently nurturing and understanding approach. Where the child has become dysregulated, they have been able to de-escalate through discussion and affording the child space. The child and staff are benefitting from regular, reflective discussions with the in house Psychologist. Consequently, the child is now better able to recognise their emotions and express how they are feeling. The child can identify strategies that help them to feel calm and serious incidents are not therefore occurring regularly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care plans are thorough, clear, and accessible. They enable staff to quickly understand the needs of the child and the hoped for outcomes of the care offered in the home. Progress of the child is tracked effectively against these outcomes so the child’s successes can be easily identified and celebrated. Inspection report children's home: 2661513 4

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

Serious incidents are not occurring regularly. The child has not gone missing or been restrained since living at the home. Where incidents have occurred, these are explored thoroughly and have good oversight and reflection from the manager. Both the child and staff have the opportunity to debrief and learn from events, this allows staff to make changes which discourage risk taking behaviours from re-occurring. The manager must ensure that significant incidents are notified to Ofsted where necessary.

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

The child’s behaviours are well understood by staff. Risk assessments and behaviour support plans are thorough. Plans guide staff on how to recognise and react to potential risks and focus on de-escalation and avoiding incidents getting out of control. Plans reflect the current needs of children, when risks or needs are no longer presenting, they are removed. This recognises the child’s progress but also ensures that staff access only the most relevant information about the child.

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

The child is able to express how they feel and to influence the care in the home through regular children’s meetings. There has only been one complaint made by the child. This was handled well by the manager with an outcome clearly communicated to the child.

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

The child is currently preparing for their independence. Staff have supported them to have increasing levels of responsibility over their finances, cooking and travel, recognising their potential. Staff have ensured that where support or guidance is needed it is readily offered and this is developing the child’s confidence and abilities. The child spoke positively about a planned transition away from the home and is looking forward to living independently.

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

Staff are proactive to recognise and celebrate the child’s successes and have an ethos of positively affirming children's behaviour. A recent culturally sensitive reward was well received by the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by a dynamic and committed manager. She is ambitious for the home and the child. The Manager is present and available at the home. Both staff and the child seek her out and value her opinion. The manager leads by example and is trusted by the staff group.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working at the home and feel well supported. They receive good quality and regular supervisions and can reflect on their practice through an effective appraisal system. Several members of staff have been nurtured by the manager to take on more senior positions with the provider. As a result, retention of staff is good, and consistency of care is offered to the child. Inspection report children's home: 2661513 5 The manager understands the importance of effective oversight of the home. Her reflections on incidents and keyworks allow her to identify training needs for staff or where support may be required. The manager can identify the strengths and areas of development for the home and has a focus on empowering staff to adapt their practice to meet the needs of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment processes within the home are robust. Where there have been historic concerns about staff practice these have been fully explored before they begin working at the home. This ensures that only safe adults are working with the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is visited regularly by an independent visitor. Regulation 44 reports are provided to Ofsted but do not always include required consultation with the child or other involved professionals. This means the independent scrutiny of the care offered at the home is not to an acceptable level. Inspection report children's home: 2661513 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, 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 person must ensure that an independent person visits the children's home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home's records (except for a child's case records, unless the child and the child's placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person's report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person's opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

(a)children are effectively safeguarded; and (b)the conduct of the home promotes children's well-being.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring the independent visitor's reports include consultation with the child and stakeholders. 22 January 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home's policies on record-keeping, and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children's home: 2661513 7  Regulation 40(4) requires the registered person to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious (40(4)(e)). ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality

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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 children's home: 2661513 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Almond Care Children's Services Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Almond Care Ltd, 4 Barling Way, Nuneaton CV10 7RH

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Inspector

Louise Copping, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2661513 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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