Children's Home run by Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd in Kent

Inspection report children's home: SC416915 1 SC416915 Registered provider: Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

A private provider owns and manages the home. They provide care for up to seven children who have difficulties in managing their emotions and behaviour and/or may have experienced trauma that has left them vulnerable.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2014.

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Information about this children's home

There were five children living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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outstanding

The children's home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children's home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC416915 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2023 Full Outstanding 01/02/2022 Full Outstanding 17/12/2019 Full Good 29/08/2018 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC416915 3

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outstanding

All children make significant progress due to the consistent nurturing care that they receive from a skilled, dedicated and loving staff team. Children and staff talk with great pride about the significant personal progress that children make from their starting points.

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outstanding

Social workers hold the staff in high esteem. They speak confidently about the staff and the positive impact that they have on children. Staff develop strong partnerships with other professionals. Communication is good and social workers can see the significant progress that children make. One social worker commented, ‘I would place any of my children at the home as it feels like a home and a family. The progress that [name of child] has made is exceptional.’

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outstanding

Staff help the children to understand the importance of education. Consequently, the children make excellent educational progress. This is particularly significant as some children have not previously engaged with school. Children talk with pride about their successes and share these daily with staff. Staff respond with genuine affection and together they celebrate these successes. Leaders are tenacious in their approach to promoting education and making sure that children have places at the right schools. Consequently, children have a truly individualised education experience and really benefit from this.

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outstanding

Children views are constantly sought and are well understood. Planned one-to-one sessions with staff focus on important themes and include a review of a ‘monthly happiness scale.’ Monthly children's meetings allow children to explore important topics such as black history month, autism awareness and changes in the royal family. These meetings also provide children with further opportunities to influence decisions about trips, meals, activities and holidays.

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outstanding

Children have positive day-to-day experiences and enjoy a large range of activities. As well as attending local youth clubs and after school clubs, children enjoy trips to the beach and other experiences such as visiting the local wildlife park. There are also opportunities to undertake bigger trips. The children spoke about how they recently enjoyed their holiday to Tenerife. There is always something happening and the children are excited for what could be coming next!

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outstanding

Staff capture important and day-to-day events in memory books. The children enjoy looking through these remembering fun times and thinking about how far they have come. When children move on, these mementos and photos are all collated for them to keep.

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outstanding

Children are skilfully supported to safely increase their independence. Staff carefully consider children’s age, understanding and current risks. Progress is recorded in a Inspection report children's home: SC416915 4 range of places such as placement plans, individual discussion records and photo books.

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outstanding

Staff have a well-developed understanding of the specific risks and vulnerabilities of each child. Internal and external safeguarding processes are clear. Staff know them and are confident to use reporting systems effectively. They form strong partnerships with all professionals involved in the support networks around the children. Consequently, there is a strong safeguarding culture in the home.

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outstanding

Staff have an excellent and up-to-date understanding of the children’s vulnerabilities and support needs. Individualised behaviour management plans provide clear and current guidance for all staff. The staff provide clear and consistent boundaries. They help the children understand the expectations and how to manage their emotions. As a result, incidents in the home are rare. There have been no physical restraints since the last inspection.

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outstanding

The children rarely go missing. Each child has an individual plan to guide staff in how to respond should this happen. Any changes to these plans are immediately agreed and followed. When children do go missing, staff know what to do and act to ensure the child’s swift and safe return. They maintain good communication with other professionals. This thorough approach, underpinned by the positive relationships that the children have with the staff, has resulted in a reduction in incidents of this nature. This has been an area of particularly significant progress for one child who is safer as a result.

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outstanding

When children’s behaviours change, staff respond quickly. Individual work is completed instantly with the child to try to understand the situation better and check that they are okay. Staff help the child to understand the impact of their behaviour. They follow this up with educational work to help children to better understand any risks in the context of the wider society. As a result, staff help the children to find creative and alternative strategies to manage their emotions and keep safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This is a well-managed home. The experienced registered manager and deputy manager have high aspirations for the service. They set high expectations for themselves, the staff and the children. Staff are clear about leader’s expectations and feel well supported. They talk about managers clear ‘visibility’, ‘open-door policy’ and good ‘on-going support’. Staff see these as important elements of their success.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have a good understanding of the individual children's needs and set targets for children that are meaningful. These contribute to the children’s development and the great progress that they make. Inspection report children's home: SC416915 5 The managers provide the staff with regular and effective supervision. Staff are confident to talk about issues that are happening for them outside of work, as well as challenges and developments in work. These supervisions encourage the staff to reflect on the children and the importance of their relationships with them. New staff are well supported through a comprehensive induction and more frequent supervision. This ensures that staff get good support from their first day.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The care and support that the children receive, and their overall experiences are outstanding. However, some documentation such as risk assessments and guidance to staff is not always kept up-to-date. This has not had a negative impact as staff know children well. However, this has the potential to undermine staff’s understanding when they are new to the home or have been away.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In addition, the reports completed by the independent visitor to the home do not always sufficiently critically analyse and challenge the service. This is a missed opportunity to drive improvement. Inspection report children's home: SC416915 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure there is regular monitoring of important documents such as risk assessments to ensure they are up to date. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23)  The registered person should ensure effective independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of independent monitoring systems (including under regulation 44) to ensure continuous improvement. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: SC416915 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Unit 73 And 74 Maple Leaf Business Park, Manston, Ramsgate CT12 5GD

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Inspector

Mark Newington, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC416915 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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