Children's Home run by Woodford Children's Services Ltd in Redbridge

Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 1 Registered provider: Woodford Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider to care for up to five children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There are three children currently living in the home. Two children have left since the last inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

This home was registered with Ofsted in November 2019. The manager has submitted an application to register with Ofsted in February 2024.

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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: 2559019 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2023 Full Good 09/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living at the home. Children have good relationships with staff and each another. One child said that the home is the best home that they have ever been in. Children feel that staff care about them. One child showed a book that staff made that congratulates them on their achievements. One child has breakfast with a staff member every morning, and this time is very important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children are in education. Staff assist children with their studies and have a positive attitude towards education. This has encouraged one child to become more motivated when completing educational tasks and work. One child is currently not in education; however, staff are looking for educational courses that align with the child’s interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported in their development and prepared for when they leave the home. One child is being supported as they prepare for independence. This child has their own cupboard and fridge; and is supported to shop and prepare meals independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s health needs are appropriately met and that they attend required appointments. Staff advocate for children’s health needs and seek medical support from professionals when required. This ensures that children achieve good health outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s meetings take place on a regular basis. This allows children to have a safe space to share their views. Children’s complaints are also listened to and acted on. When children are unhappy with the outcome of their complaint, managers work with the children to try to resolve the matter.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to enjoy spending quality time with their families. Staff work with professionals to ensure that children are safe during this time. One child disclosed safeguarding concerns in their family home, and staff worked with professionals to promote the child’s well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals praised the staff for the nurturing relationships that they have with the children. Professionals feel that the home is accommodating and that children are settled in this ‘family setting’. One professional noticed that the risk of exploitation had reduced, and children were less likely to go missing from the home. Staff work well with professionals, and this has promoted the safety and well-being of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well furnished and decorated. The children’s rooms are all clean and reflect their interests and what is important to them. One child has taken extra care to decorate their room with the help of staff, and this child is proud of their room. Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 4

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

Children enjoy spending time in the home; as a result, children spend less time missing from the home. Staff understand the home’s procedures and take appropriate action when children are missing. Staff work with professionals to ensure that return-home interviews are completed, and to understand how to keep children safe.

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

Incidents involving children have reduced. After incidents, debrief sessions with children take place. The registered manager acknowledges the need for improvement when recording such events. This is so that the paperwork reflects the hard work that staff do to keep the children safe.

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

Risk assessments reflect concerns and actions that staff need to take to promote the well-being of children. Risk assessments are up to date and identify children’s vulnerabilities. Behaviour management plans include what staff need to do to reduce and manage risk. For one child, there were concerns around sexual exploitation. Managers worked with the police and a warning notice was in place to safeguard the child. This has reduced the risk of child sexual exploitation.

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

Staff ensure that children’s plans are updated regularly. Children’s plans include internal progress reports to track children’s progress. Where staff do not have an updated plan for a child, managers escalate this to the local authority, but this could be more consistent.

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

Not all children in the home have independent reviewing officers. Managers have continued to raise their concerns about the local authorities involved. Managers recognise the need for social care involvement and continue to raise concerns about this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post for four months and is in the process of registration. Children feel that the new registered manager has brought a positive change to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates for the children’s education needs, and promotes semi- independence by ensuring that children attend a range of activities. There have been no physical restraints and staff use other methods to de-escalate situations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working in the home. They appreciate the teamwork and homely atmosphere. Staff feel that the atmosphere in the home is has helped the children to gain self-confidence. Staff understand the children’s lived experiences and how this will reflect in the support that each child needs. According to staff, there is a strong emphasis on supporting children with their education. One member of staff mentioned that the presence of a male manager has been positive. Staff showed Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 5 appreciation notes that children had made for the registered manager, which highlights how much they appreciate him.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision. This is to look at their work with the children, but also their personal development. There is an emphasis on training, team dynamic, and therapeutic working, which staff feel helps them to understand the children better.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The review of the quality of care of children was not submitted on time, and a recommendation has been raised around this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they develop the home’s effective working relationships with each child’s placing authority and with other relevant persons, which may include services, individuals (including parents), agencies, organisations and establishments that work with children in the local community, e.g. police, schools, health and youth offending teams (regulation 5 – engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met). These working relationships will also be key to success in delivering the care planning standard (regulation 14). (‘Guide to the Children’s homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that there are processes in place to enable a review and report to be generated at least once every six months. The generated report should be sent to Ofsted and the placing local authority of all children in the home who are looked-after children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.3)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2559019 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Woodford Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Abacus House, 14-18 Forest Road, Loughton IG10 1DX

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Inspector

Chelsea Agyeman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2559019 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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