Children's Home run by Oakley House Kent in Kent

Inspection report for children's home: 2625170 1 Registered provider: Oakley House (Kent) Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to four children who have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, there were three children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager was on long-term leave at the time of 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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2625170 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/05/2023 Full Good 11/07/2022 Full Good 05/04/2022 Full Inadequate 19/10/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2625170 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel safe and have no concerns about the care they receive from the staff. The staff have developed good rapport with children and have built positive trusting relationships with them. The children enjoy the time they spend with the staff. Children and staff were seen playing board games together and engaging in conversations about their interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children receive individualised care and support from staff they trust. Staff know the children well and recognise the individual needs of each child. Staff provide them with a predictable routine, enabling them to feel safe and secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to progress and develop. Due to the help and support of staff, children make individually positive progress with their education. Staff have helped some children reintegrate into education. Other children have been supported to improve their engagement and attendance. Staff work proactively with other professionals to find suitable schools or alternative places of learning for the children. This enables them to learn new subjects and skills. When children are not attending school, staff ensure they are encouraged to engage in alternative home and community-based learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff help children to keep well. They build partnerships with health and well-being professionals. The staff ensure that the children have opportunities to voice their wishes and views. Weekly house meetings include discussions about food choices, activities and any concerns children may have. One child said that, on occasion, staff have not acted to ensure their wishes around activities and meals have been met. It was not clear if these wishes had been fully communicated to staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child wants to move on to independence as they have outgrown the group living environment. Staff are supporting them to develop their independence skills and they cook their own meals as part of an independence programme. However, in recent incidents, other children have destroyed their food. In response, staff have moved food and appliances out of the kitchen to the garage. While this keeps the food safe in the short term, it means that this child, and others, cannot easily access food and snacks without staff assistance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Significant damage had occurred in the home in the few days before this inspection and some windows, doors and radiator covers require repair. Some furniture is worn and some carpets require cleaning. Therefore, the house does not feel homely and comfortable. Inspection report for children's home: 2625170 4

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

Staff are aware of individual risks to children and support them in learning how to stay safe. They seek to recognise the causes of children’s behaviour and identify individual strategies to assist them. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and act appropriately when there are any concerns.

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

Managers take effective action to respond to any safeguarding concerns about staff. Any allegations made by children are shared with the relevant authorities and suitably investigated. Children are informed of the outcomes of investigations and supported to rebuild positive relationships with staff as appropriate. Managers identify any additional training needed to develop the skills and knowledge of staff.

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

Staff are inconsistent in challenging children’s inappropriate language or comments. This means there are missed opportunities for staff to address issues and help children develop socially appropriate language and behaviour. Staff are managing group conflict. They are helping one child who recently moved into the home and the other children to build healthy relationships with each other.

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

There have been some instances of children going missing from home. When children go missing, staff take prompt and effective action to locate them and inform relevant professionals. Staff have built good relationships with the local police who share information with staff that might otherwise have not been known. This helps staff have greater understanding of children’s risks and support needs. Managers speak with children when they return home and seek to understand the reasons why they have chosen to go missing and any risks they may encounter.

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

Staff use physical restraint and intervention as a last resort to protect children and others from harm. Restraint, when used, is proportionate and in line with agreed safety plans. Children are sensitively supported to understand why staff may need to use restraint to keep them safe. Children’s views are sought following the use of any physical intervention, to ensure their welfare and to explore underlying causes for behaviour. Staff training in de-escalation and physical intervention is regularly updated. Strategies used are individually developed with the trainer in respect of the support needs of each child.

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

Natural consequences are used on occasion to support children to learn from their behaviours and actions. Staff talk about incidents with the children and their views about the incident are considered. The manager maintains effective oversight of any consequences issued, to ensure their use is fair and reasonable. For example, a child said they felt the staff response to a situation had not been proportionate. The manager explored this with the member of staff involved, who reflected on the incident and apologised to the child. Inspection report for children's home: 2625170 5

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

The registered manager is on long-term leave. The previous deputy manager is currently acting as interim manager. This arrangement has provided continuity for children and staff. However, despite being in post for seven months, the interim manager has yet to submit an application to Ofsted to register.

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

Staff feel well supported by the leaders and managers. They enjoy their work and feel they work well as a team. One staff member said, ‘We are solution-focused and proactive in our practice.’ Staff receive regular good-quality supervision and annual appraisals. Supervision is a safe space for staff to reflect on practice and the children in their care. One member of staff said, ‘I have the opportunity to reflect on practice every day through end-of-shift debriefs and within supervision.’

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

Staff are provided with good training and learning opportunities relevant to their roles and in addition to core training. For example, therapeutic approaches and communication training have been delivered to extend staff’s knowledge and practice. The person with the lead role for training staff in de-escalation and physical intervention has worked with staff to further develop their skills and develop more individualised approaches to working with children.

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

The interim manager carries out reviews of all incidents and maintains suitable oversight. This has informed decisions about the admissions of children. The interim manager’s monitoring and oversight mean they understand the home’s strengths and weaknesses. Requirements and recommendations set following the last inspection have been met. A development plan is in place to ensure there are strategies to drive future improvements.

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

Managers and staff have good working relationships with partner professionals. They consult with the local police missing liaison officer about children who may move in, to better understand risk. Social workers report that communication and professional relationships with staff are positive. This helps them work well together to meet the needs of the children. Inspection report for children's home: 2625170 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(c)(i)(ii)) 26 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that an application for registration of the interim manager is submitted. 26 July 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure staff understand factors that affect children’s motivation to behave in a socially acceptable way. Staff should encourage an enthusiasm for positive behaviour through the use of positive behaviour strategies in line with the child’s relevant plans. This specifically relates to positive language used Inspection report for children's home: 2625170 7 in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)  The registered person should ensure the home enables children to develop independence skills within the supportive environment of the home, including through encouraging independent use of kitchen and laundry areas. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.25)  The registered person should ensure staff understand that they have a responsibility

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Recommendations

to observe, notice and respond to children who are expressing their views, acknowledging that it is not the sole responsibility of the child to ‘tell’. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10)

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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: 2625170 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oakley House (Kent) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3rd Floor, 86-90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE

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Inspectors

Karen Flanagan de Martinez, Social Care Inspector Chris Warren, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2625170 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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