Children's home run by The St Christopher School in Southend-on-Sea

Inspection report for children’s home: SC052398 1 SC052398 Registered provider: The St Christopher School

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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 is a residential short-breaks service caring for six children with learning and/or physical disabilities at any one time. The home is attached to a special school, and both are run by a charitable organisation. The inspector only inspected the social care provision. Six children were staying at the home at the time of this inspection. The home is providing services to over 50 children currently.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC052398 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/09/2022 Full Good 25/01/2022 Full Good 13/08/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC052398 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who come to stay at this setting are happy to attend. They have developed trusting relationships with staff and parents say their children communicate that they enjoy their stays. One parent said their child will repeat the name of the home repeatedly on the day he is due to visit in excitement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spend time having fun together. Children enjoy a range of activities, including going to parks, castles, theme parks and the seafront, which is a favourite destination for the children. Children enjoy messy play and water play with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

An air conditioning unit used in the summer and underfloor heating in the colder months ensure that the home is comfortable. Staff make sure areas for the children are well presented. The home has a sensory room with a bubble machine, lights and projectors, and soft furnishings. The home also has a soft-play room, and a large room for arts and crafts for children to express themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff keep children busy and active. Children also get to make use the school’s facilities, such as the sports hall and swimming pool, which the children can use outside of school hours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff know the children well. They support the children’s methods of communication. Staff help children to develop their communication skills. This is welcomed by parents and helps children progress on from guiding adults to things they would like.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who leave the service are presented with a nicely laid out photo album, showing all the fun things they have done with staff and children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have effective ways of capturing children’s experiences. The daily logs are presented with a back page filled with photos after every child’s stay at the home. One parent said: ‘She cannot tell me if she’s had a nice time, or what she has done, but the daily report shows me her experience through the words and pictures.’

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

Children do not go missing. Staff work on a high ratio to ensure close supervision is always maintained with the children. When children do try to leave the site without permission, staff are quick to respond and ensure the child is brought back safely.

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

Physical intervention is rare and only used as a last resort. Its use has been proportionate and necessary to keep everyone safe. The manager has good oversight and records are well written. These include the children’s feelings and staff debriefs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC052398 4 The behaviour management system is effective. Managers ensure staff are competent with using de-escalation and distraction techniques when children are showing signs of frustration or anxiety.

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

Children are kept safe by a committed and dedicated staff team. Incidents are rare, but when they do occur, staff use effective and proportionate measures to safeguard children from harm.

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

No incidents of bullying have been recorded since the last inspection. Staff encourage children to spend time with each other so they build trusting relationships with one another and feel comfortable around each other during activities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably experienced and holds the level 5 diploma in residential childcare. He is assisted by the supporting assistant manager, who has been at the home for 18 years and also holds the level 5 diploma.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has encouraged and enabled staff development. The manager has supported staff to be allocated leads for the home, responsible for areas such as health and safety and fire safety. Staff are provided with linked training to build their knowledge and skills in these areas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team has good oversight after incidents and accidents. Information is shared with parents and professionals quickly and parents are happy with how incidents are managed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes sure the home has adequate staffing. Gaps in the rota are covered by managers. This is to maintain consistency for the children, while recruitment is ongoing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has taken on train-the-trainer responsibility for a therapy that is conducted with the children to help with mobility and sensory needs. This enables the manager to convey this knowledge to the staff team and in turn make a difference to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular training and supervision. However, one staff member, despite being with the company for six months, has not had the necessary training to ensure they have the knowledge and understanding to meet the individual children’s specific needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Care plans and risk assessments are well written and detailed and are kept under review. However, it is not always clear where or when updates have been made. This makes it difficult for staff to see where changes have been made and does not support families to see where their children have made progress. Inspection report for children’s home: SC052398 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 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 30 September 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that case records are kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. They should ensure that children’s care plans show clearly where updates are made to the plans with the entries dated by the registered person. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: SC052398 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The St Christopher School

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jacqueline Mullan

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Inspector

Dan Williams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC052398 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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