Children's Home run by Barnardo’s in Enfield

Inspection report for children’s home: 2675902 1 Registered provider: Barnardo’s

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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 owned by a national charity that provides care for children aged between 10 and 17 years, who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left in October 2022. The current manager has been in post since December 2022 and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, no children were living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 22 November 2023

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2675902 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/11/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 31/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2675902 3

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improvement to be good

There continue to be weaknesses in the home’s leadership and management, which when coupled with insufficient supervision of the child, have resulted in the current judgement.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved on to independent living. This report considers the experiences of children who have lived at the home and left since the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

Children’s experiences at this home are variable, and there have been some insufficiencies in safeguarding practices and managerial oversight. This inconsistency means that children do not always make good progress. For example, the care provided to one child resulted in limited educational progress. Staff have made efforts to ensure that children engage with education, but this has not proven effective to date.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure the children have access to health services and work with health professionals to ensure that children’s needs are addressed as required. This supports children’s overall physical well-being.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to maintain relationships that are important to them, which enhances their sense of identity and social well-being.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been two significant safeguarding incidents. Both of these incidents involved a lack of supervision by staff and could have placed the child at possible risk of harm. The manager took action to address the shortcomings of staff and to reduce the likelihood of repeat incidents.

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improvement to be good

Staff implementation of risk assessments and support plans is not always effective; however police call-outs to the home have continued to reduce since the assurance visit in March 2024.

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improvement to be good

The condition of the home does not provide a warm, nurturing and safe environment for children due to various areas requiring repair. The condition of the property is not always maintained in line with the home’s policies. For example, the home had exposed wiring and fire alarms were not maintained.

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improvement to be good

When children are missing from the home, staff follow missing-from-home protocols and undertake relevant actions to ensure information is shared with professionals. Staff attempt to make contact with children to promote their safety. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675902 4 Managers ensure that there are safe recruitment practices in place. This ensures that staff are appropriately vetted, and able to work with children in line with the home’s safe recruitment policy.

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

The interim manager has been in post for approximately a year, and is supported by the responsible individual. This has not resulted in a sustained improvement to the quality of care provided to children, and there continue to be weaknesses in oversight of this home.

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

Leaders and managers do not always ensure that staff have the relevant skills, knowledge and experience to positively promote the progress of children with specific support needs. Consequently, a child left the home having made minimal progress considering their starting point.

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

There is a newly implemented training and workforce development plan in place, and staff are undertaking the training to develop their skills.

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

Supervision of staff is regular and is focused on the needs of children. This ensures that staff have opportunities to discuss the children’s support needs. Staff said that they felt supported by the manager. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675902 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

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

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;

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Requirement Due date

and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi) (3))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff appropriately supervise children to prevent the use of hazardous or harmful substances, and that staff regularly review children’s welfare and act in accordance with the home’s policies and the children’s plans. 30 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2675902 6 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 person should ensure that areas of disrepair are addressed in a timely manner so as not to pose a risk of harm to children. 30 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff should understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers. 30 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 30 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2675902 7 the placement of each child in the home; and plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a)) 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 registered person should ensure that they have improved oversight of the home to facilitate safe and effective care to children. 30 August 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: 2675902 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Tanners Lane, Barkingside, Ilford IG6 1QG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Danielle Rebbitt

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Inspectors

Richard Wyper, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2675902 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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Inspectors

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