Children's home run by The Vine Residential Services (TVRS) Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2727239 1 Registered provider: The Vine Residential Services (TVRS) Ltd

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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 four children who have a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in May 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, four 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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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: 27 February 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: 2727239 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2727239 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled in this home. The home is comfortable, warm and welcoming. The children’s personalities are reflected throughout the home and in their personal spaces.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points. Children who have complex needs benefit from caring staff who know them well and are attuned to their needs. Care is taken to ensure children’s day-to-day routines are consistent and children are aware of what will be happening throughout the day. This promotes a sense of stability and well- being for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and emotional needs are promoted and therapeutic support is provided when needed. Staff ensure that children who experience barriers to accessing healthcare are sensitively supported. For example, staff advocated for alternative approaches for a child who had fear of needles. Staff also ensure children eat a healthy diet and this has led to improvement in health for all the children, and in particular one child who had significant health concerns that have now reduced.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are engaging well in education. They benefit from good attendance at a tuition centre that is located close to the home. Some of the children had poor experiences at school prior to moving to the home; they are now able to confidently engage in the lessons provided. Children also benefit from key-worker sessions which support them in learning practical life skills. As a result, children are able to undertake a variety of tasks confidently, such as cooking, doing laundry and self-care. While key-worker sessions are effective in developing practical skills, more care needs to be taken to ensure that children’s wishes and feelings are captured during the sessions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy access to a wide range of indoor and community activities. Activities include baking, bowling, cinema trips and attending activity centres. Children and staff prepare meals together. Children are supported to understand different cultures and have made flags that represent their cultural heritage. This participation helps children to feel valued and proud of their ethnic origins.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children form positive relationships with staff. Staff use a variety of methods to gather children’s views and share information with children. For example, pictorial templates are used during children’s meetings to communicate with children. This helps staff to consult with children effectively and enables children to make choices about their activities and routines.

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

Children are safe in this home. When incidents occur, these are managed well. Staff have good relationships with the children and understand when they are distressed and how to support them. Behaviour support plans are detailed and there are effective strategies Inspection report for children’s home: 2727239 4 in place to support staff in responding well to children. Leaders and managers ensure that staff are debriefed following incidents and reflect on ways to constantly improve interventions with children. Children are supported to express their wishes and feelings following incidents and helped to learn how to make positive choices. The use of incentives has been effective in supporting children to make positive choices, consequently there has been a reduction in incidents.

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

Staff rarely use physical restraint. However, when required, restraint is used appropriately to ensure children do not harm themselves and/or others. Records are kept of all restraints; however, these do not consistently provide the description of the restraint so that the reader is clear on the type of technique used.

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

Risk assessments are detailed and individualised and support staff in keeping children safe. Risk assessments are regularly updated following incidents. The strategies to mitigate risks are effective and are followed by managers and staff. A social worker said that a child who had a history of going missing no longer went missing since living at the home and had made ‘significant progress’.

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

The local area assessment includes up-to-date information, and managers have liaised with partner agencies in the development of safety planning for children in the home. There are appropriate plans in place to mitigate the risks from the local area to children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers show high aspirations for the children in their care. Leaders and managers’ vision for the children in their care is long-term provision that follows the child to adulthood, maximising their potential to live well and participate fully in society. Children who are subject to pathway plans are supported to make the transition to adulthood. The home’s leaders have challenged local authorities who have delayed transition planning and escalated their concerns to ensure children’s needs are prioritised. The registered manager has ensured that the children who will be moving to adult provisions are able to move to new homes that are designed and furnished similarly to this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a stable staff team whose members know the children well. Many of the staff have their own personal experience of working with children with learning needs and see their role as a vocation. Staff celebrate the achievements of children and see them as family.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision of staff is thorough and reflective. Staff are supported to develop professionally and are rewarded for being child-focused. Employee of the Month awards motivate staff to continue to make effective interventions with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have not included the experience and qualifications that the staff have in the workforce development plan. This can impact the ability of managers to Inspection report for children’s home: 2727239 5 monitor the staff’s development, and consider any shortfalls in the skills of staff working at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2727239 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s wishes and feelings are sufficiently recorded. This specifically relates to children’s expressed views being captured in key-work sessions. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that restraints are recorded in accordance with regulation 35(3). This specifically relates to ensuring that details of the restraint used and the duration are clearly recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 50, paragraph 9.61)  The registered person should ensure that a workforce development plan is in place that complies with the quality standards and includes the experience and qualifications of the leaders and staff team. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.8)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2727239 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Vine Residential Services (TVRS) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Granary Studio 4, 1st Floor, 80 Abbey Road, Barking IG11 7BT

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Inspector

Angela Reid, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2727239 8 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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