Children's Home run by Shalamar Children Limited in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 1 SC475088 Registered provider: Shalamar Children 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 home provides care for up to four children aged between seven and 17 years who experience social and emotional difficulties. Four 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 March 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: 19 September 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 for children’s home: SC475088 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/09/2023 Full Good 05/01/2023 Full Good 05/10/2021 Full Good 14/01/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. Two children have moved in since the last inspection and two children have moved on from the home. Two children spoke to the inspector during this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience extremely well managed moves in and out of the home. External professionals speak positively about how well prepared the home are to admit children and how well they prepare children and advocate for them to move on to provisions that are suited to their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education and encourage children to persevere with this. When children experience challenge or setbacks in education the home proactively advocates for them. This means that children are helped to access education with support tailored to their needs. Staff promote and support children to develop age- appropriate independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage in activities they enjoy. They are fond of animals and the home currently houses two cats, some chickens and pet hamsters. During the inspection, at the request of the children, the home was in the process of making adaptations to the garden area in preparation for the arrival of alpaca’s.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are positive about their experiences of living at the home. One child said that they would not change anything about the home. When asked what they like about the home, a child said: ‘The staff, and the people that live in the home.’ Positive relationships with the staff have contributed to the progress that the children have made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are very comfortable in the company of the staff team and have built trusting relationships with the staff. Children said that they can talk to staff if they are worried or upset. Positive, warm and nurturing interactions were observed between the children and staff, with lots of laughter and staff being responsive to the individual needs of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their tastes and liking. Where safe and appropriate, the staff work hard to ensure that children maintain links with those who are important to them. Staff also have a good understanding of children’s health needs and work closely with external agencies to support children with health concerns.

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

Staff have completed safeguarding training. They are confident in their roles of reporting and escalating any child protection concerns. They understand the whistle-blowing policy. Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 4 Staff have a good understanding of the children and their associated risks. This helps them to support children to identify and understand the risks posed to them. Children say they feel safe living in the home and professionals and families say they are happy with how their children are safeguarded.

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

When children are involved in incidents, children are supported to reflect on their behaviour. Incidents of physical intervention are rare and managed well. Interventions have been appropriate, proportionate and necessary.

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

The children’s guide is child-friendly and gives children a sense of what it is like living in the home. The guide also contains information to help children understand who to speak to if they are worried or if they need support outside of the home. There have been no allegations made against staff since the last inspection. One complaint made by a child has been responded to effectively in order to resolve the complaint.

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

There have been incidents of children going missing from the home. When children go missing, staff are quick to respond. Partnership work with the police is effective and staff actively ensure that the children return home as soon as possible. However, on some occasions there have been delays in children receiving independent return home interviews. This means that opportunities may be missed to understand why children go missing and to reduce these incidents.

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

Staff encourage and support children to take responsibility for their behaviour with the use of rewards and consequences. However, on some occasions consequences issued to children do not relate to the behaviour, which means they could be interpreted by children as punitive. On these occasions the consequences were not effective, and leaders and managers had not reviewed them to scrutinise the appropriateness of the consequences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager registered with Ofsted in March 2024. She is working towards completing the relevant level 5 diploma. The manager is supported by and works well with the deputy manager. The registered manager was present during this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed. She talks about the children with dedication. She is child- focused and ambitious for children and has a good understanding of their needs. She will challenge external agencies if she is dissatisfied with the services being provided to children. This is reflected in the feedback from staff. A staff member said: ‘The manager is fair and genuinely puts the children first.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals and families speak positively about the care provided to children. One professional said: ‘The staff are skilful in how they approach and support children with their individual needs.’ A parent said: ‘The staff are balanced. They are very empathetic while being consistent and maintaining boundaries.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 5 Staff complete the organisation’s mandatory training and leaders and managers strive to provide staff with additional training. As a result, staff access training that is tailored to the children’s emerging needs. This means staff are supported to have the skills and knowledge to care for the children and meet their individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers have effective management systems. Records are of a good standard and provide information about the care provided to children. Managers undertake regular audits of care practice and the operation of the home, with actions to address any shortfalls or learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular team meetings and one-to-one reflective supervision. However, staff do not always have an annual appraisal of their working practices. This means opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice and development may be missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some staff hold a relevant qualification or are working towards this. However, there have been delays in some staff completing the qualification within the specified time frames. Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 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 registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

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

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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,

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or 23 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 7 in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 3 March 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Information provided by such interviews should be considered when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair, and the principles as set out in 9.35 are respected. In particular, the registered person should ensure that all consequences issued to children are non-punitive, fair and related to the behaviour displayed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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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: SC475088 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Shalamar Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 63a, Thames Industrial Estate, Princess Margaret Road, East Tilbury, Essex RM18 8RH

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Inspector

Anver Rose, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC475088 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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Inspector

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