Children's Home run by Pebbles Care Limited in North Yorkshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC481631 1 SC481631

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Registered provider: Pebbles Care 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 managed by a private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

It provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2021.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC481631 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/07/2023 Full Good 23/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/03/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 11/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC481631 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have lived in the home for a significant period of time. They have developed positive and strong relationships with all staff. These relationships help children to have a sense of belonging and feel loved. Children live in a home that is a welcoming, stable and calm environment. The home has recently had refurbishments to a good standard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work well with other professionals. School staff speak highly of the commitment of staff to ensure that children attend school and enjoy learning. Staff attend all school events, and they celebrate the children’s achievements. They communicate well with teachers, and this includes having discussions after the school day. Children make good progress, and the consistent support has resulted in one child now attending college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy good physical health. Children are encouraged to exercise, and they are provided with a gym membership to help them keep fit. The emotional and mental health of the children is a focus of the staff. Children access therapeutic support when it is required. Staff are supported by the home’s therapy team to help children move forward from traumatic experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are prepared for independence. Staff encourage children to participate in putting together an independence plan which incorporates their pathway plan. One child is being supported by staff through regular discussions and practical support to make their moving-on experience positive. This helps children to be confident about the future and to develop positive self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are central to how staff parent them on a day-to-day basis. Staff take opportunities in their daily interactions to have discussions about their home and their care or other issues that may be affecting them. This means that children are learning all the time to understand their identities, cultures and relationships with others. This enables the children to confide in staff and feel that staff listen to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to have family time. One parent said that they could not think of a better place for their child to be. One child now feels able to share their views about family time. When family time is not going well, staff address this with the children and their lead professionals. This ensures that family time is safe and enjoyable.

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

Children say that they feel safe and happy. One child said that staff care about them, listen to them and love them. Children regularly receive positive praise and affirmations from staff. They are happy to be comforted when they are upset. Inspection report for children’s home: SC481631 4 Positive parenting by staff helps children to make good progress in all areas of their lives.

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

Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding. Risk management plans are regularly updated to reflect when risks are increasing or decreasing. Assessments are easy to follow and provide clear strategies for staff to manage risks. Staff have been trained to know how to respond to the specific risks and vulnerabilities of the children.

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

When children have gone missing from home, staff follow the protocols and try to find the children in the places that staff have identified. This has resulted in a reduction in one child going missing from care. When children are found, staff have discussions with them and help children to learn from their experiences. These discussions are recorded; however, in one record, staff used unkind, negative and blaming language.

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

The home has a clear staffing ratio to ensure that children are always safeguarded. The arrangements for the supervision of children in the community are not well understood by all staff, and there is no consistency in this one area. This has the potential to create risks for children.

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

When children are upset, which leads to negative and unwanted behaviour, staff are patient to help children manage their emotions. When it has been necessary to hold and guide the children to keep them and staff safe, this has been done in a kind and caring manner. The manager has oversight of all the holds and guides to ensure that these are safe and appropriate. This ensures safety for the children.

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

Staff understand the impact of trauma on children and how this can affect how they form relationships. When a child makes allegations against staff, even when the incidents have been witnessed and contradicted by others, these are taken seriously and reported to relevant professionals. The manager speaks to the child involved to gain their views and will provide them with an outcome. This helps children to feel that their views are important and that they are listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced, and staff speak highly of her child-focused approach. Staff say that there is a supportive culture. The manager shares an ambitious vision where all staff are confident and knowledgeable about the home’s therapeutic model. The experienced staff speak confidently about the therapeutic parenting they provide and how this helps the children to be able to manage their emotions and relationships better. Staff speak about the children with warmth and understanding.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have good relationships with each other and work well as a team. Staff find a lot of value in the training that is provided. Inspection report for children’s home: SC481631 5 Reflective supervisions are planned and conducted monthly. Staff are supported and promoted to develop their professional practice. When training needs are identified, staff are given time to complete this. Staff are supported to address personal matters that arise, and they are supported to seek relevant emotional well-being support when it is required. In addition, staff have regular group refresher sessions alongside their team meetings. These ensure that staff remain up to date with their knowledge and skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The care that children receive is monitored through various effective monitoring tools. This helps leaders and managers to identify strengths and emerging issues and shortcomings. Managers also use the regular input of the independent visitor to ensure that the home is, at all times, conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals are very enthusiastic about the care and support children receive. They have seen the positive effect of the relationships in the home. This has had a significant impact on the quality of peer relationships, which has helped the children to live happily together in the same home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good working relationships with professionals who are involved with the children. The manager regularly attends the multi-agency meetings for children who are vulnerable to exploitation. She ensures that children attend and contribute to meetings about their care. The manager understands and will use the home’s escalation policy to provide challenge and advocate on behalf of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC481631 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. This relates to staff recording information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks for each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. This relates to staff understanding the arrangements for the supervision of children in the home and in the community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: SC481631 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pebbles Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

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Inspector

Tenji Wesa, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC481631 8 and inspects to 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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