Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 1276249 1 Registered provider: Esland North 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 is a privately owned home. It provides care for up to three children. The home can care for children who may have learning disabilities. There are three children living at the home who have resided there since the last inspection. During the inspection all children were spoken to and observed.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is registered with Ofsted in April 2024.

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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: 13 December 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1276249 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/12/2023 Full Good 21/06/2022 Full Good 10/02/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/04/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children's home: 1276249 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children see the manager, they excitedly shout his name. Children run to the manager to give him a hug and talk about their day. The manager and staff have created a loving and nurturing environment that the children call home. The home is filled with children’s ongoing activities. Blankets are taped between the sofa and wall to create tunnels; the creative corner has glitter and paint from current crafts and a half-finished puzzle is ready to be returned to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to enjoy festivities. Children eagerly help staff with baking Halloween themed cakes, carving pumpkins and ensuring their costumes are ready for Trick or Treating. When children change their mind, staff support them to understand decision making. For example, one child decided that they wished to purchase a different costume at the last minute. Staff supported the child to understand the financial cost of costumes and the impact of the last-minute change. This supported the child’s understanding and a happy medium was found.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the house has a homely feel. Children and staff take pride in the home. Some areas of the home would benefit from a deep clean.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s educational and health needs are well met by staff. Stakeholder feedback is positive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively support children’s understanding of LGBTQ+. This helps children to be supportive of their peers. Children feel able to speak with staff about various topics that are important to them or that they are curious about. If required, staff seek specialised advice to support children and their ongoing needs.

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

Children feel able to talk to staff about their feelings of anger. Staff have supportive one to one discussions with children regarding their emotions and needs. Staff respond well to incidents of self-injurious behaviour. Staff reassure children and try to reduce any possible feelings of blame or shame for the child.

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

There has been one incident which should have been reported to Ofsted and was not. On this occasion staff did not adhere to children’s care plans or staffing ratios following a staff member not attending work. This led to two children being in the care of one staff member. On this occasion both children received injuries from one another. On this occasion staff failed to follow process and seek guidance from leaders and managers.

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

Staff know how to calm children if they become upset or frustrated. As a result, staff only physically hold children when necessary to prevent them from hurting themselves. Inspection report children's home: 1276249 4 Children do not try to leave the home without the permission of staff. Professionals state that children feel safe and like living at the home.

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

One child’s door alarm has not been reviewed in nearly a year. This has resulted in the door alarm remaining without a clear rationale. The manager has a plan in place to review this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and external professionals speak highly of the manager. Staff share that they feel well supported by the manager and that team morale is good. One professional stated that they can see improvements over the time that the manager has been in post.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

On one occasion the manager did not ensure he reviewed the oversight by others after a period of annual leave. This resulted in him not being assured that key professionals were informed of the one occasion staff did not adhere to staffing ratios. It also meant that he did not appropriately challenge staff practice or ensure learning for the staff team. The manager openly reflected about this scenario and created a plan to ensure thorough oversight on his return to work in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager supports staff to reflect on their practice through one-to-one discussions and larger team meetings. This encourages staff to work effectively as a team and collectively discuss how their care impacts on the outcomes for children. Staff utilise this space to bring forward new ideas and are supported by the manager to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are recruited safely. The manager ensures that an array of training opportunities are available to staff and that he monitors staff progress. There were no shortfalls in staff training and therefore the previous requirement in relation to this has been met. The recommendation relating to staff ensuring that children build positive relationships with others has also been met. Inspection report children's home: 1276249 5

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii) (b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular this relates to the registered person ensuring that staff adhere to children's staffing ratios. It also relates to ensuring that staff are confident in assessing risks and that they know when management oversight is required for specific decisions. 26 December 2024

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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— ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; 26 December 2024 Inspection report children's home: 1276249 6 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular this relates to the registered person ensuring processes are in place to ensure oversight of incidents when they are absent. It also relates to the manager actively challenging decision making where appropriate. It also relates to ensuring that plans are in place to ensure sufficient staffing when there is unplanned absences in the staff team.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— 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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 40 (4)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular this relates to the registered person ensuring that Ofsted is notified in writing of any significant incident relating to a child. 26 December 2024

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments which are homely. Alarms, such as door alarms may be needed. Staff should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression and such equipment should be regularly reviewed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 15, paragraph 3.9). Inspection report children's home: 1276249 7

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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: 1276249 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 & 5 Riverside Business Centre Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire, England DE56 0RN

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Inspectors

Ellen Monk, social care inspector Caroline Hose, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 1276249 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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