Children's home run by Athena Children’s Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2690141 1 Registered provider: Athena Children’s Services 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

This home was registered with Ofsted in October 2022 and is privately owned. 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 manager registered with Ofsted in October 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: 2690141 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/04/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2690141 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of inspection, two children were living at the home. Six children have moved into the home and four have moved out since the last inspection. Both children were seen and spoken with during the inspection. One child said: ‘I feel safe here, I love it.’ They spoke very highly of the home and the support. Another child said they felt ‘happy’ living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The communal spaces in the home are warm and spacious. Children feel comfortable spending time together with staff in these welcoming areas. Children have chosen not to personalise their bedrooms but can do so if they wish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are involved in their day-to-day care. Staff encourage them to develop routines and take part in activities the children themselves choose.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know children well. Staff take opportunities to engage children to help form relationships. They get to know the children and try to understand their point of view and life story to better appreciate why they behave in particular ways.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers have developed a meaningful and inclusive way of recording special memories for children. For example, staff have set up email accounts for children and send messages to them each day. The children are then able to share these messages with their family as they wish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have built trusting relationships with children. Children feel they can turn to staff for help. One child said: ‘They help with everything. I have made progress because of [name of home].’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress. Staff understand how best to communicate with the children. This has helped children to develop their own interests and hobbies. This has contributed to children becoming more confident, independent and sociable. For one child, the opportunities to engage in particular activities have had a very positive effect on their health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s engagement with education is varied. For one child, there has been significant improvement, with school attendance increasing from 6% to over 90%. In addition, their participation while at school has also substantially improved. For another child, staff have a good understanding of the challenges relating to their educational attendance. The team works in partnership with the child’s school to try to overcome these. This collegial approach and detailed communication between the school and the home means the child has been able to maintain their placement at school alongside meaningful relationships with teachers and friends. Inspection report for children’s home: 2690141 4

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

Staff take appropriate action to reduce risks and enable children to access the wider community. For one child with particularly high extra-familial risks, this included a well- thought-out and sensitive plan developed in partnership with the child. Another child has made considerable progress. The staff and managers’ collaborative working has helped risks for this child to reduce significantly.

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

Staff do not use consequences and have only used physical intervention once since the last inspection. Instead, staff adopt a relational approach. This helps enable discussions to take place and children to reflect on behaviours.

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

Children feel able to share worries and experiences with staff, indicating trusting relationships. Children can name staff they would go to if they were not feeling happy. both children said that they have positive relationships with staff.

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

When children go missing, staff take appropriate action to search for them, follow their individual risk assessments and share any concerns. Communication with the police has been very positive. This has allowed other professionals to take action to further safeguard the children.

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

Leaders and managers communicate effectively about risk with other professionals working with the children. Strong relationships mean risk is considered holistically and information shared has been acted upon in a timely manner, further safeguarding and supporting the children.

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

Staff know how to escalate concerns and have done so. However, there have been incidents when staff conduct has not been appropriate. Despite other staff being aware, concerns were not raised promptly. When the manager became aware, immediate action was taken. Subsequent actions in respect of addressing lessons learned have not been sufficiently prompt. For example, training identified as necessary has yet to be provided and there has been a lack of reflection on expectations regarding mobile phone use by staff.

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

On one occasion, leaders and managers did not make a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service for two months after an internal investigation concluded that a person would have been removed from regulated activity with children had they not already been dismissed for other reasons. However, leaders and managers did share the information promptly with the local authority designated officer. The delay was because the provider was waiting for a response from the local authority designated officer. Despite this, the provider had not escalated concerns about this delay. Inspection report for children’s home: 2690141 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced and qualified manager who was present throughout the inspection, along with a knowledgeable deputy manager who specialises in behaviour management and trauma-informed practice. Staff say that managers are approachable, supportive and empathetic in respect of the challenges they face, especially in relation to secondary trauma.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recently, there has been significant staff turnover. This has naturally affected the children. However, the manager has handled this sensitively and provided appropriate support to children. The staff turnover has been managed by staff and managers covering shifts. As a result, children continue to be cared for by people who know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have created an environment where children are at the centre of decision-making. Staff spoke about children with care and compassion in the home. Leaders and managers took action when they became aware of inappropriate language being used in a group chat that managers were not part of. These actions have helped staff learn and change.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are spoken highly of by professionals, including social workers, the school, police, a therapist and a parent. They all feel that managers understand the children they care for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers advocate for the children, for example seeking interpreters to fully ensure children have understood the information shared with them and their voice is heard and reflected in their plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An independent person visits monthly to scrutinise the service. However, the approach to visits means there is often a significant gap between the practice occurring, it being scrutinised and reported on by the independent person and the report being shared with the manager. This dilutes the opportunity for timely learning and improvement. Inspection report for children’s home: 2690141 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vi)) 10 March 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. In particular, where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, the registered person should review and implement safer practice strategies, including the provision of training and managing risks associated with staff using their personal mobile phones while on shift. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. In particular, ensure that the gap between the practice occurring, it being scrutinised and reported on by the independent person and the report being shared with the manager is not unduly

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Recommendations

long. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) Inspection report for children’s home: 2690141 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: 2690141 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Athena Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 71 Spring Road, Kempston, Bedford MK42 8LT

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Inspectors

Lexi Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2690141 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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