Children's home run by The Beeches UK limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2647775 1 Registered provider: The Beeches UK limited

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to four children with social and/or emotional difficulties. There were four children living at the home at the time of this inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in November 2021. The manager has been in place since September 2023 and registered with Ofsted in October 2024.

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 good

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: 14 February 2024

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2647775 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2024 Full Good 04/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2647775 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s well-being, development and relationships are at the heart of the home’s ethos. Children said they feel safe and cared for by the staff, who they described as kind and caring. These meaningful, warm relationships are enabling children to trust their carers and make good progress.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming and has been personalised to reflect the children living in the home. With the current cohort made up of teenage girls, there is a theme of female empowerment, valuing women and the importance of kindness. Children are fully involved in decisions about the decor of the home and garden. Their bedrooms are decorated and furnished to their own tastes, which helps them to feel a sense of belonging and to be comfortable in their own home. Children have been supported to have their own pets in their bedrooms, which provide emotional support and teach them to look after another being.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s key-work sessions are tailored to their individual needs and support children to understand their emotions and responses to stressful situations. Children recognise the progress they have made. They are proud of their achievements, which are celebrated by staff and leaders. Children’s views are sought regularly and valued by staff. All children actively participate in weekly children’s meetings, where they make decisions about activities and menu-planning for the week.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are tenacious in their work with children’s parents and their wider families, going above and beyond to ensure that family time is a positive experience for everyone. One parent said that staff had helped her to rebuild a relationship with her child. Another parent said that the excellent communication reassured them that their child is safe. Staff have supported a child to successfully return to the care of their mother and, through working intensively with carers, they have supported other children to transition to foster care.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with a range of professionals to enable children to access individually tailored education provision. Before coming to live at the home, all the children had experienced significant gaps in their education, with some not receiving any education for more than two years. Now, all the children have excellent attendance and are being supported to bridge the gaps in their learning. This could be further strengthened by linking children’s education plans to their future career aspirations.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s emotional and physical health needs are well understood and appropriately met. Staff work closely with health professionals to ensure that children receive the right support in a timely manner. Children are supported to understand their health needs and to attend various health appointments. An example of this is the key-work sessions with a child to address their fear of the dentist, which led to formulating a workable treatment plan with the dentist. Inspection report for children's home: 2647775 4 Children enjoy a range of hobbies and activities which they undertake with staff on both an individual and group basis. Children are also encouraged to have their friends visit them in the home, where they can spend time in the games room or baking in the kitchen.

p.3

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

The registered manager and staff appropriately identify, understand and manage risks for children. Children’s risk assessments are co-produced with children, families and external professionals, including child and adolescent mental health clinicians. These risk assessments are further strengthened through weekly team meetings and the monthly group supervision sessions with a clinical psychologist. While staff understand the individual needs of children and are clearly reducing risks, written risk assessments, behaviour management plans and care plans do not detail the practical measures being used.

p.4

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

Managers thoroughly assess the needs of new children coming into the home. Although the manager described how she considers any impact this change may have on children who are already living in the home, this is not detailed in written assessment reports.

p.4

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

Episodes of children going missing from home are very few. On the occasions that children do go missing, staff follow set protocols to ensure that children return home quickly and safely.

p.4

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

The number of incidents is also low. However, there have been two serious incidents that should have been notified to Ofsted. All managers and staff are trained in de-escalation techniques and work effectively to reduce the use of any form of physical restraint.

p.4

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

All staff understand whistle-blowing procedures. Safer recruitment practices for staff are thorough, ensuring that only suitable people are employed to work with children in the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has high aspirations for all the children living in the home. She knows the service well and has a clear understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. Leaders and managers demonstrate an ambitious vision, have high expectations for the care of all children and ensure high standards of individualised care.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective leadership, good-quality training and good pathways for career progression across the organisation are ensuring that permanent, consistent staffing is in place to care for children. Staff have established mature and trusting relationships with each other, where they are open to challenge. They clearly respect and value the registered manager. Staff supervision records and team meetings demonstrate in-depth discussions about the children with a focus on ‘how best can we improve the lives of children’. Inspection report for children's home: 2647775 5 Children’s records are sensitively written to a high quality. The ‘All about me’ document is sensitively written to the child and reflects their experiences, views and voice. The manager is exploring how all children’s records and documents can be written in this style. For some children, there is a delay in local authorities providing up-to-date

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

documents and information about children. The responsible individual is looking to implement a standardised escalation policy across the organisation.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from children, parents, carers and professionals is overwhelmingly positive and emphasises the successful progress made by children who have experienced disruption and trauma earlier in their lives. Inspection report for children's home: 2647775 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when the placing authority does not provide the input and services to meet a child’s needs during their time in the home, they must challenge them to meet the child’s needs (see regulation 5(c). In particular, they should ensure that local authorities provide up-to-date and relevant reports to support the development and implementation of plans for children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8)  The registered person should notify Ofsted if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which they consider to be serious (see regulation 40(4)(e)). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)

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: 2647775 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Beeches UK limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: SBCH House, 212 Ballards Lane, London N3 2LX

p.7

Inspector

Jenny-Ellen Scotland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2647775 8 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