Children's Home run by Reflexion Care Group Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC366090 1 SC366090 Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to two children who experience social and emotional difficulties and/or have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC366090 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/08/2023 Full Good 09/11/2021 Full Outstanding 11/02/2020 Full Outstanding 05/03/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC366090 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported by staff, and this helps them make good progress in different areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into the home, initial assessments consider how effectively staff will be able to meet their needs. The needs of the child already living in the home are also reviewed to ensure that it is suitable for the children to be living together. This helps to ensure that children have positive experiences in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in their education and both have full-time placements. Staff and managers work well with education professionals to support children’s education, and this contributes to children achieving well in this area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff carry out direct work with children that is effective in supporting their understanding of how to keep themselves safe and healthy. Staff use these opportunities to encourage children to share their wishes and views, and these are responded to well. Children are also offered the opportunity to make complaints or to access an independent advocate. This helps to ensure that children are listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child is being supported by staff to develop independence skills, including budgeting, cooking and cleaning. This helps to ensure that they have the skills they will need for when they move out of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with their family and friends. Staff maintain positive relationships with family members, which demonstrates to children that their family is important. One family member said, ‘[Name of child] has made so much progress, I am always kept updated and I always know what’s going on in their life.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a welcoming environment for children. It is furnished and maintained to a good standard. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their own taste and have photos of family members on display. There is a relaxed atmosphere and a strong sense of a family home. However, due to the current staffing needs of one child, one member of staff is sleeping on a sofa bed in the lounge area. This is a temporary arrangement and is being kept under review.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The are inconsistencies in a small number of documents, and they have not always been written in a child-friendly manner. The lack of clear and accurate recording has the potential to affect the continuity of care the children receive.

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

There have been some incidents of self-harm. Staff have managed these well and provided good levels of support to children. This includes them talking to children and Inspection report for children’s home: SC366090 4 encouraging them to talk about any worries they have. Managers provide oversight and evaluation of incidents, which allows them to identify areas to improve staff practice.

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

The staff understand children’s needs and associated risks. Risk assessments include clear strategies to manage risks and keep children safe, and staff work in line with these. The work staff carry out with children to address risks has had a positive impact and over time has reduced risks to children and helped them to be safer.

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

Managers and staff know the children well and are effective in calming challenging situations. Sometimes, children are restrained to keep them and others safe. Staff have received the necessary training to ensure that they know how to do this safely and effectively. Records of these incidents reflect why this has been necessary and how successful it has been in supporting the child. The manager has good oversight of all records, and discussions take place so that the staff can reflect on what went well or what could be done differently next time.

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

The arrangements in place for managing children’s medication are safe and effective. Clear procedures and well-organised records mean that medication errors rarely occur. When an error was made, this was addressed appropriately by the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working in the home and are committed to helping the children to succeed through working together as a team. The staff have confidence in the registered manager and value the support they receive through supervision sessions, appraisals and training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates on behalf of the children to ensure that decisions are made in their best interests. The manager challenges agencies when they have not provided the information required to meet children’s needs. The manager and staff have advocated continually for a suitable education provision for one child. This child has recently started in their new school and is making positive progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a good range of training and have access to additional training opportunities to support them to meet children’s needs. New staff are well supported with a comprehensive induction programme. This helps to ensure that they develop the necessary skills to care for children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recognises the strengths and areas for development in the home. When areas for improvement are identified, the manager acts to improve experiences for children. This may include challenging agencies, sourcing additional training and changing practice in the home. The manager is open to change and is enabling positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Changes are due to be made to the home’s leadership team as the registered manager is leaving their post. At the time of the inspection, managers had failed to implement a suitable succession plan to ensure continuity of care. As a result, future management Inspection report for children’s home: SC366090 5 arrangements and transition planning remain unclear. This is leading to some anxiety in the staff team. Inspection report for children’s home: SC366090 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 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—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the homes’ workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that senior managers implement a suitable and effective transition plan to respond to the impact of the registered manager leaving the home. 11 February 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information about individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that the design of the home provides staff who sleep in the home overnight with appropriate accommodation and facilities to do so. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.26) Inspection report for children’s home: SC366090 7

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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: SC366090 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Fitzroy Academy, Cruckton, Shrewsbury SY5 8PR

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Inspector

Kate Savage, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC366090 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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