Children's home run by East Sussex County Council in Lewes

Inspection report for children's home: SC068179 1 SC068179 Registered provider: East Sussex County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to four children who have experienced trauma, disrupted development, loss and/or multiple placement moves. There were four children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2012.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC068179 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/03/2023 Full Outstanding 23/06/2021 Full Outstanding 04/09/2019 Full Good 14/08/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC068179 3

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outstanding

All children make significant progress due to the consistent care that they receive from a skilled, dedicated and loving staff team. Children and staff talk with great pride when they see how much progress has been made from children’s starting points.

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outstanding

Staff consistently implement a well-understood theory-based model of care when working with children. This results in child-centred, focused work being carried out with children in response to areas of concern. Children’s successes are significant and include re-engagement in education for children who were previously not in school, a reduction in children harming themselves and a positive increase in children’s self-esteem. As a result, children thrive in this home.

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outstanding

Staff have a thorough understanding of children’s individual education needs and ensure that there is individualised support for them. Staff maintain ongoing communication with educational professionals to ensure that children’s plans are regularly reviewed. As a result, all children make strong progress. For some children, this is a particularly significant achievement.

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outstanding

Children’s health needs are met extremely well. As well as ensuring that children attend routine appointments with medical professionals, staff readily advocate when there are concerns regarding a child’s health. This has resulted in prompt and necessary changes to medication and increased support for mental health challenges.

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outstanding

The views and opinions of children are highly valued by the staff team. Staff use innovative strategies to support children to talk about how they feel. This ensures that children feel comfortable and that all children can share their views.

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outstanding

There are a wide range of daily activities available to children. Staff also take children on special trips that they have chosen with the specific aim of creating wonderful memories for them. These have included holidays to activity centres and trips abroad, including a trip to Paris. Children take great pride in contributing to the home’s memory book after each trip or activity. This memory book forms the basis of children’s own memory books when they move on from the home. Staff work hard to make sure that significant events, trips, activities and achievements are all captured.

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outstanding

Children are skilfully supported to safely increase their independence. This has resulted in meaningful progress for some children, for example being able to safely walk to school on their own. Inspection report for children's home: SC068179 4 Staff keep in touch with children who move on from the home through planned outreach work. This work is based on the needs of each child and ensures that children continue to be supported by adults who they trust. This helps children to settle and continue their successes when they move on from the home.

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outstanding

Staff support children extremely well to maintain positive relationships with their family and friends when this is appropriate. Other professionals are positive about the impact that staff have on children’s lives. For example, one social worker said, ‘The staff are consistently there all the time and go above and beyond to make the relationship between [name of child] and their mum as good as it can possibly be.’

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outstanding

Staff demonstrate a robust knowledge of the risks that children face. Guidance, in the form of risk assessments and well-being plans, ensures that children’s needs are meticulously understood by all staff. This guidance is regularly updated following any changes to a child’s behaviour or known risks.

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outstanding

For children who are new to the home, staff carry out extensive work with other professionals to ensure that all historical information and risks are known. This tenacious approach supports leaders to make effective decisions about whether and how children should move into the home and the support that they require.

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outstanding

Children rarely go missing from the home. However, when they do, staff take immediate action to locate them. When children return, they are welcomed by staff with a caring response to help them understand the level of concern. When the time is right, staff help them to understand the risks that they may face. As a result, missing-from-home incidents have been reduced.

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outstanding

Staff manage incidents when children harm themselves with diligence and care. They demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the potential risks for children. Staff work in partnership exceptionally well with mental health professionals and social workers. This ensures that children receive the best possible support. Consequently, incidents of children harming themselves have been significantly reduced.

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outstanding

Staff support children to understand the risks posed to them online. A mobile phone app also helps to ensure that staff maintain oversight of what children are doing. When concerns arise, they are immediately identified and discussed with children to safeguard them and to help them understand the dangers involved. Children understand what is expected of them and learn how to keep themselves safer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is led by a dedicated and experienced registered manager and deputy manager. They lead a skilled, stable team of staff, many of whom have been in post for many years. As well as formal methods of support such as supervision sessions and team meetings, there is an open-door policy that staff particularly value. Inspection report for children's home: SC068179 5 Leaders are very clear about what high-quality care is and have high aspirations for both children and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager uses excellent, well-embedded monitoring systems to support the development of the home and maintain oversight of the progress that children make. These systems support the registered manager to make positive changes and enable her to react when issues arise for any of the children. For example, when there was an increase in risk-taking behaviour for one child, the registered manager was immediately alert to this. She involved the staff team and external professionals and worked proactively to address the concerns. This resulted in a swift reduction in the risks faced by the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has introduced monthly file audits. These include the deputy manager reviewing the work carried out by children’s key workers. This work has supported staff to further enhance their skills and continue their professional development, ensuring the best possible outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

All staff receive regular supervision. These sessions provide staff with time and space to reflect on their work. Staff are challenged in supervision to further develop their understanding of the model of care that is used in the home and are supported to think about how their practice can support children even better. Supervision records do not always include details of the actions raised or how these actions are reviewed. Inspection report for children's home: SC068179 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that supervision records capture identified actions for staff to carry out and that these actions are reviewed regularly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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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: SC068179 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: East Sussex County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall St Anne’s Crescent, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1UE

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Inspector

Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC068179 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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