Children's Home run by Ancora Children’s Homes Limited in Southend on Sea

Inspection report children's home: 2744303 1 Registered provider: Ancora Children's Homes Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is owned by a private provider. They provide 52-week care, in a residential setting for up to three children of either gender with emotional, social difficulties and learning disabilities.

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Information about this children's home

The registered manager left in April 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 requires improvement to be 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: none Inspection report children's home: 2744303 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, there were no children living at the home. Two children had moved on from the home. Sufficient notice had been given to the placing authorities. Leaders have reviewed the placements to learn lessons to apply to decision- making about children who move into the home. Leaders challenged one placing authority because some information provided in respect of one child was limited. Subsequently, a meeting was held to help strengthen partnership relationships. Moving on plans for the children were on file and well written with a clear rationale for decisions taken.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children were generally well supported by a consistent staff team. Progress for both children was good within the short time that they lived at the home. One social worker said that the home could not have done any more to support the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff supported the children in their education. The responsible individual and staff team are committed to and enthusiastic about children’s learning. They communicate with other professionals about plans for education, especially when a move to the home results in a change of provision for a child. Staff think creatively about how children’s educational needs can be met. The headteacher of the virtual school for one placing authority was positive about the support provided by the staff. They said that the staff could not have done anymore to ensure the child’s educational needs were met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well understood and acted on quickly when they arrive at the home. Children were registered with appropriate health professionals promptly. Close liaison with specialist health professionals such as sexual health and substance misuse workers helped to meet children’s health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s therapeutic offer is provided by an external psychotherapist who is registered with an appropriate professional body. Support is available to children and staff. The psychotherapist attends team meetings and spends time helping staff to understand the impact of trauma on children’s behaviours. Visual models help staff to think and learn. One member of staff said that this way of visual learning enabled them to have a deeper understanding of behaviour that challenges staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Key-working sessions were held on a variety of subjects such as friendships, future aspirations and respect. These were recorded well. Weekly reports were detailed and photos demonstrated that children made positive memories. Inspection report children's home: 2744303 3

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

The quality of written reports and paperwork is good. Incidents are generally well managed. Assessing children’s suitability to live at the home is undertaken appropriately. For the two children who moved on from the home, there were detailed documents for and it was initially acknowledged their individual needs could be met.

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

Missing-from-care records are well documented with clear actions taken. Staff are confident with missing-from-care procedures and the steps to ensure that children are followed and encouraged to return home before reporting to the police.

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

There have been no physical interventions since the home was registered. This is because staff knew the children well and use de-escalation strategies effectively.

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

Online safety plans were in place for both children. Appropriate wi-fi filters and an app to monitor safe use of the internet were used. Detailed key-working sessions with children helped them understand staying safe online

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

The location risk assessment was updated regularly and detailed allowing an overview of the risks in the local area. Free time in the community was in place for both children, risks were well understood by the staff team in respect of free time and family time plans were in place to ensure time spent with family members was safe.

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

The rationale for room searches were clear and there are detailed records of whom the search was made by, items found and a summary of actions and next steps.

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

For one significant incident, there was a delay in updating children’s risk assessments. The risk level was not fully understood or explored by the manager and the responsible individual at the time. A full investigation by an external professional was undertaken with input from the local authority designated officer and placing authority. Lessons were learned and appropriate actions taken against staff. It is positive that the home had a pause in accepting children to enable reflection and further training to be implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager left the home in April 2024. The responsible individual has appointed a new manager and is undertaking safer recruitment checks. In the interim period, the responsible individual has provided suitable oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

An external professional undertook a full review of a significant incident and this was shared with the board of directors as well as external professionals including Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

One report by the independent person was not submitted to Ofsted. This undermines Ofsted’s ability to have effective oversight of the quality of care provided to children. Inspection report children's home: 2744303 4 Complaints made by children were acknowledged by the responsible individual. However, the responses were not detailed enough and did not enable children to understand the investigation and actions taken.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The responsible individual and the deputy manager have a good working relationship. They knew the children well and the strengths and weakness of the home. They have ambition for children to reach their full potential and know the support that children need to achieve this. Staff feel supported by the responsible individual and deputy manager. They say that leaders and managers are approachable and offer support and advice when needed. Staff say that they feel listened to and valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Regular supervision sessions enable the staff to review and improve their childcare practice in a reflective and supportive way. An independent consultant is providing supervision, support and guidance to the responsible individual.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff value good-quality comprehensive training. This includes a mix of core face-to-face and online training. Training modules such as risk assessment and safer caring, professional boundaries and radicalisation and extremism are included in the home’s training offer alongside an induction for new staff. Staff either have, or are working towards, a relevant level 3 qualification within the required timescales. Inspection report children's home: 2744303 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, 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action when there is concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments are updated and accurately reflect risk levels to enable staff to take appropriate action. 1 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1) (3))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that complaints and the actions and investigations are all recorded and that children’s complaints are responded to appropriately. 1 June 2024 Inspection report children's home: 2744303 6

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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 them. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that the independent person makes an on-site visit every month and submits the report of their visit to Ofsted within the required timescales. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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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: 2744303 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Ancora Children's Homes Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 8 Madeira Avenue, Leigh on Sea, Essex SS9 3EB

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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Wendy Edward-Tsuro

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Inspector:

Emily Stevens, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2744303 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:

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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