Children's Home run by Strides Childcare Services Ltd in Enfield

Inspection report for children's home: 2769126 1 Registered provider: Strides Childcare Services Ltd

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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 provides care for up to three children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 23 February 2024, when the home was registered.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children 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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2769126 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The overall quality of care and care planning for children and their progress and experiences are good.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made steady progress from their individual starting points since living in the home. Specifically, children have been supported to access and engage with health and specialist services to ensure that their individual physical and emotional health needs are met. One child said the reason they like living in the home is because ‘they are my family’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from caring, nurturing and sensitive staff who place the well-being of children at the centre of their practice. This is supporting children to develop and sustain trusting and positive relationships. Children are helped to share their concerns and worries, and staff respond positively to children’s wishes and feelings. A family therapist said the staff in the home have been a constant source of stability during periods of change and uncertainty in one child’s care journey.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have comprehensive individualised care plans that seek to address their all- round needs, including supporting their ethnicity and identity. Staff ensure that relevant professionals are engaged in progressing children’s plans and advocate for children to receive the right services to ensure that their needs are met. Family therapy has been commissioned for one child so they can enjoy meaningful family time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff providing clear and appropriate boundaries that are relevant to their needs. However, boundaries were not consistent for one child in relation to the cleanliness of their bedroom. This resulted in the child’s bedroom not being maintained to a high standard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are not attending school are supported with home tuition and educational workbooks so they can continue to learn and make progress. However, a more coordinated multi-agency response is needed for one child to ensure they have the right support so they can access and engage with their education. The registered manager is a strong advocate for children and is consulting with the relevant professionals for this to happen, in line with the child’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop their independence by having a personal weekly shopping fund. This is helping children to budget and think carefully about the cost of items and how to prioritise their spending. One child loves to cook and has developed excellent cooking skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a good range of leisure activities, such as go-karting, going to the cinema, boxing and to the gym, arts and crafts, games and baking. This ensures children Inspection report for children's home: 2769126 3 are supported to develop their social skills as well as actively engaging in their community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s weekly meetings provide opportunities for them to influence their plans and decisions about their care. For example, they make choices about meals, items they would like in the home, activities and where they would like to go on holiday.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from seeing their families and other people who are important to them. This is actively encouraged and supported by staff.

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

Children have comprehensive risk assessments that are amended to reflect emerging risks and needs. Despite staff’s actions to reduce the risks for one child frequently going missing from care, this has not been effective in reducing the number of episodes of the child going missing. The staff continue to do their best to address this with the child’s professional network.

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

The registered manager ensures that children are offered a return home interview by the local authority, to ensure they have an opportunity to talk to an independent person about why they are going missing. Children are actively encouraged to access independent advocacy services.

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

Children benefit from regular key-work sessions to help them understand safe and acceptable behaviour and to reduce the risk of harm to themselves and others. Leaders advocate for specialist support to ensure that children receive the right help to reduce risks associated with sexual exploitation and substance misuse.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have been effective in providing good-quality help and support to children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and responsible individual have developed and sustained effective relationships with agencies and external professionals to ensure that children’s care plans are progressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have high expectations and aspirations for children, and the registered manager is persistent when there are concerns about decisions being made that are not in children’s best interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An efficient and responsive manager supports the stable staff team. Managers understand the children’s needs, their individual plans and the progress that they are making to achieve their potential. Managers have created a nurturing and homely environment, so children feel cared for and safe. Inspection report for children's home: 2769126 4 Staff receive a comprehensive induction and development programme to ensure that they have the skills to meet the needs of children living in the home. This includes specific training in areas such as child sexual exploitation and substance misuse.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide staff with regular supervision, clinical reflective supervision and group supervision, which provide opportunities for staff to reflect on their work with children and receive feedback on their progress. Staff can further develop their skills by becoming champions in the home, aligned to the quality standards for children’s homes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff describe leaders and managers as encouraging, helpful and approachable, and always available to provide support. Inspection report for children's home: 2769126 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, 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 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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished, and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that children’s bedrooms are maintained to a high standard. 1 September 2024

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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: 2769126 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Strides Childcare Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 39 Woodgrange Avenue, Enfield EN1 1EW

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Patrick Nnebedum

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Chelsea Anyiam-Osigwe

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Inspector

Nicki Shaw, His Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2769126 7 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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