Children's home run by BREAK

Inspection report for children’s home: SC424271 1 SC424271 Registered provider: Break Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a charitable organisation and provides care for up to four disabled children.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were three children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2022.

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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 outstanding

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC424271 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/03/2024 Full Good 29/11/2022 Full Good 25/08/2021 Full Outstanding 06/01/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC424271 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home and one child has moved on. The three children currently living at the home contributed to this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have fulfilling and positive experiences. Staff provide good-quality individualised care that enhances children’s well-being and future opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers carefully consider which children can live together. One child has recently moved into the home. Staff worked closely with their parents to build a thorough understanding of the child’s needs. Staff and managers compiled a highly detailed compatibility assessment which linked to a well-planned move for the child. As a result, the child quickly settled into consistent routines and is beginning to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provided excellent support for a child who moved on from the home. Staff were influential and proactive in ensuring the child’s move was supported at a pace that was comfortable for them. This meant that the child’s move to their adult home was successful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Families spoke about the positive difference that staff’s support has made to children’s all-round progress. This includes children having increased social confidence, social skills and significant improvements in children’s ability to manage their emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively encourage children with their learning. Staff help children to achieve high attendance at school by maintaining consistent and familiar routines. Staff maintain effective levels of communication with school staff to reduce any gaps in children’s learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that meeting children’s health needs is a high priority. Staff work sensitively to support children to overcome their anxieties around attending important health appointments. Staff are vigilant in identifying signs of poor health in children and work with health care professionals to ensure children quickly receive the support they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of exciting activities. They lead active and healthy lifestyles. Recent outings to theme parks, leisure centres and the zoo reflect children’s interests. All children enjoyed a holiday at a local beach resort. Staff provide creative activities that meet children’s sensory needs. This varied range of experiences improves children’s well- being and gives them new opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff celebrate children’s milestones and recognise children’s achievements. Children have opportunities to build their independence and express their views. However, the system used to capture and monitor the steps to help children increase their skills in these areas needs some improvement. Consequently, children do make progress, although the pace of this progress is not always clear. Inspection report for children’s home: SC424271 4

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

Parents and external professionals are all confident that the staff advocate for children’s safety and well-being. The relationships forged with parents and professionals are enduring. This enables honest and open conversations and ensures children’s best interests are central to all decisions.

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

Staff are exceptionally nurturing, kind and committed to children. Staff have strong relationships with children and have high levels of positive regard in their interactions. This ensures that children experience a high sense of stability and safety in the home.

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

Staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children and have a strong awareness of the children’s additional vulnerabilities. Staff records to monitor any potential concerns is highly effective in capturing actions taken to safeguard children.

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

Staff and managers provided exceptional support for one child to have their first sleepover at a friend’s house. High-quality planning and support for this child enabled them to enjoy this experience safely. Previously, the child had high anxiety about making friends and attending social events. As a result of staff’s support, the child is now attending parties and is successfully extending their social network. This is a fantastic achievement for the child.

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

Staff and managers use thorough monitoring systems that enable the in-depth review and analysis of children’s emotions and behaviour. This has led to the robust identification of triggers to children’s anxieties. Staff and managers have used the learning from this analysis to successfully inform future behavioural support strategies for children. The use of physical restraint for children is minimised, proportionate and always as a last resort. Because of staff’s support, all children make significant progress in their ability to manage their emotions.

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

Staff and managers have recently attended training to support their understanding of using consequences with children as part of a wider approach to behaviour management. This has helped to ensure that consequences imposed on children are infrequent, effective and restorative in nature.

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

Managers compile excellent risk assessments for children. These are detailed, followed by staff and consider children’s individual needs and abilities. This helps to ensure that all children can navigate new experiences safely and any known risks are reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A qualified and well-respected manager leads the staff team confidently. She is supported by a skilled and experienced deputy manager. Managers are diligent, energised and highly focused on improving the future outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are established arrangements for sharing information, reflection, Inspection report for children’s home: SC424271 5 feedback and learning with staff. Staff receive high-quality appraisals, supervision sessions and regularly attend well-planned team meetings. New staff receive effective inductions to help them begin to work with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff value the wide range of mental health and well-being support that managers provide. There are good staff retention levels, which has provided good continuity of care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has strong oversight of the care provided to children. Internal management monitoring systems are thorough. Records are clear and improvement areas are promptly identified and actioned when needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are good advocates for children. They are tenacious in ensuring that any decisions made in respect of a child are well thought out and in children’s best interests. This has included challenging other services, when necessary, in respect to upholding children’s welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External monitoring by an independent person provides an appropriate level of scrutiny to influence continuous improvement in care. However, the independent person does not contact parents frequently and does not always spend time with or explore the views of children during these visits. Therefore, the additional safeguards intended by this form of monitoring are not always realised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a good range of training to equip staff with the skills they need to meet children’s individual needs. Staff have recently attended sessions in providing therapeutic support and meeting children’s sensory needs. However, there are gaps in the staff’s knowledge and skills in supporting alternative communication aids for children. Managers have identified that further training would be of benefit for staff development in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A large proportion of staff have the required level 3 qualification. However, one staff member who should have achieved this has yet to do so. Inspection report for children’s home: SC424271 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, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate 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

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. 18 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC424271 7 (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s progress in expressing their views and building their independence is systematically monitored. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff are offered training around total communication approaches with children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should make best use of information from independent monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. The independent person’s consultations with children and their families should be more frequent. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: SC424271 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Schofield House, Spar Road, Norwich NR6 6BX

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Inspector

Mark Anderton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC424271 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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