Children's home run by Lily Residential Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2753268 1 Registered provider: Lily Residential Services Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is managed by a private provider. The home can provide care for up to three children with social and emotional needs. At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first full inspection since registration. At the time of the inspection, the current manager is awaiting their registration interview with Ofsted.

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: not previously inspected

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2753268 2

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the home’s first inspection since its registration as a children’s home. The children currently living at the home and some of the staff moved to this new house along with the previous manager. The move was very well planned and involved the children throughout the process. This approach has supported the children in feeling ownership of and seeing this as their home, which is what they told the inspector. Children are happy at the home and feel the staff really care about them.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff, including new staff, have built strong relationships with the children they care for. Children said they get on well with the staff and know they want the best for them. Children said they each have staff they can speak to and they feel staff listen to them.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When talking about children, the staff show their pride in the children’s achievements and the progress they are making. There are areas where this work is ongoing but both children have made progress from their starting points. Staff are ambitious for the children and advocate strongly for them to help them achieve the best outcomes and to receive any additional support they need.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is furnished and decorated to a good standard. The home is spacious, full of light, providing children with a lovely environment in which to live. Throughout the home there are pictures of children and staff enjoying events and activities together, which supports this being the children’s home. Each child has personalised their bedroom to their taste and style. This includes photos of family and those who are important to them. Children say they especially like having a spacious garden because, in their old house, they ‘only had a yard’.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to take part in a range of fun activities. These include supporting the child to pursue their current individual interests as well as to have new experiences. These activities can also include children’s family members. This summer all the staff and both children went to a theme park to celebrate the children living together for two or more years.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff create lovely memory books for each child. The manager sees these as vital to the children when they move on and in the future to help them remember their time at the home and the experiences they had while living there.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s plans are current and reflect their needs. They provide clear guidance for staff and are frequently updated to reflect the children’s emerging needs.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers and family members who provided feedback are positive about the home. One child’s family member said the child is happy at the home saying, ’they now smile and laugh’, and they are very pleased the child is now going to school and enjoying education. Inspection report for children’s home: 2753268 3

p.2

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

Children feel safe at the home and with the staff who care for them. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and the vulnerabilities of each child. Appropriate records are maintained of safeguarding events, providing a clear record of events and actions taken. The majority of these have been reviewed by the manager except for two records.

p.3

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

Behaviour is well managed by staff as they understand the children’s behaviours, potential triggers and how to support the child when they feel anxious or upset. Behaviour support plans are current and provide clear guidance for staff. There have been no incidents of restraint.

p.3

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

Risk is well managed, and staff are not risk averse. The management of risk is clearly linked to the staffs understanding of the child and their needs. Staff work with children to develop their understanding of risk and help the children make safer choices. Currently, a parental control App is placed on a child’s phone. There is no clear rationale for its use or if the placing authority is in agreement with its use. In addition, this maybe impinging on the child’s right to privacy.

p.3

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

Each child has a clear individualised process in place should a child go missing from the home that staff follow appropriately. There has been a reduction in children going missing from the home, and this is now a rare occurrence.

p.3

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

Recruitment practices follow safer recruitment guidance and is applied to agency as well as substantive staff. This approach helps to protect children. There are some minor inconsistencies in the records maintained about interviews. These do not impact on the safety of children.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This is the home’s first inspection since registration as a children’s home on 19 October 2023. Since registration, there has been a change of manager and responsible individual. The new manager and responsible individual are currently awaiting their suitability interviews with Ofsted, which are being scheduled. The changes in these key roles have been well managed to provide continuity for the children and the staff.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a clear overview of the home. They understand the children and the staff as well as the strengths and areas for improvement of the home. Leaders and managers have a clear vision for the home. They are ambitious for the well-being and development of the children and of the staff team. Leaders and managers are child- centred and provide children and staff with good, positive role models.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel valued and supported by leaders and managers. They speak very positively about them, saying they are open to new ideas, welcome feedback and are Inspection report for children’s home: 2753268 4 approachable. Staff feel their training is of a good quality and supports their individual development as well as the development of the home.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, which is of an appropriate quality and, when needed, leaders and managers will have difficult conversations with staff, but in a very supportive way.

p.4

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that a review is undertaken regarding the use of the current parental control app on a child’s phone as this may impinge on the child privacy. This should be done with the child placing authority. In addition, any agreement to use this should include the placing authority. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7)  The registered person should ensure that they consistently review safeguarding records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.23)  The registered person should ensure that records of staff interviews clearly identify who wrote the notes. In addition, interviewers should ensure that they consistently use the interview scoring system in line with their recruitment policy as this forms part of the rationale for appointment of a candidate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes

p.4

Recommendations

Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

p.4

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: 2753268 5

p.4

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lily Residential Services Ltd

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Spirare Ltd, Mey House, Bridport Road, Poundbury, Dorchester DT1 3QY

p.5

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Post vacant (Laura Begbie – proposed)

p.5

Inspector

Wendy Anderson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2753268 6 regulates 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.

p.5

Inspector

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.6

Inspector

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

p.6

Inspector

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

p.6