Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2540927 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for three children who may have learning disabilities. At the time of inspection, three children resided at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a qualified manager, who is registered with Ofsted.

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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: 2540927 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/03/2023 Full Good 01/03/2022 Full Good 13/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2540927 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with lots of nurture and praise. Those who are closest to children comment on children feeling a sense of belonging at the home and that they are loved by staff. This supports children to feel settled and make positive progress in life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who previously avoided school now attend full time. Children said that they feel proud of this achievement and are excited for their futures. Staff support children to explore possible education or career paths. Professionals surrounding the children are extremely proud of how far they have come educationally and socially since living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to learn relevant independence skills. They create clear plans that are tailored to the individual child and their needs. This results in children feeling competent in daily tasks, such as contacting the doctors. Children feel prepared for the next stages of their life due to the support and guidance given.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff assist children to see their friends and family. Staff also support children to attend key family events. The written recording of such events is not always detailed. This could result in children not being able to seek memories through reading their records in the future.

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

Staff educate children about possible risks that they could be exposed to. Staff do this in creative ways to engage the children’s curiosity and embed the information. Children feel that they can rely on staff for non-judgemental and sound advice. This supports children to make positive and informed choices.

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

Staff know children well and adapt their responses to the needs of the child. This results in physical interventions only being used as a last resort. Staff create clear plans on how to best support children following such incidents to ensure that relationships remain positive. Where children require immediate reconciliation with those involved, the manager ensures that an independent person also speaks to the child and has oversight of recordings.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the dynamics within the home and how to effectively manage these. Staff encourage children to talk about any worries they may have. Staff are proactive in resolving issues of bullying between peers. This results in children knowing how to manage conflict appropriately. Thus, creating a sense of calm in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2540927 4 On one occasion, the manager did not explore all historical career gaps for an employee. This impacts on how staff are safely recruited. The home’s recruitment processes have recently been revised to ensure that such information is not missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed to his role and has good relationships with the children and his staff. Children enjoy being playful with the manager and will often seek him out to talk to. Staff feel well supported and comment on the high level of morale within the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff are welcomed to the home and receive a thorough induction. Although staff are having regular supervision, the written records of these do not evidence reflective practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has positive relationships with the children’s relatives and professionals. This supports a unified approach to children’s care. Professionals comment on the high levels of communication from the manager, stating that the home goes ‘above and beyond’ for the children they care for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although the manager has thorough oversight of the home, on one occasion, a staff learning opportunity was missed. The manager did not utilise his role to further explore why a staff member felt unable to challenge their colleague when a child’s risk management plan was not being followed. He also did not give clear direction to the staff member of what he would expect in the future. Without such learning development, the home could be open to further incidents of a similar nature. Due to this, the requirement relating to the protection of children standard is reinstated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There were no shortfalls in relation to the leadership and management standard and, therefore, the previous requirement in relation to this is met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2540927 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, 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

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

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

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to the managers ensuring that all staff have clear information and direction about children’s risk management plans, they understand the actions they need to take to mitigate risks, and clear records are kept to enable the monitoring and review of risks.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 15 April 2024

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Recommendations

 As set out in regulations 31-33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that the recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. This includes ensuring that there are explanations for any previous gaps in employment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child, taking into account the impact of the recordings if they were to be read in the Inspection report for children’s home: 2540927 6 future. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so 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)

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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: 2540927 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Esland Ltd, Suite 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Ellen Monk, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2540927 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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