Children's Home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Buckinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 1 SC067757 Registered provider: Benjamin UK Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the Social Care Common Inspection Framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for to up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, there were three children living in the home. The manager has applied to be registered 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: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the inadequate judgement in August 2021, a notice suspending registration was served along with two compliance notices issued under regulations 12 and 13. Monitoring visits took place on 13 September 2021 and 20 September 2021. Following these visits, the suspension notice was removed, and a notice restricting accommodation was served. A further monitoring visit took place on 30 September 2021, when a decision was made to remove the restriction notice. Further monitoring visits took place on 23 November 2021 and 29 March 2023. The home currently has no conditions in place regarding its registration. Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2021 Full Inadequate 04/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/08/2019 Full Good 22/10/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from being looked after by a stable and consistent staff team. Consequently, children build trusting and secure relationships with staff, which helps them to make good progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, children achieve well in education because they benefit from bespoke education packages arranged by teachers from the organisation’s registered school. Staff are providing proactive support for one child, who is struggling to access education, and they offer alternative learning opportunities when this is unsuccessful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive help from staff to make progress in relation to their emotional well- being, and children are also offered access to therapy. There are examples of high- quality life-story work being carried out with children. One child has used the opportunity to write about how much they have benefited from the care and support they have received since moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff sensitively support children to overcome traumatic early life experiences and help them to develop coping strategies to manage their feelings and emotions. Children’s support plans are comprehensive and demonstrate a good understanding of their strengths and vulnerabilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children moved into the home from one of the organisation’s other homes. The moves were carefully planned with input from children. They appreciate the fact that they have larger bedrooms and communal spaces.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s wishes and feelings are valued, and it is clear to see that they are involved in decisions about the way the home is run. Staff celebrate children’s achievements and children feel proud of their successes.

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

Children’s needs and risks are understood, and staff take effective action to promote children’s safety. However, some children’s plans are not sufficiently detailed to clearly describe how staff should respond to emerging concerns. This particularly relates to making sure staff know the best approach to support children who display self-harming behaviour.

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

Staff respond swiftly and decisively when children go missing from the home. Records demonstrate that staff take effective action to ensure that children return home safely. Staff work well with other safeguarding agencies during these episodes. Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 4 Key-work sessions are carried out with children following behavioural incidents. There is a focus on helping children to reflect on what went wrong. This restorative approach, from staff who are sensitive and curious, supports children to have a positive experience of learning how to make amends for their mistakes.

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

Children are encouraged to participate in weekly home meetings, and this provides an opportunity for learning, for example about diversity. The meetings are also used to remind children about the boundaries that help them to live together harmoniously and address any emerging issues.

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

Following a series of bullying incidents, managers and staff implemented child- centred mediation and a positive outcome was reached.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a calm atmosphere in the home and a culture that encourages children to explore their developing sense of identity and to be happy as themselves. Managers value spending time with children and are aspirational for what they can achieve. Staff speak positively about the support they receive from managers and recognise the important role they have in ensuring positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a wide range of training opportunities that enable them to meet the needs of the children they are looking after. Staff morale his high, and they say that teamwork and communication are effective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment practices are understood and implemented. Checks are carried out to ensure that adults are safe to work in the home. Managers have recently recruited some international workers. They have valuable knowledge and skills and have increased the diversity in the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have built effective working relationships with external safeguarding agencies. This includes the police, who regularly visit the home to help build positive relationships with children. Having a range of trusted professionals to speak to if they are worried, contributes to children’s protection and sense of security.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Prior to one child’s arrival, managers did not fully assess the risk that the child’s behaviour may have a negative impact on other children. The result was that the stability of the home was compromised. Managers took prompt action and worked with the placing authority to seek alternative arrangements for the child. Following this, staff have undertaken restorative work with children to repair relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records are comprehensive and demonstrate a positive lived experience for them. However, not all staff are using children’s preferred names, which results in some inconsistent records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are clear policies and expectations for staff regarding professional boundaries. However, on one occasion, a member of staff used their personal mobile phone to Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 5 gather evidence about concerns about a child. Managers have reminded all staff about the importance of professional boundaries.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should ensure that everyone working at the home understands their roles and responsibilities and what they are authorised to decide on their own initiative. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20)  The registered person should ensure that there is a suitable plan that includes strategies for a particular type of care, treatment or intervention. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph

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Recommendations

3.15)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand that the home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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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 Home Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Coach House, White House Court, Hockliffe Street, Leighton Buzzard LU7 1FD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Claudette Rudman

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Inspector

Ashley Edwards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC067757 7 regulates and inspects 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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