Children's home run by Carterhatch Homes Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2643361 1 Registered provider: Carterhatch 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 provides care for up to three children with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in December 2021. The manager registered in July 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in 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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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: 2643361 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/07/2023 Full Good 19/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2643361 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff who are caring, friendly and nurturing. A child who is new to the home said they felt welcomed by staff and the other child they live with. One member of staff said, ‘We are trying to provide a loving and secure environment.’ This helps children to feel comfortable and to settle in the home quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children get support from staff who they get on well with and trust. Children have opportunities to have formal and informal conversations with staff about their feelings, needs and wishes. There are lively conversations between children and staff, and they giggle and joke with one another. One child was singing while preparing lunch with staff. These positive experiences make children feel valued and cherished.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a nice and comfortable place for children to live in. One child is excited about the bigger bedroom that they will be moving into when it has been decorated. The child is pleased that their views are being listened to, and they can decorate their bedroom in the way they want. The child said, ‘The house is beautiful. I love the home because they try to make my room a nice environment.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to attend school and have educational aspirations. One child receives consistent and effective tutoring that helps them to prepare for examinations. The child is doing well and is happy to have received a conditional offer to attend college when they finish school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in activities that they enjoy. Staff help children to do things that support their learning and help them to develop new skills. A child who has an interest in health and beauty has been encouraged to use their hobby to earn money. The child also likes cooking, and staff taught them to bake. The child now regularly bakes cakes and bread that they share with others at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health because staff work well with health professionals. Staff encourage and help children to attend health appointments. Staff also support children’s well-being by helping them to develop and maintain healthy relationships with their families and friends.

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

Staff know how to keep children safe, and children say that they feel safe at the home. Professionals have no concerns about children’s safety.

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

Children get help to manage their feelings in a safe way and there are rarely any incidents of concern at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2643361 4 A child who was regularly not returning to the home at agreed times has made good progress. The child benefits from conversations with staff about being honest and staying safe while away from the home. Staff’s support has helped to reduce these incidents, and there are none recorded this year. The child said that living in an environment where they are comfortable is especially important to them. They also said that staff always make sure they are okay.

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

The home is clean and tidy, and it offers a pleasant environment for children to live in. Some areas of the home are being redecorated, and repairs are done quickly. Managers and staff regularly check all areas of the home. This ensures that the home is safe for the children, staff and visitors.

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

There are safe recruitment processes in place. Managers carry out necessary checks before new staff start working at the home. However, employment gaps are not consistently explored. Also, staff employment records are not always accessible to show that all checks are done in a timely way. There is no evidence that children are at risk because of this. There are recommendations for managers to improve this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is effective leadership and management of the home. Managers have a good understanding of the children’s needs, and they support staff well to meet these. Managers have effective quality monitoring processes to help them to regularly assess the quality of care provided to the children. The manager has a schedule of checks that they complete, and the responsible individual provides additional oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have made improvements since the last inspection, including having a more robust process to assess children before they move in to the home. This helps to check that the home can meet their needs. It also ensures that admitting new children will not impact negatively on the experiences and progress of the children already living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have improved the quality of support they provide to staff through training and supervision meetings. Records show that staff have varied and meaningful discussions during these meetings. Discussions include how staff could best support children to achieve good outcomes. There is now evidence that the external therapist who works with the home receives appropriate clinical supervision. This ensures that children are cared for by skilled staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have reflective discussions about all aspects of the home during team meetings. Staff say they work well as a team, which helps them to provide good and consistent care to the children. Staff are happy with how well managers support them. One member of staff said, ‘I really like the home and I think I can learn a lot here.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals praises managers and staff for working closely with them and appropriately sharing information about the children. Professionals are also pleased with the progress a child has made since moving to the home two years ago. One Inspection report for children’s home: 2643361 5 professional commented that risks to the child have significantly decreased because of the support provided by the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2643361 6

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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, managers should ensure that gaps in employment history are consistently explored. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view it and, if required, be reproduced in a legible form. In particular, managers should review staff files to ensure that all information required in Schedule 2 is available and accessible. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)

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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: 2643361 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Carterhatch Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 66B Cazenove Road, LONDON N16 6AA

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Inspectors

Thobekile Bandama, Social Care Inspector Jade Nelson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2643361 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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