Children's home run by Suffolk County Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 1 Registered provider: Suffolk County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a local authority and provides care for one child with social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2022.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

During the inspection, one child moved into the home.

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 28 November 2023

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/11/2023 Full Good 21/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, one child had recently moved out. One child moved in during the inspection. Both children spoke with the inspectors.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child who lived at the home for some time developed positive and trusting relationships with the staff team. A consistent approach to the care provided enabled the child to feel safe and secure in their home. Children keep in touch with the staff long after they have moved on. A child who moved in during the inspection was seen laughing and joking with staff. Staff help children to settle in quickly to their surroundings in a short time.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with a range of activities. They have opportunities to try new experiences in the local and wider areas. These have included trips to a London theatre show and horse-riding lessons.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of family relationships. They have worked to develop inclusive relationships with family members to provide a collaborative approach to supporting a child. Staff have considered the child’s family. This has enabled the child to increase the time spent with their family at the home and in the community. This is something that the social work team felt would be a significant challenge.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with opportunities to learn. Good communication between school staff and staff at the home made a move to a formal education setting possible for one child. The staff regularly advocated for the child’s educational needs. Support, encouragement and incentives enabled the introduction of a full education timetable and engagement, resulting in a nomination for this child to go on a trip abroad.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff consider children’s health needs thoroughly. The staff recognised that one child might benefit from equine therapy to incorporate a known passion while exploring the impact of past trauma. Matters of sexual health were sensitively explored with one child. This led to the child accessing important services to maintain good health.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child made considerable progress while at the home. Despite several challenges, the staff used a balance of risk-aware and family-orientated approaches to help the child begin to make sense of past traumas and to start to see a positive life path.

p.3

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

Staff provide thoughtful, well-planned care and protection. Guidance provided to staff about how to care for children is detailed and clear. Managers ensured that plans to support a child to access the community safely were updated in response to frequently Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 4 changing factors. This provided the child with opportunities to explore their increasing independence safely.

p.3

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

One child has been able to learn skills to be safer online and in the community. Before moving to the home, the child had regularly been missing from home for prolonged periods and was at high risk of child exploitation. This child was subject to a deprivation of liberty order when they moved to the home. Since the last inspection, the child has not been missing from home, and the order has been removed. Police, social workers and specialist youth workers said that the child has been much safer since living at the home.

p.4

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

Staff were creative in the way that they approached important topics of sexual consent, diversity and healthy relationships with a child. Staff receive training to improve their understanding of relevant topics. They work collaboratively with other specialist agencies to check that they are using up-to-date resources. Staff made use of media-based resources to help this child to recognise risk and learn how to respond effectively to peer pressure. Helpful conversations have helped the child to better understand their vulnerability to exploitation.

p.4

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

The manager maintains effective working relationships with other professionals. This ensures that relevant information is shared about the child and plans are responsive to changing factors. However, there have been two occasions when safeguarding concerns raised were not notified to Ofsted promptly. This prevents opportunities for full and effective external scrutiny.

p.4

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

There has been a significant change in the road structure directly in front of the home. This has presented a new and relevant risk for the children who have lived at the property in the last five months. Plans that include steps to mitigate this immediate risk require updating following the completion of the construction works.

p.4

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

Pre-employment checks for new staff have not always been thorough. One member of staff’s employment history has not been explored with enough rigour and curiosity.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is appropriately qualified and is ambitious to improve outcomes for children. He is supported by a committed deputy manager. Together, they provide effective direction and oversight of the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision of their practice. This helps them to reflect on the emotional nature of their work. Staff say that the management team is supportive and that the open-door policy is helpful. Conflict in the team is rare. When there are minor disagreements, staff feel that they are managed well.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monthly staff meetings are well attended. These meetings provide an opportunity for staff to consider and make adaptations to children’s plans. When a child moved on, Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 5 managers gathered feedback from the child about their experiences at the home. This feedback was shared with the staff to acknowledge the positive and lasting impact of their daily conversations and practice with the child.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Police, school staff, the local authority designated officer and social workers say that the staff have helped a child to make significant progress. This child has recently left. One social worker said that the home’s support of the child had been integral in planning for the child to make a possible return to their family in the future.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monthly reports written by managers provide a clear overview of children’s progress and challenges. These reports are shared on the local authority’s database. This helps other agencies to receive timely updates about children’s progress and has improved multi- agency communication.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff write a letter to the child about the child’s daily life. These records offer a positive, child-friendly explanation of the child’s time at the home. Managers have effective oversight of written records about children. They provide appropriate advice to staff about what will be helpful to children to read should they access these records in the future. Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

p.6

Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e)) 31 January 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

p.6

Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

p.6

Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

p.6

Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

p.6

Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that gaps in employment history are fully explored and understood prior to the applicant starting work. 31 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 7

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. When there are new, relevant safeguarding risks in the local area, the registered person should record the steps that staff should take to manage these risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

p.7

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: 2696325 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Suffolk County Council

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Babergh District Council, Endeavour House, Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX

p.8

Inspectors

Natalie Day, Social Care Inspector Naomi Starbuck, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2696325 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9