Children's Home run by Rockhopper Children’s Services Limited in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2725420 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

This privately owned home provides care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties and complex needs. At the time of this inspection, four children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2023.

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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: 15 January 2024

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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: 2725420 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/01/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2725420 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four children were present and spoken with during the inspection. Since the last inspection, two children moved into the home and one child moved out of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities. Staff have a good knowledge of children’s favourite activities and plan them accordingly. One child recently came back from a trip to a theme park with staff. Another child said that their favourite memory at the home was when they went to London with staff. Children’s physical and mental well-being improve because of these activities. The staff take great care to provide children with well-organised memory books. Children have positive memories of their time at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children are in education. The children living at the home and those who have moved on have made progress in their education attendance, despite education being a challenge for them before moving into the home. The staff are creative in their approach to home learning when children are unable to attend school. One child was keen to tell the inspectors about the things that they have been learning and the fun education trips that they have taken part in. Due to the work that the staff did with the child, the child now feels confident about starting school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to sustain their close relationships with people who are important to them. Staff work closely with social workers and the families of children to encourage family time. Social workers said that the staff are good at supporting children with family time. One parent said, ‘Family time would not have been possible without the dedicated staff members.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s feelings, views and wishes are sought through consultation forms, key-work sessions and children’s meetings. This gives children the opportunity to express their views about their day-to-day lives and living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated and furnished to a high standard throughout. Children are included in the decisions about the decor of the home. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to reflect their individuality. Children have been part of a house project to decorate and design the summer house in the garden. This gives children a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite careful initial planning, complex and challenging group living dynamics between the children resulted in one child being moved on from the home in an unplanned way. As a result, the child was not able to say goodbye to the people who are important to them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2725420 4

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

The manager and staff have effective links with other agencies and communicate well with other professionals. Information is shared so that risks to the children are understood. External professionals help children to learn about and understand the risks to them.

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

Staff respond appropriately to incidents of substance misuse and knife crime. Staff undertake follow up key-work sessions with the children about these issues. The manager undertook an excellent piece of work with a child around the dangers of knife crime, ensuring that a local police community support officer and an external knife crime ambassador came to speak to the child. As a result, the child has a better understanding of the dangers of knife crime and there have been no incidents involving knives since.

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

Most risks assessments and care plans are clear and tailored to each child. However, one child’s risk assessment does not reflect current risks and lacks risk-reduction strategies for staff to follow.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff are diligent at following the agreed protocols, which include working with the police. Staff keep detailed chronologies of the actions that they take during the incidents and the work that they do with the child. An external professional offers return home interviews for children. However, this is reliant on the child concerned contacting that person to request the interview. The manager has no oversight of this and could not confirm whether any interviews have been taken up by children, or the outcome.

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

Children benefit from individual key-work sessions that are focused on their needs and vulnerabilities. Staff prepare well for these sessions. This gives children an opportunity to openly discuss their feelings with staff they trust. Staff discuss a range of topics, such as knife crime, fire safety, information about gang affiliation and how to keep safe online.

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

The manager has good oversight of records of consequences. Consequences that are used to address unwanted behaviour are restorative in nature. These help children to recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children and the staff caring for them. The manager has given children alternative, restorative suggestions, such as writing apology letters or helping around the home. This helps children to reflect on their behaviour and helps them to restore their relationships with other children and staff.

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

The manager responds to complaints made by children about staff. She investigates, notifies relevant professionals and keeps children up to date on the progress of their complaint. However, on one occasion, a child made a complaint about the managers. The operations manager failed to follow the home’s policy to investigate this. Consequently, the child was left feeling that they were not listened to. Inspection report for children’s home: 2725420 5 Some incident records use child-blaming language. Terms such as ‘manipulating behaviour’ and ‘silly behaviour’ would be unhelpful to children if they read their records at any point. In the recording of incidents, the language used by the staff was judgemental and opinionated. The manager had not reflected on the use of the language and the potential impact on children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager holds a relevant level 5 qualification. She is supported by an experienced and conscientious deputy manager and has good support from the operations manager. All staff either hold or are working towards a relevant qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy are excellent role models for the staff. They provide a supportive environment for the staff. The staff receive regular supervision, which is focused on the needs of the children and any issues that the staff may have.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff enjoy working at the home. They are given regular opportunities by the manager to discuss children’s needs, practice issues and professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a strong advocate for the children’s education. On one occasion, a child complained about not feeling safe at school and complained about their social worker. The manager ensured that the child’s views were heard and that appropriate arrangements were made by external professionals. As a result, the child is on the waiting list to being enrolled at a new school of their choice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Agency staff’s inductions are carefully planned and managed. Agency staff have the opportunity to give feedback and reflect on how they feel each day has gone. This helps managers to ensure that staff and agency staff are working consistently to meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals are positive about the support that the children receive from the manager. One professional said, ‘The manager is fantastic. [The child’s name] would not have made this much progress if it was not for the manager being the way she is.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Four requirements and one recommendation have been raised at this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2725420 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

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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s records include all known risks and are reviewed and updated accordingly and the records have the oversight of the manager. 27 September 2024

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(ii)(iii)) 30 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2725420 7 In particular, ensure that the language used when speaking with children and writing about them is respectful and non-child blaming.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs. (Regulation 5 (a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the registered person should ensure that the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. 30 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the procedure must provide that no person who is the subject of a complaint takes any part in its consideration or investigation, except at the informal resolution stage if the registered person considers it appropriate.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that no child is subject to any reprisal for making a complaint or representation. (Regulation 39 (1) (2) (3) (4))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that a senior manager investigates any complaints received in relation to the registered manager. 30 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2725420 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another home or adult care, or to live independently. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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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: 2725420 9

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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

Mandy Start, Social Care Inspector Saeeda Fatima, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2725420 10 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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