Children's home run by Stoney Knolls Children’s Home Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 2733923 1 Registered provider: Stoney Knolls Children’s Home 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 home is privately owned and provides care for up to three children of the same gender. The children may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since the 7 May 2024.

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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

Date of last inspection: 10 October 2023

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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: 2733923 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/10/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2733923 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has left the home and three children have been admitted since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff form positive and supportive relationships with children. Children feel able to approach staff and ask for their help. Children say they feel safe and like living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are new to the home are welcomed sensitively. The planning and matching process for new children has improved since the last inspection. The needs of the other children living in the home were considered before any new children moved in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child was moved from the home in an unplanned way following police intervention. It was not clear from reviewing the incident what attempts were made by staff to de- escalate the situation. Staff were struggling to manage this child’s behaviour, however staff continued to support the child outside of the home ensuring the child’s wellbeing was promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to actively participate in day-to-day decisions about their lives. Children’s meetings take place regularly in the home. The children share their views on activities and menu choices, and this is followed up by the staff team. Children are encouraged to participate in activities in the home and the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The language used in the children’s records is not child centred. It lacks emotional warmth and fails to fully capture the child’s journey. Records are not written in a manner that will provide the child with all the required information that reflects their progress while living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with important people in their lives. This promotes their sense of identity and belonging.

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

Children are protected from harm. Staff understand the risks that using the internet may pose for the children in their care. They are working with other professionals to support children to learn how to keep themselves safe online.

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

Safer recruitment processes are followed, and the appropriate checks are made prior to staff starting work with children. There is a clear process in place.

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

Managers have not ensured that children’s risk assessments are reflective of the risks identified for them. This means the plans in place to reduce the risk of harm will not be Inspection report children’s home: 2733923 4 as effective. Risks for one child in respect of missing from home and risk of exploitation were not fully understood by the staff looking after them.

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

There is evidence that staff understand basic missing from home procedures however one child who was at risk of missing from home did not have a clear plan of urgent action in place that was specific to their individual needs.

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

There have been no physical interventions since the last inspection. Staff are using alternative strategies to manage children’s behaviour.

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

The home does not have a registered manager in place. The deputy manager is acting up to ensure consistency in the home. There has been reflection on a period of difficulty from leaders and managers. Lessons learnt have been identified and there is a plan in place moving forward to make improvements.

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

The staff team is stable and well established. The home is properly staffed and there are no vacancies. This increases the consistency of care provided to the children.

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

Staff feel supported by the leadership team. Staff state moral is high, and they feel appreciated and valued.

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

Management monitoring systems are not yet robust. There is a lack of appropriate oversight following incidents, these are not clearly recorded and debriefs with staff or young people are not evident on the files. This leaves the leadership team without all the necessary information to fully assess the children’s quality of care.

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

Leaders and managers have not ensured that there is effective oversight by an external and independent visitor.

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

Staff receive regular professional supervision. The quality and frequency of supervision has improved since the last inspection. However, this could be improved by more of a focus on children within supervision.

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

At this inspection three requirements have been made. One requirement has not been met from a previous inspection and is therefore resinstated. Inspection report children’s home: 2733923 5

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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, 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff understanding the risks for the children and ensuring their assessments reflect those risks. 12 August 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 registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h)) 12 August 2024 Inspection report children’s home: 2733923 6 This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that accurate records are maintained. It also relates to the manager implementing and embedding effective monitoring and review systems.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that the independent visitor’s reports are timely and effective in driving improvement. 12 August 2024 Inspection report children’s home: 2733923 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the capacity and competence of staff to build constructive, warm relationships with children that actively promote positive behaviour, provides the foundations for managing any negative behaviour. Staff should have the skills to respond to each child’s individual behaviour. Where necessary they should manage conflict, maintain constructive dialogues and react appropriately if challenged by a child in their care.(‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.14)

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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: 2733923 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Stoney Knolls Children’s Home Ltd

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Inspectors

Simon Hunter, social care inspector Lauren Barwell, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2733923 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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