Children's home run by Beacon Childcare Ltd in Cheltenham

Inspection report for children’s home: 1230415 1 Registered provider: Beacon Childcare Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care and accommodation for up to four children who have experienced early childhood trauma and have social and emotional difficulties as a result of these experiences.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since December 2022.

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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: 22 February 2023

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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: 1230415 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/02/2023 Full Good 17/11/2021 Full Good 03/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/05/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1230415 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, four children have left the home and three children have moved in. Three of the children who left the home moved in a planned way in line with their care plans. Their transitions were well supported, and the children experienced positive endings. The fourth child experienced an unplanned move after struggling to settle at the home despite the support offered to them. At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home. All the children are making progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the children’s different personalities and interests. This helps children to build positive relationships with staff, and they are happy living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain good health. They attend routine appointments, and referrals are made for specialist support when it is required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. Children enjoy seeing their families and have overnight stays with them. One child’s relationship with their family has improved significantly since living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides sufficient space for children to live comfortably together and also enjoy their own space. The decoration of the home is generally acceptable. However, some repairs have not been completed quickly enough and the home is not always cleaned thoroughly, meaning that the home environment is not as warm and nurturing as it could be.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend education; however, one child often refuses to attend school. When they are not at school, the home does not provide enough structure for the child’s day or expectations of the work that the child needs to complete. This means that the child is at risk of falling further behind with their schoolwork and not achieving their goals.

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

Children know who to talk to if they have any concerns. One child discussed that they could talk to any of the staff and felt confident that they would be listened to and supported.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff know how to respond. They search for the child in known locations and quickly report children as missing to the police. Children are supported sensitively when they return to the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 1230415 4 Allegations and complaints are responded to appropriately. When one child made a complaint, it was investigated and responded to well. This helps children to feel listened to and know that their concerns will be taken seriously.

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

Staff are safely recruited into the home, and all required checks are completed. This helps to reduce the likelihood of any unsuitable people working in the home.

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

Staff showed an understanding of children’s risks and vulnerabilities; however, risk assessments do not contain enough information to support staff to fully understand and manage those risks. As a result, staff are basing their actions on verbal discussions rather than a full assessment of risk, and new staff do not have a comprehensive document to guide their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced and qualified manager. The manager knows the children and staff well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a good advocate for children. They work effectively with other professionals to ensure that children get the support that they need, and they provide challenge where it is needed. One child’s education, health and care plan is out of date, and the manager has escalated this appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff complete a range of training, including some to meet the individual needs of the children living in the home. Staff have received training on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and children going missing from care. As a result, children receive care from staff who are well trained to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring systems in the home are not always consistently good. Although the manager monitors documents and tasks, they do not monitor the quality of care that is being provided effectively. At times, the manager is unclear of their responsibility to monitor and address shortfalls. For example, staff had recorded that cleaning had been completed when it had not, but the manager felt it was not her role to monitor and address this. This means that monitoring is not being used effectively to identify shortfalls and make improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision; however, this is not always reflective. Staff value supervision but there is little evidence of in-depth discussions or refection on how to do things better. This is a missed opportunity to share learning and make improvements. Inspection report for children’s home: 1230415 5

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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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager should ensure that risk assessments contain sufficient information. 15 February 2024

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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

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h)) 15 February 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1230415 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children engage in planned activities in the home to support their education while they are not attending school. They should ensure that there is a plan in place for the child's time, and that staff monitor this to ensure that the work is being completed. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should ensure that the children's home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets children's needs. Specifically, they should ensure that the home is clean and that damaged items are replaced as soon as is practicably possible. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.9)The registered person should ensure that staff supervision enables staff to reflect on incidents that happen. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39,

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Recommendations

paragraph 8.15)  The registered person should ensure that staff supervision enables staff to reflect on incidents that happen. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.15)

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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: 1230415 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beacon Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 28 Phoenix Business Park, Avenue Close, Birmingham B7 4NU

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Inspector

Vicky Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1230415 8 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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