Children's home run by ARRONBETH LTD

Inspection report for children’s home: SC000802 1 SC000802 Registered provider: Arronbeth Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2007 and is suitably qualified for the role.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living in the home 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 good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 26 October 2023

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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: SC000802 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/10/2023 Full Good 23/08/2022 Full Good 29/04/2021 Full Outstanding 05/12/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC000802 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home offers a warm and welcoming environment for children. The communal areas are well decorated and comfortable. There are lots of photos of the children and staff around the home. The children personalise their bedrooms and en-suite bathrooms.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between the children and the staff are positive. The children can share their feelings with staff, which helps them to deal with difficult situations. Children enjoy family time and build relationships with loved ones, using the strategies that they have been encouraged to learn.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are being met. Staff support the children to attend their medical appointments and health assessments. Staff work well with others to ensure that children can access emotional and mental health support in the home and at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are making some progress in education, although this is variable. Some children struggle to attend their education setting. When this happens, staff work with providers to develop strategies to address the barriers that children face. Staff encourage children to improve their school attendance and achieve good marks in their exams.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have regular opportunities to achieve and meet their goals. Children earn rewards for making progress towards targets which are individual to them. All children make lasting memories from experiences, which have included a visit Disneyland Paris in recognition of the children’s success in reaching their goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel listened to and confident that their views are taken seriously. They take part in regular house meetings where they share their views and discuss what is happening in their home. When children do not attend these meetings, staff ensure that their views are gathered and included. Children regularly have a say on things that are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children make share their views, they are confident that their voices are heard. Staff have implemented creative ways of gathering the children’s comments or concerns. Children can scan a QR code to share their views on all aspects of their care. The manager considered the suggestions and comments of the children and gives them feedback to show they have been listened to.

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

Staff work according to children’s individual plans. Documents in the child’s care plans are updated regularly and reflect the children’s current needs. The plans are child- centred, and children are involved in the decision-making. This approach supports the children to take an active role in keeping themselves safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC000802 4 When children are missing from the home, staff act quickly to ensure that they return safely. Staff are familiar with the missing-from-home procedures, the people who need to be contacted and the places that need to be searched. Communication between staff and the child remains supportive throughout the incident to encourage and promote a safe return. Key-work discussions take place after the child has returned, to increase learning and reduce the risk of further incidents.

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

Staff are familiar with the children’s friends and families. The children’s friends and their parents meet the staff. Personal relationships are supported, and advice is given on positive and healthy relationships. This promotes openness and safely reduces the need for supervision as children grow and take age-appropriate risks.

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

Children are supported by staff to learn to keep themselves safe. Children take part in restorative discussions to understand the impact of their actions on themselves and those around them. This develops the children’s resilience and allows them to make informed decisions when in similar situations.

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

Children’s bedrooms are fitted with door alarms that are used to monitor children when they leave their room. Two of the bedrooms have an alarm that cannot be used independently of the other. . Consequently, children may be subjected to unnecessary surveillance.

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

Staff do not always make a record of the consequences imposed on children in response to choices they make. For example, this may include removing a games console for not attending school. The consequences do not form part of an assessed response to re- enforce rules and boundaries. Consequently, the manager is not able to evaluate the effectiveness of these measures in encouraging children to make better choices or understand the impact of their behaviour on themselves or others.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced registered manager. Staff are experienced and know the children well. Some staff have worked at the home for a long time and there have been no new staff in this period. This creates a sense of permanence for the children that helps them form secure attachments to those who are caring for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are trained to meet the children’s needs. Inductions and mandatory training are thorough and completed within the probationary period. Leaders and managers act quickly to identify training requirements in response to children’s emerging needs. Staff are supported to pursue qualifications to enhance their knowledge and improve the children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff advocate well on behalf of the children. Staff work collaboratively with carers and professionals to ensure that children progress in line with their plans. Regular care team meetings are held to reduce drift and delay and promote timely responses from professionals who act on behalf of children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC000802 5 Leaders and managers have high aspirations to develop the care provided in the home. Staff are undertaking development sessions to understand the impact of their behaviour on children and each other. Senior leaders have developed a therapeutic programme of education to raise the staff’s knowledge and understanding of therapeutic practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive supervision which allows them to reflect on the progress of children and the impact that they have on their experiences. Staff responsibilities and discussed and areas for development identified. This helps the staff to increase their confidence and improve in their role. Records for one member of staff did not demonstrate the quality of their supervision. This could limit the manager’s ability to ensure the continued development of all staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has monitoring systems in place to review the quality of care provided to children and the performance of staff. However, when is it identified that important documents are missing from children’s files, the escalation process to obtain these is not effective. This means that the most recent plans agreed by the placing authority are not available for staff to use to support and care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose does not contain the details of who to contact if a person wants to make a complaint. Furthermore, the document infers complaints are only formal if they are in written format. This could be a barrier to children or adults being able to make a complaint. Inspection report for children’s home: SC000802 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 prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure.

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and 19 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC000802 7 within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35(1)(a)(b)(2)(3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d)) 19 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans (Regulation 5 (c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should seek to escalate their concerns to the point of resolution all required paperwork is on the children’s files. 19 June 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should keep a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to The Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)  The registered person should keep the statement of purpose under review. (‘Guide to The Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 14 paragraph 3.5) In particular, the statement of purpose must contain the details of who to contact to make a complaint.

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: SC000802 8 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: SC000802 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hurworth Community Association, 41 Hurworth Road, Hurworth Place, Darlington DL2 2BN

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Inspectors

Lee Riley, Social Care Inspector Kerry Chater, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC000802 10 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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