Children's Home run by Acorn Norfolk Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report for children’s home: 2642113 1 Registered provider: Acorn Norfolk 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 provides care for up to two children for 38- or 52-week residential options. Care is provided for children with autism, complex needs, moderate or severe learning difficulties and communication difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is in the grounds of a special school and other children’s homes that are all operated by the same national provider. The school is independently registered.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspectors only inspected the social care provision.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2642113 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/05/2023 Full Good 30/11/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2642113 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. The children are established and settled. They have lived at the home for over two years together and this has given them stability and predictability. Both children were seen during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend activities that are tailored to their individual wishes. Children enjoy swimming, drives in the car, messy play and trampolining. Staff understand children’s routines, which helps them to plan activities and experiences that are child led. One child goes swimming every week, and as Christmas day falls on the day that the child swims, the staff have sourced a private pool so that the child’s routine is not interrupted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend the on-site school. They have bespoke timetables. Children have made good progress at school. The manager is in regular communication with school staff, sharing relevant information and discussing support strategies. This communication helps children to have smooth transitions from home to school. The professionals working with the child have up-to-date information to help them. Educational professionals speak highly of the communication from the manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain meaningful and safe relationships with their families. Children’s parents gave very positive feedback on the support that their children receive. Children spend regular periods at home with their families, and staff support and facilitate these visits. The manager and staff provide daily updates to families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to build their independence skills. They take part in tasks around the house, such as cooking and cleaning. One child particularly enjoys vacuuming. This helps to prepare children for the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The house needs some general upkeep; however, the children are moving to a new house on the same site next month. There are building works next to the home. Large steel fences have been erected with gaps that children could climb through. There were bricks and scaffolding clips laying on the ground. Some work was done to secure the fences and remove these hazards during the visit.

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

Children have access to a therapeutic team, who work alongside the staff at the home. Children receive support for speech and language and occupational therapy support. The therapeutic team advises and supports the staff. This is helping children to make progress with their communication and day-to-day activities. This input helps staff to understand children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2642113 4 Children are supported on a one-to-one basis, which helps to keep them safe. Children do not go missing from the home. In the event of this happening, children have individual missing-from-home protocols.

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

Staff use a range of communication methods to engage with children. Staff were observed to use hand gestures and sign language with children. Staff also use a picture exchange system. This enhances children’s ability to express themselves.

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

Children’s plans contain a lot of information. This makes it difficult to identify main strategies to help keep children safe. One child needs to travel in the car with a safety harness. There are several other items that he needs to help ensure that this is safe. The staff spoken to were not aware of these. Some of the information in children’s plans is factually incorrect. This does not create an accurate picture of children.

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

Sometimes, children at the home need physical intervention to help keep them safe. The records for these interventions are not always clear. The type of intervention used and the length of the intervention are unclear. The manager’s review is not always robust. This was recognised at the inspection and records have been revised and updated to capture a more accurate picture. Staff have recently received training in recording and reporting.

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

The manager has been in post for some time. She has some experience in the role and oversees two homes within the organisation. The manager took part in the inspection on day one, and the responsible individual and head of service managed day two.

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

There has been a high turnover of staff at the home. This has resulted in a high use of agency staff. The home is now fully staffed, although this is a new team.

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

The manager has covered shifts and is also managing another home. This has reduced her oversight at the home. This is evident from a range of documents and records that lack managerial oversight and review. There are discrepancies in some of the incident reports. Manager reviews lack curiosity and are not robust. Incidents do not always provide a clear narrative about what has happened.

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

The manager and deputy manager have training in specialist types of communication and they model this to the staff team. However, there are several areas of training that have not been undertaken by the staff team. While this is classed as additional training, these areas are necessary to inform staff practice when supporting the current children and meeting their individual needs.

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

The manager follows safer recruitment procedures. Staff take part in an induction period. One new staff member commented that her induction period was ‘brilliant’ and she detailed the training she had done. Inspection report for children’s home: 2642113 5 The staff said that the manager is very supportive. She also received positive feedback from families and professionals. Inspection report for children’s home: 2642113 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that building materials are safely out of reach of children, and areas undergoing building work are secured. 16 December 2024

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the plans to keep children safe are factual, relevant and the staff are familiar with them. 13 January 2025

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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

promotes their welfare. 13 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2642113 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that records are clear, and the manager’s review shows curiosity and challenge when necessary.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person") has spoken to the user about the measure;

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Requirement Due date

and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)) 13 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2642113 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff at the home gain skills and experience that enable them to actively support each child to achieve their potential. In particular, where children have additional needs, all staff should receive training about these in a timely way. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52 paragraph 10.5)

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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: 2642113 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Acorn Norfolk Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Inspectors

Mary Costello, Social Care Inspector Syvanna Matthew, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2642113 10 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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