Children's home run by The Caldecott Foundation Limited in Ashford

Inspection report for children’s home: SC065129 1 SC065129 Registered provider: The Caldecott Foundation Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a charitable organisation and provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, there were four children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The suitably qualified manager registered with Ofsted on 7 February 2021.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC065129 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/12/2023 Full Good 07/03/2023 Full Good 18/08/2021 Full Outstanding 25/02/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC065129 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff routinely check in with children to ask about their day. They show a keen interest in the children and how they are feeling. Consequently, the children have good relationships with staff and feel valued and important. Children describe the staff as ‘kind, helpful and caring’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff encourage daily mealtimes together with the children. This facilitates natural discussions between the children and staff. The staff use this time to consult with the children around aspects of their care. They gather children’s views through planned discussions, monthly children’s meetings and consultation forms. The children’s views are listened to and acted on by staff. This further enhances the children’s feelings of being valued and cared about.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children engage in a range of activities that reflect their individual interests. As well as activities in the community, the children also enjoy doing things in the home together, such as movie nights, football and playing board games. The children speak enthusiastically about holidays and camping trips they have enjoyed since living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the children are making strong progress from their starting points. The staff are proactive in ensuring the children’s health, emotional and education needs are understood and fully supported. All of the children are engaging in formal learning and have up-to-date education plans in place. A staff member from the school said that ‘Staff have been outstanding in the support they provide,’ and as a result, the child is ‘flourishing’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff give careful thought to supporting children moves into and on from the home. When children have needed to move in with little notice, the manager has still ensured consideration is given to establishing the likes of the children, making sure they have relevant information and that some introductions have taken place before they move in. Children speak positively about the support they receive from staff when first arriving at the home, which has been instrumental in helping them to feel welcomed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have moved out of the home since the time of the last inspection. Both moves were well planned and supported. There is a strong focus on children experiencing positive endings when moving on from the home. The manager has continued to offer advice to parents, carers and the children themselves for some time following the move. This continuation of the supportive relationships has meant that some children continue to remain in contact for years after they have moved on. This is a testament to the positive relationships they develop with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The importance of supporting children’s relationships and time spent with family is fully understood and encouraged by staff. Families speak highly of the support provided to Inspection report for children’s home: SC065129 4 them and their children. One child’s parent said, ‘The staff’s communication is amazing. I am included in all aspects of care, and they (the child) have done amazing since being there.’

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

Children do not go missing from this home. This is because they feel safe, happy and understood by the staff looking after them.

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

Allegations against staff are rare. However, when any allegations have been made, they have been appropriately responded to. This includes communication with relevant safeguarding agencies and robust record-keeping. Investigations are thorough and concluded quickly.

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

Staff understand and mitigate any identified risks for the children. All of the children have detailed individual risk assessments and safety plans that staff regularly review and update. Staff fully understand the importance of relationship-based work to support children’s safety. The staff spend time speaking to the children and educating them about keeping themselves safe.

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

Staff only use physical interventions as a last resort. The manager monitors these to ensure they are appropriate and proportionate. The manager routinely ensures that planned conversations take place with children and staff following any use of physical intervention. Lessons learned following incidents help to identify triggers for children so that further de-escalation strategies can be developed. This learning is further supported through child-focused meetings, which are led by the organisation’s therapeutic lead. This approach has been successful and is demonstrated by a noticeable reduction of physical interventions.

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

The manager ensures that there is a strong focus on ensuring routines and boundaries for children. The manager encourages a unified approach by staff and ensures that they recognise the need for consistency when implementing rules for children.

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

Staff are quick to challenge and address bullying and unacceptable behaviour. The staff follow this up with restorative and educational work. The staff celebrate diversity and difference and help the children to develop improved understanding and tolerance of differences. This approach helps the children to live together and learn how to repair any fractured relationships.

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

The staff make a concerted effort to ensure the home environment replicates home life as much as possible. The house is homely, clean and decorated to a high standard. The children have individualised bedrooms and are encouraged to have a say in how their rooms are decorated and arranged. Most risks relating to the property are carefully considered, with health and safety checks routinely undertaken. However, a decision not to lock a cupboard containing cleaning products had not been supported by any risk assessment. Inspection report for children’s home: SC065129 5 Staff are confident in their understanding of what to do in response to risks that are relevant for children currently living in the home. However, staff lack confidence around less prevalent risks, such as children being missing from home. The manager has started to implement methods to keep all safeguarding knowledge and practice current, but this

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

has yet to be fully embedded into practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is an experienced and ambitious leader. They have high expectations for the standard of care that children should expect to receive while living at the home. The manager is child-focused and motivated by her desire to ensure children have good experiences and achieve to the best of their abilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a detailed understanding of the needs of each child living in the home. This supports the lead role she takes in assessment and care planning. She has a strong presence in the home, and children feel confident to approach her with their views. The children identify her as the person they would escalate any concerns to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is tenacious when advocating for children to ensure they have the services they require. When there are any delays, or the services children receive fall short of expectations, the manager is confident in challenging and escalating her concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager constantly seeks ways to develop the home and uses research in practice and routine audits to drive improvement. However, there have been some gaps in the external and routine monitoring of the home. The six-monthly management reports have not covered the full period required, and reports from the independent visitor have lacked feedback from family and professionals. This potentially undermines the manager’s understanding of the strengths and areas for development of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff describe the manager as knowledgeable and supportive. They feel able to approach her with any concerns. While staff can seek support when required, the frequency of formal individual staff supervision has not been carried out in line with the home’s supervision policy. This undermines the level of support to staff, and opportunities to develop practice are potentially missed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC065129 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home complies with relevant health and safety legislation (alarms, food hygiene, etc.). However, in doing so, they should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than institutional impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15 paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that all staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities when a child is missing from care or away from the home without permission. Staff should know the procedures to be followed and how they should support the child when they return to the home. . (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)  The registered person should maintain good employment practice as set out in regulations 31-33. They should ensure sufficiently regular, good-quality supervision

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Recommendations

and performance management of staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that the independent person forms an impartial judgement of the quality of the home’s care and takes into account, where possible, the views of children, staff, parents, carers and professionals who know the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.8)  The registered person should undertake a review at least once every six months that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64 paragraph 15.2)

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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: SC065129 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Caldecott Foundation Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Caldecott House, Hythe Road, Smeeth, Ashford, Kent TN25 6SP

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Inspector

Kerry Howarth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC065129 8 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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