Children's Home run by Excel Residential Care Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report children's home: 2631698 1 Registered provider: Excel Residential 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

This children’s home is operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for three children who have had adverse childhood experiences.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2022. She holds a level 5 diploma in leadership, health, and social care.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2631698 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/07/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children's home: 2631698 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were three children living in the home during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress and have positive experiences because of the care they receive. Staff know them well and build meaningful and positive relationships. In addition, staff understand children’s starting points and help them to create lifelong memories. As a result, children feel respected and they thrive in this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s views, wishes and feelings are central to the running of the home. Children’s feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Children said that the best thing about the home was ‘the staff and the registered manager.’ Two children said that they ‘rated the home 10 out of 10.’ One child said that they ‘love their keyworker.’ Another child said that 'staff were sound.' As a result, children are very settled, and feel stable and secure in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's educational outcomes and experiences are good. All children are in education, which is specific to their individual needs. Two children were sitting their GCSE exams at the time of the inspection. Another child is awarded star of the week regularly at school. In addition, staff have ensured that two children are provided with further support from private tutors to help them prepare for their exams. Consequently, children aspire to achieve and move on to further education and training.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s health needs sensitively and effectively. Children attend routine appointments and receive additional support to meet their individual needs. Furthermore, staff work closely with the home’s clinical lead to deliver focused workshops to children. This approach helps children to learn about sensitive areas specific to them in a safe and well-planned way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance for children of seeing loved ones. They ensure that family time is promoted, and they prioritise this. Staff have supported one child to re-connect and establish a good relationship with their mother. The child’s parent said that the home is ‘absolutely fantastic. I cannot praise them enough for the care they provide to [name of child]. They have shown [name of child] a new way of life.’ This relationship has had a positive impact on the child’s well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has made significant improvements to the home’s environment. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and maintained well. However, while the use of a door alarm on one child’s bedroom had been agreed with the child’s social worker, it was being used too frequently and had not been regularly reviewed. Also, there is excessive fire signage in place around the home and garden. This has the potential to create an institutionalised feel and undermines the ethos of the home. Inspection report children's home: 2631698 4

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

Children said that they feel safe in the home. They use their relationships with staff to share any worries and concerns. Staff know the children well and understand their complex needs. As a result, significant incidents with children reduce, and are rare. For example, there have been no incidents requiring physical restraint for two years. For one child, the number of incidents has reduced during their time living in the home.

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

Staff follow protocols effectively when children go missing from the home. Leaders and staff also respond to any child exploitation risks well. For example, when one child's incidents and vulnerabilities recently increased, they followed the child's protocols, worked well with professionals, and took decisive action to keep the child safe. Strategy meetings were held and return home interviews took place. These actions reassure children that staff and leaders care about their safety and welfare.

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

Internal systems for managing children’s use of the internet are good. For example, a system is in place which allows parental controls to be implemented to ensure that children access age-appropriate material. Children participate in their own safety planning and so are aware of what staff expect of them. These actions help children to access the internet and networks in a safe manner.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the home’s safeguarding thresholds and processes. They understand their responsibilities and the actions they need to take to keep children safe. However, leaders do not always ensure that children’s risk assessments and support plans reflect the strategies that staff described. These recording shortfalls provide staff with inaccurate information and have the potential to leave children vulnerable.

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

Overall, safer recruitment systems are good, and staff are safely vetted prior to working in the home. However, on one occasion, the registered manager did not complete a full check on a staff member’s full employment history. The gap in the history was reviewed and addressed by the registered manager during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified, is growing in confidence and leads the home effectively. She advocates well for children and ensures that children are supported to make progress in their lives. She is supported by an organised deputy manager who is keen to learn and develop. This ensures that children receive good care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is sufficiently staffed to meet the needs of the children. Staff are suitably qualified and those not qualified are undertaking the qualification within timeframes. Staff are trained in areas specific to the needs of the children. As a result, a consistent staff team provides predictable and continuous care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that staff receive regular supervision and appraisal. These sessions are becoming more reflective and help staff to identify opportunities to Inspection report children's home: 2631698 5 develop their practice. Staff said that they feel valued, supported, and are motivated to improve the care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has made improvements to the monitoring systems used in the home. Her safeguarding reviews and files are more organised, and she has good oversight of the care that children receive. Support systems from senior leaders are becoming more effective and are helping to drive improvement. These improvements in systems have helped to improve the quality of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A strength of the registered manager is her ability to establish good working relationships with a range of agencies and professionals. She is confident in advocating for children and holding professionals to account. One professional summarised this well and said: ‘one of the greatest strengths is the culture the home’s manager has instilled and the positive impact this is having on the lives of each child living at the home’. Inspection report children's home: 2631698 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children's home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of its children. In particular, the registered person should regularly review the use and suitability of alarms on children's bedroom doors. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. ('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 staff understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. This relates to the recording of safeguarding strategies in children's risk assessments which do not clearly explain the action staff should take. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 62 paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2631698 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Excel Residential Care Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: The Office, 5 Rockside, Stoke-on-Trent ST7 4PG

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Inspector

Dean Wilton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2631698 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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