Children's home run by St. Benedict’s Care Solutions Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2688362 1 Registered provider: St. Benedict’s Care Solutions Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private organisation. The home is registered to provide care for up to three children who have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since August 2022. She holds a level 5 diploma in leadership and management.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children lived at the home.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2688362 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/03/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2688362 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home. Effective planning and visits to the home before moving in meant that the child was able to meet staff and the other children. This helped the child to feel comfortable and settle into the daily life of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a strong knowledge of children’s health needs. Before living at the home, one child would not attend health appointments. The manager and staff have worked well with the child to help them understand the importance of health appointments. Consequently, the child now recognises the benefits of looking after their health and now attends appointments with their doctor, dentist and optician. In addition, with the support of staff, the child has also attended their annual health review, which means that the child and staff now have a good understanding of the child’s holistic health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between children and staff at the home are positive, which helps children to have a sense of belonging. Children enjoy spending time with the staff. One child said that they like the staff and are happy at the home. Children routinely take part in activities and enjoy a range of experiences, including going to trampoline parks, bowling and the cinema.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop their independence skills. For example, with the support of staff, one child successfully booked an activity for the whole household. More generally, staff help the children to develop a better understanding and skills in areas including budgeting, cooking and maintaining a clean home environment. Paying attention to helping children develop daily living skills helps to ensure their readiness for adult life and more independent living arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend a school or college, and staff provide transportation for children as needed. Children’s educational targets are well understood by the staff, who communicate effectively with each child’s teachers. Staff prioritise supporting children with their homework, which helps children to understand what they need to do to complete homework tasks well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to share their views, wishes and feelings, and they regularly provide feedback about their care. Staff take children’s feedback seriously and act on the children’s views. For example, arrangements were made for a child’s brother to come to their birthday party when the child said that was their wish. Children are supported to choose their meals and the activities that they want to do. Children have not made any complaints. However, staff have prioritised making sure that each child understands how to make a complaint. When complaints have been made by persons external to the home, the manager has ensured an appropriate and prompt response. Inspection report for children’s home: 2688362 4 The home environment is warm, homely and arranged to meet the needs of the children. Children are supported to choose an individual design for their bedroom. CCTV is used externally for security purposes. However, there is no evidence of

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

consent being provided for the use of CCTV by children’s social workers.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s individual risks. There are clear written risk assessments and behaviour management plans in place for each child. This has supported the staff to understand how to respond appropriately to any changes in children’s behaviour. Consequently, the number of incidents is low.

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

Consequences are rarely used in response to children’s behaviour. When consequences have been applied, they have been fair and effective. In addition, children are always spoken to following a consequence being given. This has allowed children and staff an opportunity to reflect and learn from the experience.

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

The home is well maintained, and there is good oversight of the health and safety arrangements for the home. Staff carry out regular health and safety related checks, including food temperatures and fridge and freezer temperature checks. External health and safety checks, including gas and portable appliance testing, are regular. Any shortfalls that are identified are promptly responded to.

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

Physical interventions are rare, and children are only ever held as a last resort. Children are spoken to within 24 hours when they have been held. However, management reviews for some incidents have not always been carried out promptly. On one occasion, the manager reviewed an incident that she had been involved in. Consequently, there had not been effective oversight over the incident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is enthusiastic and committed to her role. The manager and responsible individual have worked hard to help ensure that staff practice supports the vision for children to have a safe and loving home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals speak highly about the care that children receive and are positive about the communication with managers and staff. One social worker said, ‘I work with a lot of homes, but I feel that this home is the best one. I wish there was a post-18 service. I feel that they are setting my child up well for the future.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been an improvement in the quality of staff supervision. The manager consistently supports staff to develop their knowledge of how to work effectively with children. The manager has ensured that staff benefit from regular and supportive supervisions. This has allowed staff to feel valued and understood by the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training is tailored to the needs of children. Team meetings are regular, and the registered manager makes good use of these meetings to promote the team’s Inspection report for children’s home: 2688362 5 understanding of the children’s needs and therapeutic models of care. This has supported staff to feel more confident in their roles. Inspection report for children’s home: 2688362 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 31 January 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they gain consent for any monitoring or surveillance by the placing authority in writing at the time of placement. The use of CCTV is regulated by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and the Surveillance Camera Code of Conduct (Home Office 2013). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)

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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) Inspection report for children’s home: 2688362 7 Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2688362 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: St. Benedict’s Care Solutions Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6a George Street, Nottingham NG1 3BE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Clifford Faulder

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Inspector

Chanel Bryant, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2688362 9 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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Inspector

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