Children's Home run by Sweet Hope Manor Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report children's home: 2771481 1 Registered provider: Sweet Hope Manor 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

The home is owned and run by a private company. The home can provide care to up to four children. At the time of inspection two children lived at the home. There have also been two children who have previously lived at the home.

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Information about this children's home

The home was registered with Ofsted on the 29 January 2024. It is overseen by an experienced registered manager.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: Not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children's home: 2771481 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy spending time with staff that they have built meaningful relationships with. Staff take into consideration children's views of who they enjoy spending time with when they plan the day. This means that children actively enjoy spending time with staff participating in activities such as fishing. Staff take an active interest in children's hobbies and try to learn them so that they can experience these together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When English is not a child's first language, staff advocate for the child and seek an interpreter. Staff also ensure important documents are available in the child's preferred language. This helps staff to build their relationship with the child. It also ensures that they are accurately capturing the child's wishes and feelings. This results in the child feeling supported by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work alongside key professionals to seek a school place for children. If children are not offered an educational place, then staff do not give up. For one child this has resulted in a potential school place being sought. For children not in education staff create educational opportunities in the home. One child enjoys completing training modules and receiving certificates.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff speak openly to children regarding their health needs. This includes discussions about healthy eating and the importance of a balanced diet. Children like being active with staff, this includes going to the gym, boxing and playing football. Children enjoy how enthusiastic staff are.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's family members are thankful for the support that staff offer. Family members share that staff welcome them in and where appropriate offer them to eat dinner together. This supports children to continue and rebuild relationships with those important to them. One family member stated that they 'cannot wish for them to be better than they have been' when referring to the staff.

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

Staff actively look for children if they leave the home without permission. When the manager has concerns about a child's welfare, they voice this to key professionals to create a multi-agency response. Staff have relevant discussions with children to help them understand possible risks to them. This supports children in knowing that they can speak openly with staff.

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

Staff try to discourage children from smoking cigarettes or using illegal substances. To do so they speak to children about the possible risks to them both now and in the future. This supports children to understand the impact that their decisions may have. If Inspection report children's home: 2771481 3 children do not appear interested in such discussions, staff do not give up and try alternate ways.

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

When children have have disagreements in the home, staff support them to make amends. Staff talk to children alone so that their views can be sought. Staff also support children to understand one another's perspective. Staff offer mediation for children if required. Staff encourage children to apologise to one another and learn from their experiences.

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

Although the manager takes appropriate steps to safeguard children when there are concerns. On one occasion they did not send a notification to Ofsted.

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

The manager's day to day oversight of records does not evidence how staff could further improve their practice. Team meetings, however, are informative and help to enhance the team's development. This shows that the manager has a good understanding of the home overall.

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

The recording of internal investigations requires improvement. Information is not always clearly recorded although correct steps have been taken. This results in it being difficult to ascertain the rationale behind decision making. The management team are creating a new process for this to ensure that investigations flow and are robustly documented. On occasion staff recordings lack key details. At times this results in uncertainty of how events have happened. Recording skills and using language that cares is a current focus of staff development.

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

On one occasion medication auditing has failed to recognise a recording discrepancy. This error was not recognised by staff or management the days following. This shows that the processes in place are not effective. The manager responded appropriately to this issue and is building a plan for further training and development for the team.

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

Staff are extremely positive about the management team and the support that they are provided. The staff team is unified and high levels of morale can be seen in the home. The manager is leading the home with a culture of development which everyone has bought into. This results in a unified response of the team wishing to develop themselves to provide better outcomes for the children in their care. Inspection report children's home: 2771481 4

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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, 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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular this relates to the registered manager ensuring that they clearly record their evaluation of internal investigations. It also relates to ensuring that their oversight makes continuous improvements in the quality of care provided to children. 08 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular this relates to the registered manager ensuring that the arrangements in place for the recording of medication are effective in highlighting any inconsistencies. 08 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; 08 October 2024 Inspection report children's home: 2771481 5 there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. A notification made under this regulation— must include details of— the matter; the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter; must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular this relates to the registered person ensuring that the HMCI is notified of any serious events.

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Recommendations

 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 this relates to staff ensuring records have enough detail to describe the events clearly. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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 children's home: 2771481 6

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Sweet Hope Manor Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ

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Inspector

Ellen Monk, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 2771481 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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Inspector

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