Children's home run by Mig House Residential Care Home Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 1278873 1 Registered provider: Mig House Residential Care Home Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to six children with learning disabilities. It is a permanent home for up to four children and offers a short breaks service for a maximum of two children at any one time.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 10 October 2023

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1278873 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/10/2023 Full Good 23/11/2022 Full Good 05/10/2021 Full Good 28/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1278873 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. They are settled and making good progress. One child has moved in since the last inspection. No children have moved out. There were no children using the short break service at the time of inspection.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and comfortable in their surroundings. The home is clean, well maintained and staff make good use of the environment to enjoy time with children. There is a sensory room, a newly decorated games room and a large lounge for the children to sit in and spend time together with staff. One child proudly showed off their bedroom and the textures on the walls of the children’s bathrooms.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed into the home in a planned way. The manager and staff ensure children’s introductory visits to the home are spread out in a structured way. This increases the likelihood that they and the children already living in the home are best prepared for the move.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s communication needs well. Each child has their own way of communicating. One child has adapted their sign language. Staff have taken time to understand this and know how to respond to meet the child’s needs. The staff and children have access to a range of communication aids and visual boards around the home. Staff use these to support children to make choices, and to express their wishes, views and feelings.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children are in full-time education and making progress. The manager challenges professionals appropriately to ensure children have the correct levels of support with transport to school. This results in a reduction in incidents and helps children to feel more comfortable with the transport. Staff work closely with the virtual school to support a child who has never experienced a school environment. This has led to the development of good multi-agency plans to support the child to attend school.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take children’s health needs seriously. Appointments are made for children. Staff help children to understand the need for treatment using communication tools to prepare them for such appointments. As a result, children meet with health professionals with a good level of understanding of the importance of having treatments when necessary.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to have the same positive experiences as their peers. Children are kept busy inside and outside of the home. Staff know the children well and understand how to structure the right activities to help them to build social connections, as well as enjoy fun experiences. Children have enjoyed trips to the park, the cinema, bowling and the gym. Inspection report for children’s home: 1278873 4

p.3

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

Children receive exceptional help and protection. Leaders and managers have ensured a creative and inclusive approach that has significantly contributed to children being safer.

p.4

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

The children feel safe and listened to. Children use communication symbols to express their views on the home, this is shared with social workers and reviewing officers who use this, as well as extremely well detailed reports to help build an understanding of the children’s experiences.

p.4

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

The staff work extremely hard to ensure that they understand how children make sense of their environment. For example, researching and understanding what certain noises in the environment mean for children. This has contributed to a child who was previously being held with great frequency in previous placements having had only three physical interventions since coming to the home.

p.4

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

The staff have an excellent approach to enabling children to communicate feelings of anger, upset or distress. They make sure the children have many tools to help them to communicate their feelings. For example, staff encourage children to use face boards to communicate how they are feeling, and staff use symbols to understand what might have happened in the day that made them feel this way. This helps staff to respond. The staff proactively contact external agencies to request more information and support the child as necessary.

p.4

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

The manager has made strong use of research-informed practice to help build the staff knowledge and understanding on matters relating to safeguarding. Leaders and managers have provided creative presentations and participative learning opportunities on subjects such as closed cultures and contextual safeguarding. This has demonstrably impacted staff knowledge and awareness on these areas while simultaneously encouraging them to embrace learning in other areas of safeguarding.

p.4

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

The support of staff has helped children to develop their understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe. Staff work creatively to help children to understand appropriate touch and appropriate behaviour. Staff support children to access resources to help them to make sense of relationships and the importance of safe spaces.

p.4

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

Children have made excellent progress with their behaviour. One external professional reported that the child is completely different compared to when they moved into the home. Behaviours that caused significant concern are no longer displayed due to the staff having highly effective systems in place to communicate with the children and help them to calm.

p.4

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

The managers help staff with guidance and advice on how best to respond to children in crisis. Exceptionally well written support plans mean staff are clear on how to support children with their vulnerabilities. Inspection report for children’s home: 1278873 5

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s registration ended on 17 February 2025. Senior managers have not yet recruited a new manager to manage the home. This presents a vulnerability for sustaining the stability and quality of the provision. Despite leaving, the former manager has been offering support to ensure consistency for staff and children while a new manager is recruited. The former manager was present for both days of the inspection.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working at the home and feel supported and valued. One staff member, who provided written feedback, wrote:

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A supportive and welcoming work environment has been established via the training opportunities, frequent supervision, and open lines of communication. The organisation values its staff members and acknowledges their critical role in influencing the lives of the children we serve.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that all referrals to the home are suitably assessed for compatibility. The manager had shown a positive and proactive interpretation of information shared by placing authorities. This has reduced the potential for children to be stigmatised and has helped children to settle into the home.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have effective and regular supervision sessions. The records are detailed, with the safeguarding of children being the highest priority. Supervision sessions are reflective and help staff identify targets for children. These targets are focused on helping the children to integrate in the community and learn valuable life skills.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have used team meetings to model good care. This has included presentations on relevant issues. Staff are given homework to research these areas and to return and offer their own reflections on what they have learned. These reflections are then explored further in group supervisions.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the service. Management monitoring is good and helps to ensure records are clear and appropriate.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from external professionals is strong. An independent reviewing officer spoke with great enthusiasm about the quality of the information shared at reviews. Another independent reviewing officer highlighted the strength and quality of the communication with leaders and managers. A theme in the feedback was the level of knowledge that the manager had regarding the children and their ability to signpost external professionals to appropriate resources in relation to their safety. Inspection report for children’s home: 1278873 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

p.6

Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)) 30 April 2025

p.6

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: 1278873 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Mig House Residential Care Home Ltd

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8 Bushwood, London E11 3AY

p.7

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Khairoonessah Dustagheer

p.7

Inspector

Dan Williams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1278873 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8