Children's Home run by Albrighton Care Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC471581 1 SC471581 Registered provider: Albrighton Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private organisation. It provides care for up to two children who have a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2020. She has a level 5 qualification in leadership and management for residential care.

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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: 7 November 2023

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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: SC471581 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2023 Full Good 11/10/2022 Full Good 09/06/2021 Full Good 10/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC471581 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children living in the home were present during the inspection. Since the previous inspection, one child has moved in, and one child has moved out of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and staff support children to make good progress in their education. One child is attending education daily and is making good progress overall. The other child is in the process of gaining an education placement; they have been receiving home-based education. Staff form effective routines in the home, which helps provide children with the best opportunity to succeed in their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff form positive relationships with children. Staff are invested in learning about children’s differing cultures and have liaised with parents to learn different recipes from children’s native countries. Staff have a good understanding of children’s individual needs and how they are best met. They support one child with their religion by helping them to pray at each mealtime. As a result, children feel safe in the home and enjoy being around the adults.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and staff provide memorable experiences for children. Children are encouraged to share their views about activities they would like to engage in. This is done using children’s bespoke communication styles, for example with widgets and pictures. Children have been on holidays with staff, on train rides and out on picnics. Children get involved in charitable events in the local community. This has provided them with the feeling of pride and responsibility.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves into and out of the home are well planned. Robust assessments take place before children move into the home to ensure that their needs can be met. Children currently living in the home are always considered to ensure that there will be no impact on them. When one child left the home, this was a positive experience for them. Leaders ensured that the child was provided with good support during their move to the new home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop their independence skills. Children have been educated on how to change their beds, attend to their personal care and make themselves drinks. As a result, children are more equipped to carry out independent tasks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment is homely and child focused. Children’s bedrooms are decorated to their likings, and communal areas are warmly furnished. There are plans for the development of the home to provide a more welcoming environment for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and staff mostly ensure that children’s health needs are met. However, one child has been waiting for a health assessment for six months, but there is little to show that this has been escalated by leaders. Inspection report for children’s home: SC471581 4

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

There have been no complaints since the previous inspection. However, leaders have ensured that children understand how to make a complaint. The deputy manager has formed a video version of the children’s guide, which is personal to each child. This has ensured that children have a clearer understanding of what is available to them in the home.

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

Leaders and staff ensure that children have a clear understanding of their bespoke health and safety plans. A child-friendly version of the personal emergency evacuation plan has been made available. This has meant that children have a better understanding of what to do in an emergency.

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

Leaders regularly communicate with services in the local areas, such as the police. This supports the manager to have an up-to-date knowledge of local risks. Additionally, this has enabled children to form better relationships with the local services.

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

Risk management plans are detailed with relevant information about children. This provides good guidance for staff and has enabled them to respond appropriately to concerns. However, on one occasion, it was not clear whether staff had done all they could to support an incident due to a lack of detail in the recording.

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

Following a staff conduct concern, leaders ensured that a child was kept safe. Staff have worked well with the child to form trusting relationships. The concern was mostly managed well. However, the parents of the child, the local authority social worker and the police had been notified late. This had not enabled prompt action by external services to take place following the concern being identified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a wealth of experience and knowledge. She has upskilled her team well, which has led to there being a competent and knowledgeable deputy manager available in times of her absence. Staff are positive about the support that they receive from management. One staff member told the inspector, ‘The management team have supported me with my diploma and are always there if I need to speak to them about anything.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recruitment checks have improved since the previous inspection. Leaders have ensured that all relevant checks have been completed for new staff. Due to this improvement, the manager is more assured at the point of recruitment that staff are safe to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training is in line with the needs of children. Leaders have ensured that staff keep up to date with mandatory and additional training. This has meant that staff have remained well skilled and knowledgeable when working with children. Staff are proactive in learning about children’s needs, and the deputy manager has completed additional Inspection report for children’s home: SC471581 5 training on autistic burnout. This information was shared with the staff team to ensure that they had the necessary tools to support the child to whom this training related.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision sessions are reflective and enable staff to develop their skills. Managers take time to provide staff with good-quality supervision, meaning that staff feel well supported and encouraged to do well in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has effective monthly monitoring systems in place. They cover a vast range of areas in the day-to-day operation of the home. This has allowed the manager to have strong oversight and identify patterns of children’s behaviours at the earliest opportunity. This has enabled early intervention to take place, which has supported the team in working with children more effectively. Inspection report for children’s home: SC471581 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)) 19 March 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home has a key role in organising and ensuring each child’s attendance at the necessary primary and secondary health services. Most health services that a child needs to access will be provided by other organisations. If these services are not accessible, or are withdrawn, staff should inform and engage with those who also hold a responsibility for the child’s health to ensure their health needs are met under Regulation 5, engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.11)  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 on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information

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Recommendations

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) Inspection report for children’s home: SC471581 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: SC471581 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Albrighton Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 15 Heritage Park, Hayes Way, Cannock WS11 7LT

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Inspector

Chanel Bryant, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC471581 9 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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