Children's home run by Tutelage Care Barking Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2662453 1 Registered provider: Tutelage Care Barking Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to five children with learning disabilities and social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 19 January 2022. The manager was registered with Ofsted in September 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 requires improvement to be 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: 22 January 2024

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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: 2662453 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/01/2024 Full Good 04/10/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2662453 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress from their individual starting points, including in education and relationships. They are supported to engage in education according to their individual needs. One child has made considerable progress in their education. They are attending college on a regular basis and studying a course that they enjoy. This is supporting their independence and career path. Another child who is out of education is supported to engage in tuition at the home and samples of their learning are proudly displayed on the walls in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are understood. The staff work closely with the mental health team to support one child. This joint work has enabled the child to stay living in the home. Children are encouraged to eat nutritious food and supported to stay physically fit by engaging in various activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with their families in the home and in the community. Family members such as parents and grandparents are confident to approach the registered manager and staff for support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a variety of experiences, such as going to concerts, theme parks and the theatre, as well as participating in activities such as baking and developing their independence skills. One child has developed their independent travel skills and no longer requires a taxi to get to school. Other children are supported with their independent living skills, including tasks like doing their laundry and tidying up.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences of living at the home and have close relationships with the staff and managers. One child said they feel close with the registered manager and deputy manager and can share concerns with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager manages children’s challenging behaviours well. When a child was struggling to manage their emotions and started pushing the registered manager, they responded calmly and with patience, demonstrating a thoughtful and measured approach. This calm reaction helped the child to self-regulate, and they responded positively by stroking her face as a gesture of apology. This interaction highlights the strong, trusting relationship between the registered manager and the child, as well as the effective use of de-escalation techniques that support children’s emotional well- being.

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

Staff understand children’s risks and needs well. The registered manager and staff work hard to ensure that children are safe and supported when serious safeguarding incidents occur. They respond quickly and work closely with the police, the placing authorities, schools and health agencies to reduce and manage risks to children. There are Inspection report for children's home: 2662453 4 appropriate risk management plans in place that give staff the strategies to manage and reduce risks to children. The risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated and signed by staff. This ensures that staff are up to date with children’s current risks and needs.

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

Individual children’s risks and behaviours are addressed with them in conversations. This helps children reflect on their actions, choices and behaviours. Children receive emotional support to see them through challenging times. However, staff’s records of important conversations with children are poorly written and lack clarity. This makes it difficult to track children’s progress, creating gaps in the staff team’s knowledge of children’s current issues, and potentially missing safeguarding concerns. Furthermore, this does not help children if they want to review their records in the future to understand their personal history and the support they received.

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

Staff manage incidents well, with appropriate action taken to safeguard children. Restraint is appropriately used, and children are given support which includes medical attention. However, one significant incident was not formally recorded, and other restraint records were either incomplete, with little evaluation from the registered manager, or not provided during the inspection. This reduces accountability and limits the opportunities for staff and managers to learn from incidents.

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

There have been no cases of children going missing from the home. Although one child is vulnerable to sexual exploitation and grooming, they have not gone missing, demonstrating that they feel safe and settled in the home. The strong relationships between the child and staff have had a significant impact in creating a sense of security for the child and reducing risks. Staff take appropriate action to mitigate risks, by maintaining regular contact with the child when they have free time in the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

While there are many strengths, especially in how children are cared for, the overall organisation of the home is weak. The registered manager has not ensured that staff knowledge and skills are up to date or that children’s records are maintained, which impacts staff’s ability to meet children’s needs effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Mandatory training has not been completed by all staff, including training relevant to children’s specific needs, such as self-harming, autism and learning disabilities. This limits the staff’s ability to understand and respond to the children’s complex needs. Although staff are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and understand the importance of reporting any concerns to leaders and managers, some members of staff are unclear about other external organisations, including the regulator and how concerns can be reported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Team meetings take place regularly and are well attended. The staff discuss relevant topics such as the children’s presenting needs and safeguarding issues, enabling them to respond to specific behaviours and needs as they arise. However, these meetings do not compensate for the poor quality of staff supervisions, including the registered manager’s Inspection report for children's home: 2662453 5 own supervisions. Records of these sessions do not show any reflective practice or professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager and leaders take allegations of harm seriously. They take swift and appropriate action when concerns arise, by sharing information with safeguarding agencies and carrying out internal investigations. Inspection report for children's home: 2662453 6

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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, 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.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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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)(a)(b)(c)(f)(g)(i)(h)) 31 December 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2662453 7 In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff undertake relevant training to meet the specific needs of children living in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children’s records are maintained effectively and readily accessible when required. This includes children’s care plans and incident and restraint records.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff keep clear and comprehensive records for children, to ensure that children’s experiences are recorded and easy to understand.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff, including the registered manager, receive regular and reflective supervisions. They must ensure that supervision sessions are recorded effectively. 31 December 2024

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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: 2662453 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Tutelage Care Barking Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 33 Roebuck Road, Hainault Business Park IG6 3TZ, Ilford, Essex EN9 1JH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Olabode Martins-Yedenu

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Inspector

Amena Begum, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2662453 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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