Children's home run by Sussex Children’s Care Ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 2664249 1 Registered provider: Sussex Children’s Care Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The privately owned home provides care for up to two children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties. There were two children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted on 21 December 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s statement of purpose refers to the staff as adults. The report reflects the language used in 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: 27 September 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2664249 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/09/2022 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 2664249 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The care provided to children is consistently good. The adults in the home provide warm and nurturing care. The children have developed close and meaningful relationships with the adults and choose to remain close to them when at home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The ethos of the home is that it belongs to the children. Consequently, it is decorated and arranged in a way that meets their unique wishes and needs. The home is comfortable and personalised. Adults work hard to ensure that the children have a home they can be proud of. As a result, the children have started to ask for playdates and sleepovers with their friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children attend school daily. Adults support children to attend school away from the local area. The adults work closely with schools, always attending meetings and communicating well with teachers and principals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are valued and sought regularly in house meetings, which are carried out around the dinner table. The children discuss what activities they would like to take part in and the food that they would like to eat. They are confident in expressing their wishes and are listened to by patient adults.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The adults working in the home understand the impact of trauma on children. As a result, a great deal of effort is made to provide the children with opportunities that they may not have had previously. The children have been encouraged to be more sociable and are supported to attend regular extra-curricular activities such as gymnastics and swimming. The children are proud of their achievements and the rewards gained from doing these activities, which are celebrated by the adults.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults carefully consider the needs of children moving into the home, to ensure that they are compatible with the needs of children already living there. However, the written assessments that underpin their decision-making lack detail.

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

The children feel safe in the home. They have built strong relationships with the adults and have begun to share difficult memories from their past. When children find accessing therapy too difficult, the manager provides the adults with access to the therapeutic input they need to provide well-informed care.

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

Adults maintain good-quality safety plans for children. These are updated following any changes to a child’s behaviour and information is shared promptly with all adults. One child’s safety plan needed updating following recent events, as it did not adequately address the risk. However, there was little negative impact on the child as adults working in the home know the needs of the children well. Inspection report for children's home: 2664249 4 Adults manage the children’s challenging needs well. Physical restraint is rarely required. When physical restraint is used, the manager has good oversight. On one isolated occasion, a physical intervention involving the manager was not reviewed by a senior leader. This prevented the opportunity for an independent person to reflect with the child on what occurred and why, to consider any learning or reparation work required as a consequence of the restraint.

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

Ensuring children’s safety is paramount for adults. Safeguarding practice is generally strong. However, one serious incident was not reported to Ofsted. This hinders the opportunity for the regulator to monitor and maintain full oversight of safeguarding practice in the home.

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

The relationship between the children living in the home is sometimes complex and challenging for adults to manage. The care provided by the adults is nurturing and non- judgemental, and mostly effective in helping children know what is expected of them. However, on occasions when children need firm and clear boundaries, these are not always clear, which misses opportunities to intervene early to help children navigate situations without their behaviours escalating.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is highly committed and child-centred. He is supported by an equally committed deputy manager and responsible individual. He is receptive to advice and uses feedback from children, adults and the home’s independent visitor to further improve the care offered to the children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Oversight of the home, including regular audits, is carried out by the manager and responsible individual. The manager knows the children well and works effectively with the deputy manager to ensure good oversight of care practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are generally enough suitably experienced adults on duty to meet the needs of the children. However, on one occasion, a relatively new member of the team was left in a position of responsibility with a temporary worker. This could have had an impact in terms of the adults on shift being confident enough to manage a complex situation and for children to feel that they were being cared for by adults who knew them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults receive regular and meaningful supervision from the manager and deputy manager. Extensive training opportunities are also provided. As a result, adults feel valued and invested in.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Rigorous pre-employment checks are carried out by the deputy manager, which ensure appropriate and suitable adults work in the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2664249 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, The 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 22 April 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the capacity and competence to build constructive, warm relationships with children that actively promote positive behaviour and provide the foundations for managing any negative behaviour. Staff should have the skills to respond to each child’s individual behaviour. When necessary, they should manage conflict, maintain constructive dialogues and react appropriately if challenged by a child in their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.14)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the are respected. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should ensure that they notify Ofsted and other relevant

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Recommendations

persons if a notifiable incident occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10) Inspection report for children's home: 2664249 6  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records (regulation 36) are kept up to date. In particular, ensure that essential documents are available to

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Recommendations

staff and children’s risk assessments are up to date. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: 2664249 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sussex Children’s Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 74 Brodrick Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN22 9NS

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Inspector

Jane Balfe, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2664249 8 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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