Children's Home run by Amegreen Children’s Services in West Berkshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC473329 1 SC473329 Registered provider: Amegreen Children’s Service

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It provides care for up to five children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties linked to past trauma.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Four children were living in the home at the time of this inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2023.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 29 November 2023

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC473329 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2023 Full Outstanding 20/07/2022 Full Outstanding 17/11/2021 Full Outstanding 03/03/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC473329 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported. They continue to make progress due to the welcoming and child-focused ethos of the home. Staff work positively together to ensure that the children have a consistent and stable routine. The children appear at ease with the adults who care for them. Staff use humour and calm interactions to encourage the children to engage in conversation and activities. The children feel listened to and are confident that their wishes will be acted on.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have plenty of opportunities to explore their surroundings and interests, individually and together. This promotes their social development and encourages positive relationships with each other.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before children move into the home, the manager considers all information to ensure the staff are able to meet the child’s needs and that the transition is child-led and well informed. Equally, when children leave the home, the manager ensures this is well planned with other professionals. She escalates her concerns when a child does not receive collaborative and transparent support from partner agencies.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are accessing education that supports their needs. Effective and timely communication enables a collective approach to learning. Staff attend all meetings and social events held at school. This gives children a continued sense of belonging outside the home environment.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise the children’s health and well-being. As a result, children’s health has improved. Staff supported one child who had never attended a dentist before to successfully complete an important course of dental treatment.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are proactive and organised in ensuring children spend safe and appropriate time with their family. As a result, children maintain their identity and sense of belonging. Parents say they are happy with the care provided and that staff maintain good communication with them. One parent said they had seen significant improvement in their child’s behaviour since they had lived at the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The house is warm, clean and homely. Children say they like living in the home. They can choose the decor in their bedrooms and they show pride in their individualised spaces. Staff support older children to learn basic self-care and household maintenance life skills. This helps them when they move on to independent living.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s guide includes all relevant information. However, this is not accessible to all the children because it is not written in an age-appropriate way and does not consider the learning needs of the children. Therefore, children may not understand what the home offers or the home’s expectations. Inspection report for children's home: SC473329 4

p.3

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

Children are safe and feel safe living in the home. When children go missing, effective and swift responses by staff help to ensure their safe return at the earliest opportunity. Staff support children to better understand risks in the community and how to keep safe. One child said they now feel able to talk openly to the staff and do not leave the home without permission.

p.4

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

Reflective group sessions facilitated by a qualified professional help staff to understand why and how children may respond to situations through their behaviour. Any physical intervention used is appropriate and proportionate. Reflective planned conversations with staff and children ensure that reparation is swift, and any learning is identified. This supportive and trauma-informed approach has helped staff better manage challenging situations. Consequently, incidents for one child in particular have significantly reduced.

p.4

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

Children know how to make a complaint and are supported to do so if the need arises. Allegations are generally well managed and appropriate action taken. However, on one occasion, staff did not understand or follow the home’s child protection policy. The child was not spoken to independently following an allegation. The child was kept safe but this prevented their voice being heard.

p.4

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

Children’s individual risk assessments do not always contain information about new or known risks, for example, serious risk when a child travels in a car or concerns regarding electronic devices. This has the potential to undermine staff’s ability to safeguard the children.

p.4

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

Health and safety matters are well managed. Children live in a well-maintained and safe environment.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well led by an experienced registered manager who aspires for the children to succeed in life. The visible and proactive responsible individual knows the children well. The manager and responsible individual work closely together.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff say that they are well supported. They feel confident to raise any issues with the leadership team. Staff describe an inclusive working environment in which they feel respected and valued. This ethos of acceptance is role modelled to the children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff complete necessary training, including specialist training to meet the specific needs of children. A thorough induction provides new staff with all the information necessary to start their first shift with confidence.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Not all staff receive regular practice-related supervision and sometimes actions in supervision are repeated. Therefore, opportunities for managers to explore staff performance and professional development effectively are missed. Inspection report for children's home: SC473329 5 The manager quickly notifies Ofsted and other relevant professionals when a serious event occurs. The manager and staff work confidently with children’s families and partner professionals to enhance children’s opportunities and outcomes. Feedback from them about the home is complimentary.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior leaders have recently changed some of the monitoring systems in the home. They anticipate that this will improve clarity and oversight of the day-to-day management of the home. However, these monitoring systems and quality assurance processes are not yet fully effective. As a result, the manager’s own oversight had not identified the shortfalls found during this inspection. Inspection report for children's home: SC473329 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)) 28 November 2024

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 28 November 2024

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.6

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 28 November 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC473329 7

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide is made available to all children when their placement in the home is agreed (or on arrival at the home if the placement is made in an emergency) and must be age appropriate, provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to make sure they understand it. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)  The registered person should ensure that children are listened to and enabled to report any allegations at the earliest opportunity. Staff should report any allegation of abuse immediately to a senior manager in the home. Any allegation of harm or abuse must be addressed in line with the home’s child protection policy. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.17)

p.7

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: SC473329 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Amegreen Children’s Service

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Corner House, 18-20 West End Road, Mortimer Common, Reading RG7 3TF

p.8

Inspectors

Jill Sephton-Wright, Social Care Inspector (lead) Cassie Martin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC473329 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9