Children's home run by Fledglings Child Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2669905 1 Registered provider: Fledglings Child Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private organisation. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The post for a registered manager has been vacant since 1 October 2023. A new manager has been appointed and has applied for registration.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2669905 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/03/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2669905 3

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improvement to be good

Two children have lived at the home for over a year. They are settled and making steady progress in some areas in relation to their individual starting points. The children enjoy good relationships with staff and each other.

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improvement to be good

The plans for promoting children’s education are currently ineffective. This means that children are not making consistent progress in relation to their education and learning. Children’s school attendance is sporadic and their progress in education is limited. When children do not attend school, staff are not proactive in providing them with alternative learning opportunities.

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improvement to be good

Children are registered with the health services that they need to be healthy. Medical consent is in place and staff are familiar with the health decisions that are delegated to them. Children’s medication is safely stored and administered by staff.

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improvement to be good

One child is accessing therapeutic support to promote their emotional well-being. However, the other child is not currently receiving any therapy, and staff’s attempts to engage them in anger management work have been unsuccessful. This impacts on the child’s ability to form and sustain positive and meaningful relationships with professionals.

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improvement to be good

One child has an outstanding vaccination and requires a dental hospital appointment for treatment. There is no evidence that these matters have been escalated. A recent accident report was not completed promptly, although this was rectified during this inspection.

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improvement to be good

Staff provide children with continuity of care. This ensures that children benefit from consistency and stability in their lives. Children have formed positive relationships with the adults who support them. Children say that they are happy and enjoy living at the home. A child said, ‘Staff treat us like normal kids and not like care kids. They make us feel at home.’ Another child said, ‘This place is better than most places. It’s the best home I’ve been in.’

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improvement to be good

Staff promote family time to ensure that children can see the people who are most important to them. Staff provide children with one-to-one support. However, staff do not always act on their discussions with children to help children to influence the running of their home.

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improvement to be good

Staff provide children with activities to promote their interests and hobbies. One child attends mixed martial arts lessons. In addition, children enjoy swimming and going to theme parks, concerts and the cinema.

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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2669905 4 Staff are trained in child protection to ensure that they are familiar with their safeguarding responsibilities. However, a child made an allegation about a member of staff on a work-related placement. The child did not wish to make a formal complaint. However, the allegation was not reported to the child’s social worker by the manager. Consequently, the correct safeguarding protocols were not followed, which could have placed the child at risk of harm.

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

Risks associated with children are known and understood by staff. The use of clear risk management plans and safe working practices promotes the safety of children and reduces the risk of harm.

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

There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home. There are no current issues with substance misuse, offending or antisocial behaviour. Overall, staff manage children’s behaviour safely and effectively.

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

Children know how to make a complaint and their rights are promoted effectively. There has been one complaint. The child was notified and was happy with the outcome.

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

Staff ensure that children benefit from a comfortable and homely living environment.

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

Health and safety matters are managed effectively by staff to promote a safe environment for children.

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good

Since the last inspection, there has been a change in the management. A new manager has been appointed and has applied for registration. The new manager is adjusting to their new role. However, they have insufficient knowledge of the children’s lived experiences and backgrounds and would benefit from additional support.

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good

The manager has carried out a quality of care review. However, the report lacks analysis and evaluation in all areas. It does not take into account the views of children, social workers, staff or other stakeholders to determine the current quality of care being provided and how children’s care can be improved. Additionally, the manager has not identified goals for the next six months to secure continuing improvement.

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good

Staff have access to relevant training to enable them to meet children’s specific needs. Most staff are suitably qualified and those who are not qualified are enrolled to attain a relevant qualification in caring for children.

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good

Staff benefit from regular team meetings and receive practice-related supervision. However, the quality and content of supervision records require improvement. The supervision records for staff contain insufficient reflection on their practice and do Inspection report for children’s home: 2669905 5 not support staff’s learning and continuing development. Additionally, supervision does not adequately review the progress and experiences of children and is not child centred.

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good

Staff employed are vetted and selected carefully to ensure that they are safe and suitable to provide care for children.

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good

An independent person visits the home to review the arrangements staff make to meet the needs of children and promote their safety and well-being. This enables the manager to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2669905 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This was a requirement at the last inspection and is restated. 27 November

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to 27 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2669905 7 the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children have access to therapy and that outstanding vaccinations and future dental hospital appointments are chased.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that allegations are notified to the appropriate authorities. 27 November

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and 27 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2669905 8 promotes their welfare.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the manager ensuring that they improve their understanding of the children’s specific needs and lived experiences.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“‘a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing, and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities, and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that feedback from children about the home and that from stakeholders, such as placing authorities and family members, is captured in the report to help inform the quality of care and that any areas for development or improvement are specified. 2 January 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered should ensure that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Inspection report for children’s home: 2669905 9  The registered person should ensure that accidents are promptly recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)  The registered person should ensure that children are able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 20, paragraph 4.11)

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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: 2669905 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Fledglings Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Colonnade House, 1st Floor, 163 Kingsway, Manchester M19 2ND

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Inspectors

Anthony Kyem, Social Care Inspector James Meeks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2669905 11 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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