Children's home run by Elm Housing Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2784666 1 Registered provider: Elm Housing 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

The home is operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in July 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

This was the first full inspection since the home registered with Ofsted.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2784666 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children have moved into the home since it opened. Transitions for children moving into the home consider all relevant information and are thoroughly planned. Children are given the opportunity to meet the staff and children already living at the home before they move in. The transitions are reflective of each child’s needs and wishes and demonstrate the management team’s awareness around the importance of robust transition planning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of the children’s individual needs. Individualised care plans are followed by staff and reflect children’s social and emotional needs. Children are thriving, feel heard and say that they feel safe and secure in their home environment. Professionals spoken to say that staff are caring, available and are good advocates for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and emotional needs are prioritised. Staff support children to attend routine and specialist health appointments. Therefore, children remain in good health and their well-being is promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have a home tutor for mathematics, and they also participate in a local skills provision for construction. However, due to changes in the tutor and poor communication between the local authority, staff and the home tutor, they do not currently receive English education. Consequently, children are not receiving their core education. One child’s education, health and care plan (EHC plan) is significantly out of date and does not reflect the current needs of the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff capture the children’s views during key-work sessions and direct work. The children have the opportunity to attend football matches and have regular meals out together with staff. Children also engage in individual activities of interest to them, such as recording music in a recording studio, clay pigeon shooting and go-karting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance and the dynamics of children’s relationships with their family and friends. Staff support the children to spend time with their family members and friends, and they are welcome to visit the home. One family member reported that communication from staff is regular and they are kept up to date about the child’s life, which makes them feel included. This supports children to maintain their identity and develop relationships with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming. It is decorated and furnished to a good standard. Photos of the staff and children sharing positive times together are displayed throughout the home. At the time of the inspection, the children were on school holidays and were observed affectionately engaging with staff and each other. Inspection report for children’s home: 2784666 3

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

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children. They are aware of the children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities and know how best to manage and respond to these to ensure that the children remain safe. Staff follow robust risk management and support plans and provide good-quality and safe care, which has resulted in risks reducing for the children.

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

Due to the positive relationships that the manager and staff have built with the children, they are able to de-escalate incidents effectively to prevent having to physically hold a child to keep them safe. Children are spoken to following all incidents to enable them to reflect on the incident and to share any worries or concerns they have about the incident. Additionally, children are given the opportunity to share their views about how the situation could have been managed differently. This helps the children to manage their feelings and emotions more effectively.

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

The risks for the children have reduced since they moved into the home. Incidents of children going missing from the home have reduced and are managed well. Staff are proactive in searching for children when they are missing to ensure their prompt return home, which makes children feel well cared for.

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

The children have a monetary incentive and reward system to promote positive behaviour. They enjoy making plans with staff about how they will spend their additional money appropriately. This demonstrates that the children are motivated to achieve well and are listened to.

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

Staff receive training in child protection and safeguarding practices. They also receive tailored training on topics such as internet safety and self-harmful behaviours. Staff have access to a therapist to support them. Additionally, the therapist helps the staff to gain a more in-depth knowledge of the children so they can support them appropriately.

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

The manager has good oversight of incidents and acts appropriately when serious incidents occur. The manager regularly reviews the home’s physical environment to ensure it is safe and secure. However, children have not engaged in fire evacuation drills several times, with no effective consequences or risk assessments being completed. The manager acted swiftly to address this shortfall when it was identified during this inspection. The manager has requested the local fire safety officer attend the home and talk to the children about fire safety and the importance of participating in fire drills.

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

Information about the child’s development is shared with their family members and professionals, and notifications are made to Ofsted in a timely and effective manner. Inspection report for children’s home: 2784666 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager demonstrates strong leadership of the home. The manager is confident and advocates strongly for the children in his care. He leads an enthusiastic, motivated and committed staff team. Children are extremely fond of him, and this is reciprocated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is child focused and ensures that children receive a model of care that meets their individual needs. The manager and responsible individual recognise the importance of staff needing to feel valued, trusted and listened to. This approach helps to ensure that staff are happy in their roles and provide good-quality care to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a strong managerial presence in the home. Children and staff benefit from this supportive day-to-day oversight. The manager leads by example, takes on tasks and works directly with the children. Due to this proactive approach, staff feel supported, valued and have confidence in the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision sessions, team meetings, training and a planned yearly assessment of their performance. This provides the manager with information for him to remain confident in the abilities of the staff team to meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development of the home. However, this could be improved further by the independent person obtaining and reporting on feedback from family members, professionals and staff and offering a more robust visit to challenge the registered manager’s rationale on a regular basis.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals and a parent is extremely positive and indicates that the manager and staff consistently have the children’s needs and safety at the forefront of their decision-making and practice. The social worker for two of the children said, ‘They are thriving; they have changed so much since being in the care of [Name of the home]. They are happy, settled and engaging in education, which they haven’t done before, it is so nice to see.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff nurture positive working relationships with external professionals. The manager contributes to multi-agency planning meetings. This informs decisions about the children’s care. As a result, the children’s needs are met well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff employed by the company to work in another residential children’s home have covered shifts at this home. The arrangements to ensure that these staff have up-to- date information about the children’s individual needs and risks before they commence work are not clear, and neither are the arrangements for their supervision. Inspection report for children’s home: 2784666 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff support children to be aware of and manage their own safety, both inside and outside the home. In particular, children should engage in fire evacuation drills and understand the importance of doing so. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should ensure any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff are aware of whether a child has an EHC plan and the information in it. The plan must be updated annually to reflect the progress and needs of the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes

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Recommendations

Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.4)  The registered person should ensure new staff meet the requirements in regulation 32(4) regarding mandatory qualifications, and the registered person should consider their skills, qualifications and any induction necessary before they commence work in the home. The use of staff from other parts of the organisation should be carefully monitored and reviewed to ensure that children receive continuity of care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.16)

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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: 2784666 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Elm Housing Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Turner & Brown, 105 Garstang Road, Preston PR1 1LD

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Inspectors

Deborah Turner, Social Care Inspector Lisa Mulcahy, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: 2784666 7 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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