Children's Home run by Protea Care 2 Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report children's home: 2766417 1 Registered provider: Protea Care 2 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 privately owned home provides care for up to six children aged between five and 18 who may experience social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2023. This is the first of inspection of the home since it is registered with Ofsted.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children's home: 2766417 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the home opened in December 2023, four children have moved in. Children’s moves into the home are well planned. They are provided with a welcome basket when they arrive and staff’s individualised preparations help children to feel welcome.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are enrolled with an education provision. However, not all children currently have an education setting that can meet their needs. For children not attending school, staff have good routines that encourage children to do learning activities every day during school hours. Staff champion children's education and, as a result, children are proud of their achievements and they are making progress outside of school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s health and well-being. When children have issues, staff are quick to respond to make sure that they are seen by a GP or health professional. Staff help children to attend health appointments specific to their needs and advocate for children to have timely assessments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to build relationships. Staff know the children well and are developing positive relationships with them. School professionals commented on improvements in the children's overall presentation and progress and how they can better manage peer relationships because of the support from staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to complain. When a child has asked to make a complaint, staff have quickly supported them to do this in a way that felt comfortable for the child. Staff shared the child’s views with the manager and responsible individual. The manager offered restorative conversations and sent a letter to the child to explain the outcome of their complaint.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well furnished and maintained and provides children with lots of social space. Children's bedrooms are personalised to their taste. The manager has a clear plan for developing the outside space for the summer months, which is in line with children’s wishes for outdoor play equipment. Children experience a warm and nurturing home environment where they and staff care about their belongings and social spaces.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spend time with staff in the community going to local parks and beaches. Children have tried swimming, boxing and football. They have been to the fun fair and have regular activities planned with staff in the evenings to spend one-to-one time with them. Despite positive interactions and frequent activities being captured in photos, staff are not collating these memories to help children to record some of the special things that they have done at the home. Inspection report children's home: 2766417 3

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

Staff regularly speak to children to help them understand their thoughts and feelings. Staff understand children's experiences and spend time with them helping them to reflect on their feelings and behaviour choices. As a result of the support from staff, children are more settled and have made progress from their starting points.

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

Children rarely need to be held to manage their behaviour. On two occasions, staff have helped two children to move away from situations that may be unsafe or may cause them harm. Staff and children are spoken with about these events and children go on to make safer choices.

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

Staff understand their responsibility in keeping children safe online and in the community. Staff make regular checks on children's phones to help make sure that children have safe online communication. Staff have regular conversations with children about keeping safe online and children understand these boundaries.

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

On two occasions, staff have not been vigilant about what they allowed children to buy. This has resulted in children being able to use items in unintended ways that could cause them harm. The manager quickly addressed these issues in specific supervision sessions with new staff and in team meetings with all staff. The manager updated children's care plans to help staff to understand how to keep children safer. A detailed response to these events has helped to reduce the likelihood of this happening again.

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

Overall children are safer because of living at the home. Since moving to the home, children are less likely to be missing from care. One child, who previously was missing from home regularly, has only been missing on one occasion. Children occasionally walk away from the home but staff are quick to follow them and help them to return to the. However, one child’s care plan is not clear if staff should follow them when they leave.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This home opened in December 2023. This is the first inspection since it opened. The manager has effective oversight of the home. She is supported by a responsible individual who has an active part at the home and who is well known by the children and staff. The consistency of leaders has helped this new home to thrive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak positively about the home and the support provided by the manager and senior leaders. Staff said, ‘The home is lovely and the staff are brilliant’. The manager was described by a member of staff as ‘brilliant’. They said that the manager is down to earth and respectful. Staff consistently spoke about the good support offered to them by the manager. Staff speak warmly about the children. They said that they and the children receive the right support from leaders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision sessions that help them to understand the home and new processes and to consider any safeguarding issues. Staff have individual supervision Inspection report children's home: 2766417 4 sessions with the manager if they need to discuss additional issues, or if the manager is raising a practice issue. This has helped new staff to improve their responses to children. Staff said that the manager is available to them and has helped them to learn.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is new with many of the staff still in their probation period. Staff received a detailed induction and found the training helpful to learn about different children’s needs. Staff receive additional training about therapeutic approaches from a psychologist, who visits the home monthly. This helps staff to explore children's needs and behaviours and formulate care plans to better suit the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and responsible individual actively monitor the quality of care at the home, using monthly audits and automated systems to help ensure that recording is accurate timely. Overall, the manager and responsible individual have high aspirations for children and encourage staff to consistently support progress for children. Inspection report children's home: 2766417 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. In particular, ensure that staff keep all children's plans up to date and include details of the steps that the staff will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. ('Guide to the Children's Home Regulations, including the quality standards', page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them to record significant life events. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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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: 2766417 6

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Protea Care 2 Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 317 Horn Lane, London W3 0BU

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Inspector

Rebecca Hannell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2766417 7 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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