Children's home run by The Vine Residential Services (TVRS) Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2727239 1 Registered provider: The Vine Residential Services (TVRS) Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to four children who have a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in May 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, four children were living 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

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: 2727239 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress. There has been a significant improvement in the children’s emotional well-being since living in this home. Children access therapy and appreciate the emotional support staff give them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good engagement with education. Before moving into this home, some children experienced difficulties attending school and engaging with learning. Since living in this home, all children access learning, engage with their tuition and have good school attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy access to a wide range of indoor and community activities. Activities include baking, bowling, cinema trips and attending activity centres. Children and staff prepare meals together. Children’s wishes and feelings are gathered in direct work and in children’s meetings to decide on their preferred activity. This participation helps children to feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children form positive relationships with staff. Staff use a variety of methods to gather children’s views and share information with children. For example, during children’s meetings, pictorial templates are used to communicate with children with different methods of communication. This helps staff to consult with children effectively and enables children to make choices about their activities and routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to lead a healthy lifestyle. They attend their health appointments and enjoy regular exercise, which includes going to the gym and walks to the park. Children are supported through social stories to understand their health needs and reasons for medical appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is maintained to an excellent standard. Repairs and wear and tear are addressed swiftly. Children are able to personalise their bedrooms. For example, children choose their wall decorations and have family photos and decorations on the walls.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children and how their personal experiences affect them. Staff use de-escalation strategies and creatively engage with children to understand what upsets them. This has reduced the number of incidents in the home. One social worker said, ‘De-escalation strategies at this home work much better than in previous homes, and the social stories have helped my child to have a better understanding of their behaviours.’

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

Staff rarely use physical intervention. Staff prefer not to give consequences for negative behaviour. They discuss issues with children and help them to reflect on Inspection report for children’s home: 2727239 3 their actions. Staff also prioritise rewarding children’s achievements. Children respond well to this approach.

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

Risks to children are known by managers and staff. Risk assessments are regularly updated. They are detailed and clearly outline individual risks and vulnerabilities. The strategies to mitigate risks are effective and are followed by managers and staff.

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

Medication records are logged on a computer system. For one child, the records were not accessible. While there have not been any known errors that have placed children at risk, these shortfalls could lead to children not receiving the correct medication. The management addressed this shortfall during the inspection. There is now a contingency plan should the computer fail.

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

Staff have undertaken safeguarding training. However, not all staff are familiar with whistle-blowing practices and do not know how to report concerns externally if required. This potentially places children at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers work in partnership with other professionals. They advocate for children and focus on children’s best interests. They challenge local authorities to provide the necessary documentation and resources to help them to fully address children’s identified needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children receive care from a highly resilient, committed and experienced staff team. The staff team is stable, which provides consistency for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff morale is high, and they are proud of children’s achievements. A social worker described staff as ‘child-focused’. Staff receive an extensive amount of training, more than what is required of their role, in order to benefit children. Staff benefit from regular and effective supervision as well as team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers collaborate proactively with other professionals and build positive relationships with parents. Communication with professionals and parents is good, and they receive regular updates about the progress and experiences of children. The feedback from professionals and parents is positive. One parent said, ‘The high levels of consistency is working well for my child.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2727239 4

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that medication files stored electronically can be easily accessed by anyone with a need to view them, and if they are not easily accessible and are required, they should be reproduced in an alternative form. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s external whistle-blowing procedures. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.9)

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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: 2727239 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Vine Residential Services (TVRS) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Granary Studio 4, 1st Floor, 80 Abbey Road, Barking IG11 7BT

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Inspector

Melvin Davies, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2727239 6 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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