Children's Home run by Caring Feathers Ltd in Brent

Inspection report for children’s home: 2653894 1 Registered provider: Caring Feathers Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home. The home provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties. There were three children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in January 2022. The manager registered in October 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspector was aware during this inspection of specific concerns received by Ofsted. The actions undertaken by the setting were considered alongside other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform the inspectors’ judgements.

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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: 6 September 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2653894 2 Inspection report for children’s home: 2653894 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2653894 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy good and trusting relationships with staff. Children and staff have lively conversations mixed with a lot of laughter. A child returning from school was happy to tell the manager about their day while sitting on her lap. This shows that children feel comfortable and settled at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress. Staff say children are doing well and achieving a lot of good things. For example, one child no longer struggles with returning to the home after meeting with their family members. The child is supported to enjoy the time they spend with their family. Staff support is helping reduce the child’s anxiety about living away from their family. Staff have made efforts to promote good family relationships by inviting a child’s siblings to a birthday party. Staff also arrange for the child to take snacks to share with their family when they meet. This helps to make family time a pleasant experience for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children tell staff about their views through planned and informal conversations. This includes planning what they would like to eat and activities they want to do. Children say staff listen to them and they enjoy a lot of different activities. Children are looking forward to going on holiday to a theme park in Europe in the summer holidays. One child spoke excitedly about this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Diversity is celebrated at the home. Children learn about different cultures and religious celebrations from staff. A member of staff brought a hamper of chocolates and peanut butter for children and staff as an example of what could be shared to break fasting during Ramadan. The member of staff also made samosas with two children, which everyone said were delicious. The manager used this as an opportunity to explain to a child what Ramadan was about.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children get good support with their health and well-being. They are encouraged to eat well, including having a variety of fruit and vegetables. Staff also help children to understand their emotions through general conversations and planned discussions. Staff work closely with relevant professionals and share information to ensure consistent approaches to children’s care. One child said, ‘Staff help us out of love and care.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s educational needs are met through attending school or having tuition at the home. Staff encourage school attendance, and they support children to get to school on time. Children say school is fine, apart from one child who said it is ‘boring’. The child is doing well at school and staff encourage the child to think positively about learning. One child has plans for what they would like to study at college when they leave school. Inspection report for children’s home: 2653894 5

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

Children say they feel safe living at the home and that the staff are nice. When children are at risk, there are safety plans to help staff to keep children safe. Staff talk to children about keeping safe when they are away from the home. When a child does not return at agreed times, staff contact the child regularly until they return safely. They also inform relevant professionals who might help to ensure the child returns quickly.

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

Staff promote positive behaviour through consequences and rewards. This helps reduce incidents that could put children and others at risk of harm. One child said they get rewards when they do what they agreed to do. A ‘chores’ list is a good visual way of showing a child what they have achieved each day. This includes whether they used positive language when they spoke with others. The manager said the child was proud when everything on the list was ticked.

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

There are processes to ensure staff recruitment is undertaken in a safe manner. However, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are not always completed before staff start their induction training at the home. Managers said this only happens when preliminary checks, including overseas police checks, do not show concerns. They say that in such cases staff would have no unsupervised contact with the children. While no children have been harmed because of this, managers said they will change this practice. This will reduce the risk of unsuitable staff working at the home.

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

The registered manager and staff check the home regularly to ensure it is safe and to prevent accidents. The home is clean and tidy. However, some areas of the home need painting to make it nice and comfortable for children. Some of this work has already started, with maintenance staff painting the hallway during the inspection. Managers say they will continue renovating the home until the planned work is complete.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff have done a lot of work to improve the home since the last inspection. There are now impact risk assessments to assess that the home can meet the needs of children before they move in. This also helps to assess whether a child moving in can live safely with children already living at the home. There is now a record of staff training to show what training staff have completed and when.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager values the views of the independent person who visits the home to assess the quality of care provided to children. Managers act on recommendations made by the independent person, and they make the required improvements quickly. They have improved the quality of records because of this. There was no evidence to support concerns that had been raised about records being falsified. Staff said any changes made by managers did not affect the integrity of the records. Inspection report for children’s home: 2653894 6 The manager provides stability in the leadership and management of the home. She is supported in her role by the responsible individual, the managing director, a deputy manager and team leaders. The monitoring and oversight provided by leaders help the manager to understand what the home does well and what needs improving. Staff say the manager has done a lot to improve the home. The home is

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

much nicer. There’s been a lot of staff training and better team communication.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager said they have a good team of staff who enjoy their jobs and want to look after children well. There are enough staff to support children with their needs. However, there were mixed views among staff on whether the shift pattern allowed them enough rest time between shifts. One member of staff said, ‘I think the rotas are a problem for most staff. It will be good to change this to ensure staff are not exhausted when they come to work.’ Managers said they will talk to staff about this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide staff with induction, training and supervision to help them do their jobs well. Staff are supported by a therapist to support children’s needs. Staff say training and support from the managers is very good. They said managers are responsive and they can have a say in how the home is run. This shows there is good team working, which helps staff to support children in a consistent way. Inspection report for children’s home: 2653894 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice, as set out in regulations 31 to 33. In particular, this relates to ensuring that Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are completed before staff start the induction training at the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that the care provided by staff meets each child’s needs and promotes their welfare, taking into account the child’s gender, religion, ethnicity, cultural and linguistic background, sexual identity, mental health, any disability, their assessed needs, previous experiences, and any relevant plans. In particular, all staff should have training to help them to fully understand the diverse needs of each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.2)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home provides a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. In particular, they should continue to renovate all areas of the home so that it is a nice and comfortable place for children to live in. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2653894 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Caring Feathers Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 4b, The Park Estate, Bury Park Road, Luton LU1 1EN

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Inspector

Thobekile Bandama, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2653894 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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