Children's home run by SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd in Sutton

Inspection report children's home: SC431799 1 SC431799 Registered provider: SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd 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 operated by a private organisation that specialises in the assessment and care of four boys who have experienced trauma and have associated specialist needs. The service offers an integrated education and therapeutic programme. At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2023.

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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 children's home: SC431799 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/08/2022 Full Good 27/04/2021 Full Outstanding 14/01/2020 Full Outstanding 06/11/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: SC431799 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a welcoming and nurturing home environment. Children's views are listened to and responded to consistently. For example, they share details of activities that they would like and their views on how the home should be presented. These are taken into account by managers and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Due to continual challenges around staffing, the home closed for several months and re-opened recently. The staff team and registered manager were re-deployed to work elsewhere in the organisation. Before the temporary closure of the home, several children moved on from the home in planned ways. Children either moved on to semi- independent provision, or experienced internal moves in the organisation. When the move was within the organisation, children were able to maintain some continuity. This is because staff were re-deployed to the same homes that the children had moved to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child who currently lives in the home transferred from another home in the organisation, with the intention of supporting the child to engage better in education. Since moving into the home, there has been an improvement in their school attendance and participation, and they now attend school regularly. They have consequently made good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a wide range of activities offered to children. The child who lives in the home currently has not wanted to participate in such activities, despite the many attempts made by staff. However, the child has independently joined a local gym. They attend regularly and enjoy this. Children who have moved on from the home, including those who have moved on to semi-independent accommodation, have maintained the same hobbies and clubs. They also continue to engage in other activities organised by the provider. These include ‘football Fridays’ and community events with the other homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged and supported well to have time with their family. They are supported by staff to re-build and further enhance relationships when safe to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The support provided by staff to enable children to grow in their independence is a real strength of the home. The support is underpinned by high expectations of what children can and do achieve. These expectations are individual to each child. As a result, children learn to budget effectively, cook their own meals, access activities and travel to and from their education provisions by themselves. This progress helps children to achieve their next steps well.

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

There was a difficult time in the home prior to its closure. Much work was carried out with two children who had a challenging relationship with each other. The work included therapeutic input, direct work with staff and the manager and consultation with external professionals. Despite these efforts, the relationship between the children Inspection report children's home: SC431799 4 became unsustainable. Incidents, including aggressive behaviours and offensive and racist language, became difficult for staff to manage and address. As a result, the decision was made to separate the children. This was an appropriate decision and resulted in a positive move for both children.

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

Staff understand children’s needs and risks well. Children’s risk management plans are clear and provide guidance for staff to help them to reduce and manage risk. There are proactive responses when risks are presented. For example, a child shared with staff that they were having difficulty emotionally and had thoughts of harming themselves. The child received a prompt and supportive response from staff to ensure that they were heard and kept safe.

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

Children have not gone missing from the home since the last inspection. However, there are clear processes in place for staff to follow, should this happen.

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

The safeguarding procedures have not always been followed consistently by staff. On one occasion, staff did not make leaders and managers aware of a safeguarding incident until several days after it had happened. Evidence relating to the concern had been deleted by this time and not all safeguarding professionals were contacted in response to the concerns initially. It also meant that Ofsted was not notified in a timely way. Once leaders were aware, effective action was taken. Although there has been some learning following this incident, the effectiveness of the actions subsequently identified has not been fully reviewed due to records not being accessible to leaders.

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

Children have individualised and clear placement plans in place. These help children and staff to know what is expected of them in terms of positive behaviour. Children take an active role in formulating and reviewing these plans. Records of key working sessions demonstrate how meaningful children’s contributions are to their plans. Boundaries are clearly in place and children's goals to independence provide an additional incentive. As a result, children make good progress from their starting points in terms of their emotional, social and physical well-being.

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

Although the risk assessment of the home’s location is updated as required, not all known risks are featured. This means that some of the known risks have not been fully considered in terms of how they can be reduced. Further guidance is required for staff to ensure that they are fully aware of the local risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced registered manager who understands the strengths and areas for development of the home well. The registered manager is well supported by leaders. There are good systems in place to monitor the quality of care for children. Leaders are actively involved in the re-opening of the home to ensure that the manager has the support that they need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Due to the current staffing arrangements, there are only sufficient staff to meet the needs of the one child who is living in the home. There is no capacity for further children to move into the home. Leaders and managers have no intention to move Inspection report children's home: SC431799 5 more children into the home until the staffing situation improves. Work continues to recruit more staff. Furthermore, the manager has only recently returned to work in the home and is in the process of reintroducing new procedures in some areas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers regularly review and monitor children’s plans. This includes tracking and considering children's progress, in all areas of their lives. They use a specific model as a tool to track this. This is in the process of being further enhanced and embedded in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision sessions are regular and not only focus on staff progress and professional development but also on the well-being of staff. Staff say that they feel well supported by leaders and managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are strong systems in place for both staff training and induction. All mandatory training is up to date and further training is given to staff when there is an identified need. For example, the local authority designated officer facilitated training to staff about their role. Staff found this training beneficial. Inspection report children's home: SC431799 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, 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;

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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

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)(v)(vi)(vii)) 01 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children's home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1)(2)) 01 May 2024 Inspection report children's home: SC431799 7

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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 children's home: SC431799 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd, 591 London Road, Sutton, Surrey SM3 9AG

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Inspector

Kelly Marchmont, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report children's home: SC431799 9 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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