Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes Ltd in East Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 1 Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes 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

This home is registered to provide care for up to six children who experience social, emotional and mental health difficulties. It is owned and run by a private organisation. At the time of the inspection, five children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

Three of the children living in the home attend one of the organisation’s schools, which is located on the same site. The inspector only inspected the social care provision.

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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: 9 November 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: 1263129 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/11/2023 Full Good 06/12/2022 Full Good 02/03/2022 Full Outstanding 09/03/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with staff. They identify staff as people that they trust and who care about them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel listened to because their views are important to staff. Staff make sure that they fully understand children’s strengths and vulnerabilities and share information about children’s needs with other people involved in children’s care planning, such as their social workers. In one example, a child has said that they feel ready to move from the home and managers have been working with the placing authority to facilitate this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points. One child has recently completed exams and has secured a college placement, having had inconsistent school attendance before coming to live at the home. Other children are engaging well with therapeutic programmes that help them to explore their feelings and concerns in a safe and supported way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that children spend time with their families when this is appropriate. Staff provide sensitive support to help children to have positive experiences with the people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities that help them to have fun, experience new things and maintain healthy lifestyles. These include visits to the beach, bike rides and recently going on holiday as a group. These experiences help children to develop more social confidence and improve their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a good quality of care. Staff are nurturing and supportive and want children to do well. They acknowledge the progress that children make and the positive impact that this has on their outcomes. Staff are guided by care plans and risk assessments that are clear, child focused and regularly reviewed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children leave the home, their moves are managed well, and children’s views are central to this process. One child recently had a well-planned move from the home that gave the child a positive experience of endings. The child was consulted frequently on their move which helped to inform the plans.

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

Children say that they feel safe living in the home. They know who to speak to if they have concerns and have confidence that their voices will be heard, and that staff will respond and help them to feel safer.

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

When children experience emotions that cause distress, staff are skilled at supporting children to find ways to calm. When physical restraint is necessary, staff use techniques Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 4 that are the least restrictive and apply them for the shortest amount of time needed to keep people safe. Following incidents of restraint, staff and children explore whether there are any changes to practice that may help to reduce the risk of a recurrence. As a result of this approach, the frequency of incidents reduces over time.

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

Managers ensure that when new staff apply to work at the home, effective vetting processes are undertaken to ensure that they are safe to work with children.

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

When children experience difficult feelings that result in self-harm, staff respond to this effectively to ensure that children get the help that they need to feel safe and well cared for. Staff share information with other professionals such as therapists, who can offer additional support and care for children.

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

When children go missing from care, staff take effective action to ensure that they return safely and quickly. Staff inform, and work closely with, appropriate agencies such as the police. When children return, staff talk to children about the reason for the missing from care episode to try and identify safer solutions to problems than leaving the home.

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

The use of consequences supports children to understand expected behaviours and boundaries. Consequences are usually explained clearly to children and their use is monitored by managers to ensure that they are fair and proportionate. However, on one occasion, the language used to describe a consequence lacked clarity for a child.

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

Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities. When staff have concerns about children’s welfare, these are mostly dealt with in a timely manner to ensure children’s safety. Staff liaise with safeguarding partners such as social workers and the local authority designated officer (LADO) to ensure they get the advice and support needed. However, on one occasion, managers did not escalate concerns and they did not share information with Ofsted or the LADO in a timely way. There was no negative impact on children’s safety and well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate and enthusiastic about children’s futures and the care that they receive. They show pride in the progress that children make and celebrate their success. They place great importance on children’s views and ensure that they are acted on. Managers have effective processes in place to monitor and evaluate practice in the home and apply any learning to improve practice wherever possible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak warmly about the support that they receive from managers. When staff join the home, they receive good induction training that helps them feel valued and more confident. Staff work towards improving their therapeutic practice with the assistance of trained professionals. One staff member has not acquired the necessary qualification as required by the Children’s Home Regulations (2015). While the manager has created an action plan to address this, it has not been kept up to date. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 5 Staff value the regular supervision that they receive as this allows them to focus on their own practice and to discuss any concerns that they might have. Consequently, staff retention in the home has improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work closely with other professionals such as children’s therapists and social workers. These professionals report effective working relationships that are based on good communication. Social workers say that staff understand children’s needs well, and that concerns are dealt with appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work hard to create a culture of acceptance and diversity in the home. They support children in a sensitive way to explore their own identity and make decisions about who they want to be. Staff help children to be an active part of their community. When there are concerns about discriminatory language being used by some children, this is challenged, and children are supported to learn about acceptance with the assistance of other professionals such as the police. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 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 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

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

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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)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that all concerns are actioned in a timely way, and if there are concerns about the responses from other professionals, that these are appropriately challenged and shared with safeguarding partners. 20 October 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; 20 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 7 a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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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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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all notifications are submitted in a timely way and that there are processes established to ensure that these are completed in the absence of the registered person.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff in a care role, including external agency or bank staff, have the qualification in regulation 32(4) within the relevant timescale listed in regulation 32(5). The registered person may extend the time period in exceptional circumstances. Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all plans to address any extended time frames are regularly reviewed and, if needed, further action taken. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.12)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, the language used in the recording of consequences must be clear as to what the consequence is and the time frame for the consequence to be applied. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’,

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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: 1263129 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 Rayns Way, Syston, Leicester LE7 1PF

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Inspector

Jay Shekleton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 9 and inspects to 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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