Old Rectory Cottage

Inspection report for children’s home: SC429011 1 SC429011 Registered provider: Keys Care 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 one of a group of homes that make up the Cross Regional Project, which has been set up by the Keys Group. The home cares for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, there were three children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2024. The registered manager was not present for the 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: SC429011 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/06/2023 Full Good 01/11/2022 Full Good 18/01/2022 Full Good 31/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC429011 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children have made positive progress since they moved to the home due to the committed and child-focused care they receive. The progress for one child has not matched the positive intentions for them. This is despite the staff team putting all the necessary support systems in place for this to happen.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend education provision and have aspirations for their future. Some children struggle with their educational engagement at times, and during these occasions staff provide extra-curricular support within the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of children having increasing levels of autonomy in their lives and enable them to make informed choices. For example, staff encouragement enabled one child to attend an important meeting, despite the child asking staff to cancel this meeting. This happened when the professional had already arrived at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop strong relationships with staff in the home. Staff tactfully use their own personal lived experiences to support children to make important connections with the choices they make and to learn from the experiences of others. This approach has a positive impact on children’s progress and understanding of ethics and morals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have personalised their bedrooms and have been involved in the wider decoration of the home. Children are proud of their home and the sense of permanence it offers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are new to the home are welcomed in a positive manner. Arrangements for new children are carefully planned and the children already living in the home are consulted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite otherwise good practice, one child in the home has not received any life-story work. This means that important questions about their family life remain unanswered. In addition, this child does not have an advocate despite several requests to the placing authority. The impact of this is that this child has not received important, impartial advice about aspects of their care.

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

Children feel safe and protected from harm. One child said, ‘Living here is amazing, I don’t have any concerns.’ All children can identify a trusted adult who they can seek support and advice from.

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

Generally, staff take appropriate action to support children. However, on two occasions staff did not seek support or advice before making decisions about how to respond to children’s behavioural needs. While there has been good reflection and a focus on Inspection report for children’s home: SC429011 4 learning from these events, these incidents may have been prevented if staff sought appropriate support in the first instance.

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

Staff know what to do when children go missing from the home and clearly record the actions taken. On some occasions the staff have faced challenge in formalising episodes of going missing due to differing thresholds of external agencies. Despite this, staff respond to all missing-from-home incidents even if they have not been formally recorded as such. This ensures that staff continue to take proactive steps to ascertain children’s whereabouts and promotes a good safeguarding culture.

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

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s presenting needs and have positive working relationships with parents. One child’s parents spoke particularly highly of the staff and how they have supported their child.

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

Staff support children with a range of strategies and resources to manage their emotions and feelings. Staff challenge children to think about the impact they have on themselves and others. The discussions that staff have with children during planned conversations are a particular strength and cover a wide range of topics, such as sexuality, religion, knife crime, mental health, contraception and relationships.

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

Safer recruitment is good and staff who are new to the home are fully vetted.

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

Staff take effective action in response to safeguarding concerns and ensure relevant agencies are involved. Despite this, not all serious incidents have been appropriately notified and this has prevented necessary regulatory oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have delegated key focus areas to staff to evidence how staff practice meets regulatory requirements. This has had a positive impact on the development of the staff team and has increased the staff’s understanding of their day-to-day caring responsibilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are highly complimentary of the practical and emotional support they receive from managers. Good practice is routinely recognised by the management team. Managers regularly write positive messages of encouragement for staff to promote good working together and a supportive culture in the home. Consequently, morale in the staff team is high.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers demonstrate a good understanding of children’s daily lives, and provide clear rationales for their decisions when things don’t go to plan. The leadership team has a clear focus on supporting staff to learn from difficult events. They adopt a non-blaming approach that encourages reflection and self-development in staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision which enables them to reflect on their role. Staff feel confident to talk about personal matters, knowing that managers will listen and provide Inspection report for children’s home: SC429011 5 the support they require. Staff benefit from a wide range of training, which is kept up to date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff frequently use a first-person narrative in their recording approach and this captures children’s experience in a positive and transparent way. Children are supported to make contributions and can access their information if they wish. Inspection report for children’s home: SC429011 6

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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, The 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 18 June 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children have access to life-story work to help them understand their care journey and to actively challenge placing authorities if these services are not provided in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)  The registered person should ensure that all children have access to an advocate to enable them to seek independent advice about their care needs, legal status and any other aspects of their day-to-day life. In particular, that children who do not have an advocate are provided with one without delay. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the Quality Standards’, page 23, paragraph 4.16) Inspection report for children’s home: SC429011 7  The registered person should ensure that staff use all available support when making decisions about how to respond to children’s behavioural needs. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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 for children’s home: SC429011 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/o Pinsent Masons Llp, The Soloist Building, 1 Lanyon Place, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT1 3LP

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Inspector

Ashley Edwards, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC429011 9 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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Inspector

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