Children's Home run by Beacon Residential Homes Ltd in Slough

Inspection report for children’s home: 2734210 1 Registered provider: Beacon Residential Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered in September 2023 and is privately owned. It provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties. Three children were living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since the home opened.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2734210 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by staff who understand their needs. Staff have taken the time to get to know each child individually. They know what approach works well for each child. Consequently, children receive good-quality individualised care from staff they trust.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are keen to provide children with new and enjoyable experiences. Planned group outings to the cinema, trampoline park or an escape room encourage positive relationships between the children and staff. Children get involved in activities with staff, such as baking or playing games together. They enjoy spending time with staff. Interactions between staff and children are natural, playful and relaxed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All three children are engaged in education. Two children attend an education placement, and one child has tutoring while an appropriate school placement is identified, following their move to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend health appointments. Effective partnership working between the staff, healthcare, education and social care professionals ensures that children’s needs are met holistically.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social care professionals and a child’s relative expressed that children are well cared for by staff. The nurturing care provided to children has helped them to settle quickly following their moves to the home. Consistent care from staff has helped to develop children’s independence skills and confidence and has helped them to be more open about their feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively seek children’s wishes, feelings and views. This is done through conversations with the children, planned key-work sessions and house meetings. Children contribute to menu and activity planning. Each child has their own bedtime routine plan, which reflects the support they would like from staff. The children are aware of how to make complaints. Their expressed views on how to better support them are explored and acted on. This reassures them that they are important and that staff care about them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported with understanding themselves as individuals and are encouraged to be respectful of others. A child’s cultural and dietary needs are well met by the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a well-maintained, welcoming home. Each child’s bedroom is personalised and reflects that this is their own personal space. Outside of their bedrooms, children have other spaces to enjoy and spend time with others. This includes a lounge, a snug area and garden. Inspection report for children’s home: 2734210 3

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

Staff have a good understanding of each child’s background and the possible link to their current needs. They keep in mind that children have had difficult past experiences and maintain a non-blaming approach when supporting children through challenging situations. Social care professionals and a child’s relative are confident that staff manage challenging situations effectively.

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

Detailed risk assessments are individual to each child and provide clear guidance to help staff keep children safe and promote their well-being. Appropriate action is taken by staff when children go missing from home. This has helped to ensure children’s safe return to the home.

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

Staff are proactive and take the opportunity to have meaningful conversations with the children on sensitive issues, such as the potential risks of going missing from home and self-harming. Children are educated on keeping themselves safe and make informed decisions about the care they receive.

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

Children are supported through a sensitive approach without the use of restraint. Staff use de-escalation techniques to support children effectively during crises. There is a positive culture of children being encouraged to express their feelings and views following incidents. These conversations help children to reflect and take accountability, and staff offer the children reassurance.

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

Staff ensure that children’s health needs are met. On one occasion, medication records were not completed. On another occasion, medication administration had been missed. This did not result in any adverse health implications for the child. The manager shared actions taken to prevent similar incidents occurring. A medication review is planned to highlight any further improvements that can be made to their medication processes.

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

Children are cared for by a consistent core staff team, supplemented by agency workers when needed. Employment checks for permanent staff are carried out to a good standard. However, the manager does not currently have oversight of checks carried out for agency staff by the recruitment agency. As a result, the manager does not have access to all relevant information relating to agency staff’s suitability to work with children.

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

Health and safety checks carried out help to maintain a safe home environment. Prompt action was taken by the manager to address a potential hazard identified by a gas engineer during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and leadership team strive to ensure that children receive good-quality care that meets their needs well. They reinforce the importance of staff working in partnership with all professionals involved in children’s lives and lead by example. A Inspection report for children’s home: 2734210 4 social care professional complimented the manager’s ‘child-centred, nurturing approach’ which helped a child settle in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An important focus for the manager is to ensure that children feel listened to. The staff support this vision and actively seek children’s views through different ways implemented by the manager. A strength of the home is the due care and attention taken by the leadership team to explore children’s expressed views about any changes they would like made. This has shown children that they are important and are valued members of the household.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Reflective discussions take place on staff practice during regular team meetings and supervision sessions with staff. It is planned for a recently appointed psychotherapist to work with the children and staff. While staff are provided with a range of training that is relevant to the children’s needs, training is overdue for several staff members. This means that staff may not have up-to-date knowledge that could potentially enhance their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership team recognises the importance of children having well-planned and supported moves to the home. The current children in the home were well supported to prepare for their moves to the home. However, reflection on the placement ending for one child has identified further actions that could have been taken from the outset to give the child the best possible start. The manager is committed to ongoing development. Her reflective approach has identified lessons learned, which will inform future planning. Inspection report for children’s home: 2734210 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. This includes ensuring that the manager has oversight of employment checks carried out by agencies for agency staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that they make suitable arrangements for the safe handling and administration of medication to children. They should ensure that staff take good care with medication processes. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)  The registered person should ensure that records demonstrate that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and that the manager understands their key role in the training and development of staff in the home. Staff should complete training in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: 2734210 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beacon Residential Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Zone G Salamander Quay, Harefield UB9 6NZ

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Inspector

Sasha Reid, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2734210 7 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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