Children's home run by Rockhopper Children’s Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2729532 1 Registered provider: Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) 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

The home registered with Ofsted in July 2023 and is owned by a large private provider. It offers care for up to five children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since the home registered.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 16 January 2024

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2729532 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2729532 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There are serious and widespread concerns about the safeguarding of children and the leadership and management of the home that have impacted on children’s experiences. Some children expressed that they like living at the home. However, others expressed that they do not always feel safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not consistently act as caring, professional and safe adults. On occasion, some staff have used inappropriate language and behaviour towards children. This has not been addressed effectively. This does not provide positive role models for children or help children to feel safe, respected, valued and cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not consistently manage behavioural incidents in the home effectively. Bullying and intimidating behaviour between children have not been suitably addressed. Educational work to prevent bullying has been minimal, and strategies put in place have been ineffective. These shortfalls have left some children feeling unsafe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s moves into and out of the home have not been well planned. Staff’s capacity, skills and experience to meet children’s needs have not been fully considered. This has resulted in children moving into the home in very quick succession and has compromised stability for all children. One child moved on from the home in an unplanned way following a poorly planned admission. There has been little or no consideration of the children living at the home and how new children arriving may affect them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staffing arrangements do not meet the needs of the children. Staffing vacancies mean that some staff on shift are often agency staff or staff from other homes. Consequently, children do not receive care from consistent staff who know them well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff have not always been able to meet children’s specific health needs. One child experiences seizures. However, staff have not received suitable training to meet their needs. This child has required emergency treatment on at least three occasions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff support the children to engage in education, and the manager advocates for children’s right to receive a suitable education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There is limited evidence of children making positive progress while living at the home. One child’s social worker said that they have concerns about the quality of care and the decline in the child’s well-being.

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

Staff and senior leaders do not understand their core safeguarding roles and responsibilities. As result, children do not always feel safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 2729532 4 Children and staff have raised concerns about some staff members, and these have not always been fully explored and addressed. There are several allegations of situations when staff have behaved inappropriately to children. These allegations include swearing at children, sexualised comments, an assault against a child and staff ‘fighting’ with a child. Other staff have failed to identify these concerns and act on them to ensure children’s safety and well-being. Staff have failed to raise these concerns with senior leaders or professionals outside of the home. Consequently, children have continued to remain at risk from staff who provide poor care and support.

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

The manager has not ensured that all significant incidents, safeguarding concerns and allegations have been managed appropriately. Reflections with children and staff take place following incidents but lack depth and the manager’s oversight. When concerns about poor staff practice have been identified, the manager has failed to take quick and decisive action to ensure immediate improvement.

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

Staff have not managed the relationships between children well. Consequently, children have experienced bullying and harassment from other children living in the home.

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

The manager has failed to ensure that all significant events have been reported to Ofsted or the appropriate safeguarding professionals such as, the local authority designated officer. As a result, partner professionals have been unable to intervene and provide the necessary guidance and support.

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

Physical restraint has not been frequently used. However, sometimes, physical restraint has been carried out by staff who have not received the appropriate training. Some records indicate that the use of restraint has not been proportionate nor carried out in line with the home’s approved model of physical intervention. On one occasion, staff failed to allow a child to leave the building without clear reason, which inappropriately restricted their liberty.

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

Children’s vulnerabilities are recorded in behaviour support plans and risk assessments that are updated regularly. However, these were not successful in helping staff to prevent children going missing or displaying aggressive and bullying behaviours. Staff have not always managed behavioural incidents well. This has resulted in some prolonged and avoidable incidents that have caused some children distress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management of the home are poor. Senior leaders have not maintained effective oversight of the service to understand the quality of care provided and the quality of support children receive. Senior leaders have failed to identify and address serious concerns effectively regarding staff practice and conduct. As a result, children have not been safeguarded effectively and their well-being has not been consistently promoted. Inspection report for children’s home: 2729532 5 Staffing levels are insufficient. The manager has regularly been working in a care, rather than management, role. This has undermined their ability to have effective oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff are provided with induction training. However, not all staff have been sufficiently trained to meet the requirements of their role, and some training to meet the children’s needs is not prioritised. For example, staff have not received training in caring for children who experience seizures despite there being a child living at the home who has these. Staff involved in using restraint were not provided with this training for almost two months after starting their role. This shortfall in training has led to staff who were not suitably trained restraining a child on at least one occasion.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Senior leaders have not demonstrated consistently strong recruitment practices. One staff file viewed lacks the necessary references. Furthermore, their reasons for leaving previous employment have not been explored. This demonstrates a lack of professional curiosity and due diligence in the recruitment of new staff. This does not protect children from unsuitable people gaining employment in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has not maintained suitable oversight of the day-to-day care of children, staff practice or significant incidents which occur in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager and staff have not consistently worked effectively in partnership with other agencies. Consequently, partner professionals, such as social workers and police, raised concerns about the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2729532 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and 21 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2729532 7 have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(xi)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)) 21 July 2024

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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— 21 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2729532 8 is instigated; or

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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. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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

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understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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treat each child with dignity and respect. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)) 21 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child);

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serious damage to the property of any person (including the child).

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Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate.

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Requirement Due date

These Regulations do not prevent a child from being deprived of liberty where that deprivation is authorised in accordance with a court order. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)) 21 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2729532 9 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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lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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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use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h)) 21 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 21 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2729532 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: 2729532 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8, Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Cowley, Uxbridge UB8 2FX

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Inspectors

Sonata Brisley, Social Care Inspector Karen Flanagan de Martinez, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2729532 12 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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