Children's home run by SES Avocet Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: SC063259 1 SC063259 Registered provider: SES Avocet Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The privately owned home offers a therapeutic model of care. The home provides long- term placements for up to eight children who have difficulties managing their emotions and may have experienced neglect and/or emotional abuse. There is a registered school on site that is also run by the organisation. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children’s home

Eight children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 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: 12 December 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC063259 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/12/2023 Full Outstanding 29/11/2022 Full Outstanding 01/09/2021 Full Good 03/03/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC063259 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out, and four children have moved in. There are eight children living at the home. Four children gave some brief feedback and were positive about their experiences. One child said that everyone at the home is ‘like their family’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have great experiences at this home. They make excellent progress from their starting points. Children have good relationships with staff who know them well, and they build positive relationships with their peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have new experiences. Children access a variety of regular clubs that align with their individual interests. These include drama clubs, rugby, swimming and Scouts. Children enjoy residential trips away, sailing trips and holidays abroad. This year they have visited Holland and the Peak District. For some children, these are new experiences that have helped them to build their confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take an active part in their local community. This has included a festive pantomime for family and professionals with their sister home, organising a summer fete and raising money for charity. Making such a significant contribution to their local community has increased children’s self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves in to and out of the home are well planned. Children are helped to understand where they are moving to. Staff support them with detailed plans to mark the move. These include celebrating their successes and achievements. Staff capture children’s experiences in high-quality memory books that show children’s enjoyable times. These books are given to children when they leave so they can take these special memories with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are all accessing education at the on-site school. Most children access a full timetable of bespoke learning. For children who require additional learning support, there are good plans to build their confidence. Over time they access increased learning opportunities. A social worker said their child has made ‘excellent progress from their starting point’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who move on are invited back to annual events, including a charity football match and a Christmas dinner. When children have moved, they are given the opportunity to reflect on their experiences at the home to help leaders and managers consider improvements to make children’s experiences better. One child who moved out of the home said that it was the best home he had lived in. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063259 4

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

Children build long-lasting relationships with staff. They receive consistent care from a core group of staff who have worked at the home for several years. Overall, staff value these relationships and their experiences at the home. There is minimal staff turnover, which helps children to build relationships with staff who know them well.

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

Leaders and managers commission specialist services to help meet children’s well-being needs. Children and their families have access to a range of professionals. Staff benefit from clinical advice and support that helps them to offer trauma-informed care to children. Staff use a model of care to help them support children’s progress over time.

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

Staff are committed to helping children build and maintain relationships with their families. Staff drive long distances and stay overnight to help children see their families safely. Staff work with some parents in the community to help them spend more quality time with their children. Family members are welcome at the home and invited to events that the staff and children put on, such as the annual pantomime. Helping children rebuild these connections strengthens their relationships for the future.

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

There is a strong anti-bullying ethos in the home. If children are unkind to each other, staff deal with it. The manager has a good overview of these incidents. Staff are creative in the ways they help children to improve their interactions with each other. Staff carefully plan activities that help children to spend positive time together. This is helping children learn how to manage relationships, which will benefit them as they move into adulthood.

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

Staff understand children’s vulnerabilities when using online technology. There are detailed plans in place to support all children to access a variety of technologies suitable to their age and understanding. Children’s plans for managing online risks are individual to them and help give them age-appropriate freedoms to navigate the online world. Children are rarely involved in any harmful incidents.

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

There are very few incidents of children going missing from home. Each child has an individual missing-from-home plan. When children have left the home without permission, it is usually responded to quickly. Staff search for children and support them to return home and talk about their feelings. However, one child left the home without the knowledge of staff, and this was not known for two hours. The child did not come to any harm and had stayed local to the home. Leaders and managers have applied learning from this event and changed children’s plans to ensure better supervision of children. Since these changes, there have been no further incidents of children leaving the home without staff’s knowledge.

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

There are occasions when staff hold children to help keep them safe. There are systems in place to track these, and for most children, these incidents decrease over time. Staff and children are consistently spoken to about these incidents. However, on occasions the manager’s review of the record does not capture what staff could have done differently Inspection report for children’s home: SC063259 5 instead of holding children. One occasion shows that the manager’s review did not reflect on what a child had said about being held. This does not help staff to learn from these interventions and help children in different ways.

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

Some children are prescribed medication to meet their individual health needs. Generally, medication is administered safely; however, on one occasion, medication was administered incorrectly and did not follow the home’s medication policy. This was being investigated by leaders and managers at the time of the inspection. Information about this event was shared appropriately with relevant professionals, and medical advice was sought.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and has a good understanding of the home. She was not at the home at the time of the inspection due to a planned absence. She contributed to some aspects of the inspection remotely. The manager remains committed to improving outcomes for children. In the manager’s absence, there was a clear plan in place for other leaders to manage the day-to-day running of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are dedicated to the children that they care for. They have high aspirations for children and provide them with a range of opportunities. An external professional said, ‘The leadership team enables systemic thought to detail; this approach allows for staff to do things differently.’ They said that the home’s ethos allows for ‘creativity’ in the way children’s needs are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, feedback from professionals was positive about children’s experiences at the home. The manager was viewed as building good relationships with children and professionals and was praised for her communication. Creating positive relationships with professionals helps to ensure children have well-planned care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about managers. Staff said that they have a very supportive management team. This is reflected in the overall staff morale and long service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported to work towards achieving their level 3 qualification in the required timescales. Most staff hold a relevant qualification. Two members of staff have not achieved this in the relevant time frame. However, leaders and managers were able to demonstrate extenuating circumstances outside of their control. Both these staff members have resubmitted their development portfolios for review by a training provider. Leaders and managers have already taken steps to address gaps that had been identified through this training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision sessions. The records of supervision do not always capture detailed discussions about children’s needs. This is a missed opportunity for leaders, managers and staff to reflect on any worries or progress children are making. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063259 6 There is a range of training available to help staff understand children’s needs and how to support them. Most staff have undertaken the home’s mandatory training courses. However, some refresher courses have not been kept up to date by staff as outlined in the home’s training policy. This includes some courses that contribute to effective safeguarding practices. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063259 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that care is taken to ensure prescribed medicines are only administered to the individual for whom they are prescribed. Medicines must be administered in line with a medically approved protocol. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)  The registered person should ensure records of restraint are kept and enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and they should understand the key role

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Recommendations

they play in the training and development of staff in the home. In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff have training in line with the home’s policies on updating training. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure there are systems in place so that all staff receive supervision of their practice that allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: SC063259 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Victoria Collings

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Inspectors

Rebecca Hannell, Social Care Inspector Naomi Starbuck, Social Care Inspector Mary Costello, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC063259 9 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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