Children's Home run by Cherry Care Children’s Home Limited in Bexley

Inspection report for children's home: 2730490 1 Registered provider: Cherry Care Childrens Home

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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 privately owned home provides care for up to four children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about this children's home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted on 31 July 2023.

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Information about this children's home

Three children were living at the home during the inspection and all children met with the inspector.

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Information about this children's home

During the visit, the inspector was aware that two incidents were being investigated by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate incidents of this kind, the inspector considered the actions the home has taken in response to the incidents, alongside other relevant evidence available to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 12 December 2023

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2730490 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/12/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2730490 3

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improvement to be good

Children’s experiences and progress are varied. Shortfalls in safeguarding practice and leadership and management have led to the judgement of requires improvement to be good.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a limited understanding of children’s communication needs. They do not support non-verbal children well, to enable them to share their views. Staff have not had specialist training or advice from professionals about how best to communicate with the children. Some methods of communication that they use are not suitable.

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improvement to be good

Children’s meetings are not meaningful for children, and staff do not act on their feedback. For example, one child finds the children's meeting difficult to attend as they do not like the noise. Additionally, the complaints procedure and children’s guide are not suitable for children with different communication needs.

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improvement to be good

Children’s relationships with staff are varied. One child has positive relationships with some staff and the registered manager, but not with all staff. This has led to a number of allegations being made against staff and later retracted. As children have a high level of staffing and supervision, there are lots of adults in the home. This does not help to establish meaningful and positive relationships between staff and children.

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improvement to be good

Children are engaging with education. One child who is not in full-time education is engaging well with home tuition and making progress with their learning. Other children attend school and are making progress from their individual starting points. Education professionals gave positive feedback about the communication between teachers and staff at the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children with their interests and talents. For example, staff are supporting one child with their interest in arts and crafts and have helped them to set up a bracelet-making business. The child also has two pet guinea pigs, which they enjoy looking after. Children are taken out to parks and cafes, and went on holiday over the summer with staff. Children have limited opportunities to mix with peers outside of school.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are met. The registered manager is proactive in seeking specialist support and advice when needed. Staff ensure that children register with the relevant health professionals and support children to attend their appointments. Accurate records of their health needs and medication are kept.

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improvement to be good

Children see their families often. Staff welcome family members when they visit. Feedback from family members and professionals working with the children was positive. Inspection report for children's home: 2730490 4 The home is spacious, with a large garden. Children enjoy the outdoor space. There is a trampoline, and children enjoyed having their own paddling pools over the summer. Despite this, the children’s bedrooms are not personalised, and this takes away from a homely feel.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding practice is not robust. Staff do not have a good understanding of the home’s safeguarding policy. There have been several incidents of concern in the past three months. One incident was not recorded. On two occasions, staff have delayed passing information onto the registered manager. This shortfall in communication led to one child being removed from the home in an emergency. For another child, there was a delay in seeking medical advice.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention is rarely used in the home. Staff are trained in how to de-escalate incidents of concern and physically intervene safely, when needed. Despite this training, the leadership team acknowledges that staff are anxious about using physical restraint for fear of children making allegations. This means that, at times, staff have not intervened to prevent children from hurting themselves. On one occasion, this has led to staff calling the police to help a child get down from a window.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are completed when a child first moves to the home. These are updated after incidents of concern. For some children, the document becomes very long and the strategies for managing risk are difficult to follow. These documents become less a tool of support for staff and more a chronology of events.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment and employment practices are followed. However, there are some inconsistencies in recruitment practice. Leaders and managers do not always obtain two written references, or copies of staff’s qualifications. Furthermore, overseas checks are not routinely completed for all staff.

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good

The leadership and management of the home are compromised by the registered manager’s capacity. Since the last inspection, the number of children living at the home and the staff team have grown considerably. Two senior members of the team, including the deputy manager, have recently left. These changes have placed extra demands on the registered manager, who oversees all aspects of the home. This has resulted in shortfalls in oversight of the home.

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good

Leaders and managers have not ensured that staff’s knowledge and skills are up to date. Furthermore, children’s records are not maintained, which impacts on staff’s ability to meet children’s needs effectively. Inspection report for children's home: 2730490 5 Not all staff are suitably experienced or skilled. For many staff, this is the first time that they are working with disabled children in residential care. The expectation is that they complete online training before they start working. The training available to staff is not relevant to children’s specific needs, such as communication, autism and learning disabilities. This limits the staff’s ability to understand and respond to the children’s complex needs.

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good

Although team meetings and supervision take place regularly, there is little evidence that the children and their progress are discussed. Nor are the steps for future training and development for staff.

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good

Recording systems are not consistent. A combination of an online recording system, paper files and online documents make it difficult to navigate the system. Due to the poor recording of incidents, safeguarding practice in the home is compromised. This is particularly important for children who do not communicate verbally.

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good

The workforce development plan has not been updated to reflect these challenges. Leaders and managers are reviewing this. They plan to recruit a new deputy manager and senior worker. However, at the point of the inspection, these posts had not been advertised. An experienced consultant has been recruited to help oversee some of the difficulties that have been identified. Leaders and managers are committed to addressing the concerns raised. Inspection report for children's home: 2730490 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly;

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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)(a)(v)(vi)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that the safety plans for children are followed, and that staff understand their roles and responsibilities to prevent children from the risk of harm. 17 February 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 7 March 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2730490 7 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that training is delivered to staff that is specific to the needs of the children and enhances staff’s knowledge and practice. Leaders and managers must ensure that incidents of concern are reviewed, the children’s plans are updated, and the workforce development plan is reviewed and updated.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home's care, and that their communication methods are taken into consideration. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practices consistently for all staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) Inspection report for children's home: 2730490 8

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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: 2730490 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Cherry Care Childrens Home

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 47b West Bank, London, England N16 5DF

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Inspector

Matilda Clode, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2730490 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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