Children's Home run by Amegreen Children’s Services in Hampshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2765654 1 Registered provider: Amegreen Children’s Services 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

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties and associated complex needs. There were four children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since the home was registered on 25 January 2024. This is the first inspection of the home since registration.

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Information about this children’s home

Staff working in the home are referred to as ‘adults’ in this report.

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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: not previously inspected

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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 for children’s home: 2765654 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy warm and nurturing relationships with adults who understand their individual needs well. This helps children to make progress, such as having improved mental health or taking part in activities. Adults are guided by care plans and assessments that are clear, relevant and regularly updated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults value education and learning. They work hard to support the children to engage and achieve in education, and attend an education provision that is right for them. This includes working closely with other professionals in education and social care, and advocating for children when needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported in relation to their emotional needs. All children have the opportunity for individual therapy from the in-house service, which includes animal- centred options. Adults work effectively with children and specialist professionals to ensure that the right emotional support is given to children. In one example, a child feels ready to take part when they had unable to do so before.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults work creatively to support children’s important relationships and to make sure that their time with family goes as well as possible. Family members spoken to were positive about this support, the care that children receive and communication. One child’s parent said, ‘I know 100% that my child is safe.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are important to adults. Children are supported to express their wishes and participate in decisions about their home and their plans. They know how to complain. Regular one-to-one conversations and house meetings capture children’s views. This helps children to feel valued and heard. On one occasion when a child was unhappy with the actions of adults and believed they had made a complaint, this was not recorded as such. However, the manager did speak to the child about their views.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a comfortable home that is furnished in a child-friendly way. They are involved in decisions about the decoration and design of the home, and are helped to personalise their bedrooms. Repair and redecoration, when needed, are carried out promptly. This helps children to have a sense of ownership and belonging. Children have access to all the communal areas of the home apart from the utility room. Safely opening this space to them would add to the sense of homeliness and support work around independence skills.

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

Children say that they feel safe living in the home and can talk to adults if they are worried or need help. There is an atmosphere of mutual respect and playfulness in the Inspection report for children’s home: 2765654 3 home and a sense that adults are committed to supporting children through challenging times. This has helped children to build trusting relationships.

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

Adults work hard to ensure the safety of the children. They understand each child’s particular vulnerabilities. Risk assessments are detailed and updated on a regular basis. When new risks emerge, adults respond quickly and work effectively with external agencies to safeguard children and make plans to reduce future risks. This shows that children’s safety is a priority.

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

Adults are trained in positive behaviour management. They use de-escalation techniques before using physical intervention, which is only used as a last resort. After any physical intervention, adults and children are given opportunities to reflect on incidents. The strong management oversight of incidents and analysis of patterns of behaviours help the adults to learn from them. There has been a reduction in the frequency of physical restraints for two children.

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

When children go missing from the home, adults know what to do. They follow clear protocols and are proactive in working alongside others to find them. Adults talk to children about what has happened, and work with partner agencies to review support and individual plans. There is effective communication with police to share information and challenge responses where needed. Return home interviews are always requested from the local authority and are supported by an internal interview. This helps to reduce the risk of children going missing from home, and to ensure safe practice if they do go missing.

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

Adults have good relationships with other agencies who support children, and work effectively with them. Social workers are positive about the adults in the home and the progress that children make. This helps the children to receive coordinated care and make progress. One social care professional described the communication and relationships as ‘excellent’, and said that this had supported significant progress for the child concerned.

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

Safer recruitment practices are used when new adults apply to work in the home. This, as far as possible, protects children from adults who are unsafe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager and home manager. The registered manager is enthusiastic about her role and the well-being of children and adults. She has a good understanding of children’s individual needs, their progress, and the strengths and areas for development of the service. She is a good role model for adults, and supports an ethos of child-centred practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers understand the importance of building a strong and stable team of adults in what is a new home. They are making good progress with this. Although there are some vacancies, recruitment is active, and the use of agency staff is minimised by using adults who work in sister homes and are known to the children. This supports Inspection report for children’s home: 2765654 4 the children to receive consistent care. When adults have left, the manager has completed a review to identify learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults are positive about working in the home and the support they get from managers and colleagues. Adults say that the registered manager and home’s manager are available, take a keen interest in their welfare and are supportive if they have difficulties. Senior managers visit the home regularly to provide additional support and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults are provided with support through regular one-to-one supervision and opportunities to reflect through critical reflection groups. Team meetings are well attended and used creatively to build on the adult’s knowledge and skills. For example, they receive input from child adolescent mental health service professionals. Adults are suitably qualified and up to date with required training. These support structures help adults to be creative and informed in their responses to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and senior leaders have helpful systems in place to monitor the effectiveness of the service. These include systems to gather the views and experiences of children, parents and other professionals. Monthly visits by an independent person are completed and responded to constructively by managers. The independent person has not yet spoken to family members, and they rarely include feedback from adults working in the home in their reports. This detracts from the level of scrutiny provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and team advocate strongly for children when they feel that their needs are not being met. They work hard to make sure that others understand children’s feelings and needs. This helps children to feel heard and receive helpful responses from other agencies that support them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2765654 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that the independent person makes a rigorous assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that children are reminded of their right to

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Recommendations

complain as necessary and that they are explicitly asked if they wish to make a complaint when raising concerns. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, pages 22-23, paragraph 4.13)

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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: 2765654 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Amegreen Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Aleksandra Komorowska

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Patrycja Soroczynska

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Inspector

Jacob Robson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2765654 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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