Children's home run by Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited in Thanet

Inspection report for children’s home: SC066185 1 SC066185 Registered provider: Ethelbert Specialist Homes 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 owned and run by a private organisation. It provides care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties. Five children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager for the home has been registered with Ofsted since April 2024.

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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: SC066185 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/03/2024 Full Good 04/07/2022 Full Good 27/07/2021 Full Good 30/05/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC066185 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living at the home. They describe positive relationships with the staff that support them. One child said, ‘The staff are so lovely here. I love spending time with them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff get to know the children well and understand each child’s unique needs. This enables staff to adapt their support quickly and effectively based on what suits each child best.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have developed helpful and respectful relationships with parents and social workers. Parents and professionals are kept up to date about the children and quickly informed about any important events. This ensures that parents continue to feel actively involved in the children’s lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff maintain regular communication with children’s schools and attend all education meetings. All of the children are in full-time education and making good progress in their learning. This is particularly significant given that some children struggled to consistently attend school before moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s physical and emotional needs are well met by the staff. The staff ensure that the children are up to date with all their routine health appointments. They support the children to access and engage with relevant therapeutic support services as appropriate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff regularly seek the children’s views through both naturally occurring and planned discussions. The children are encouraged to have a say in aspects of their care, such as meal planning and activities, at the fortnightly children’s meetings. The children feel that staff understand what is important for them and that their views are valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are developing age-appropriate independence skills with the support of the staff. The children are given responsibilities and encouraged to do things for themselves, such as daily chores.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress when living at the home due to the support of the staff. For some children, the progress that they have made has resulted in successful moves on to foster care. When children move on from the home, staff help them to manage this change through carefully thought-out plans and supportive introductions. One child, who is due to move on, said that they will miss the home when they leave.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of family relationships for children. They promote and support family time as appropriate. Staff have explored thoughtful and creative ways to help children experience a more natural arrangement when spending time Inspection report for children’s home: SC066185 4 with those that are important to them. For example, staff decorated another empty home and supported one child and their family to experience a personal Christmas meal, and day together, away from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff help the children to have active and busy lives. They enjoy a wide range of activities with staff, such as bike rides and trampolining. The children experience new things such as holidays and trips to the zoo and theme parks. The children enjoy spending time with the staff and other children living at the home. They spend most of their time at home playing games and socialising with each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s bedrooms are decorated to reflect their individual likes and interests. However, children say they dislike the presence of the sensors on their bedroom doors. These alarms can be intrusive and take away from the homely feel that staff otherwise create. While appropriate consents for their use and risk assessments are in place, these are not tailored to each child and fail to demonstrate the necessity for such monitoring.

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

Very few safeguarding incidents occur in the home. This is because of the staff’s ability to quickly address and de-escalate concerns and the supportive and respectful relationships that staff have developed with the children. The children recognise the staff as people they would speak to if they had any worries. They are confident that any concerns they share will be acted on.

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

It is extremely rare that staff use physical interventions, because they de-escalate difficult situations well. Physical intervention is used only to ensure children’s safety and is undertaken by suitably trained staff. Supportive discussions are held with children and staff following all such incidents. The manager routinely reviews the records of incidents to ensure that they are well managed and clearly recorded.

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

The children say that they feel safe and happy where they live. One child said, ‘The staff look after us well,’ and another child said, ‘Living in the home is fun.’ Children rarely go missing from the home. The few occasions when children have gone missing have been well managed by staff to ensure the children’s safe return.

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

Staff ensure a well-balanced approach between nurture and guidance in the support they provide. Staff recognise the significance of routines and boundaries for children. As a result, children know what is expected of them, both in the home and when out in the community.

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

Safe recruitment processes are in place to ensure the suitability of staff working with children. New staff describe a supportive induction period, during which they receive the knowledge and skills needed to care for children confidently and proficiently.

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

Safeguarding concerns are rare, and when they have happened, these have been issues of a minor nature. Any concerns are investigated and decisions are reached. Inspection report for children’s home: SC066185 5 .However, the quality of investigation and the steps that have been taken to reach a conclusion are not always clear in the records. While this has not impacted on children’s safety or well-being, it creates some ambiguity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced registered manager has worked for the organisation for a significant period. He is very committed to the children, who identify him as a supportive and consistent figure in their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been a clear and consistent presence in the home. His hands-on approach in the children’s day-to-day lives means that he has a comprehensive knowledge of the children’s backgrounds and needs. He sets high expectations of the standard of care provided to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by the manager and describe a positive working environment. They receive regular good-quality supervision and appropriate training. Staff value this and say that it enables them to do their job safely and to the best of their ability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A disorganised system of record-keeping has led to important information and documents being missing from children’s files. Furthermore, some documents held are hard to locate. This is not currently undermining the care provided as the staff know the children well. However, this has the potential to mean that new staff might not have all of the relevant information needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring systems do not include consultation with professionals, children and families. This means that children’s views cannot be taken into account when developing the service and driving improvement. Inspection report for children’s home: SC066185 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 registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure the need for any monitoring of children is assessed on an individual basis and the rationale for this is clearly recorded. 28 March 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

securely in the children’s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there. (Regulation 36 (1)(b) (2)(c)) 28 March 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and 28 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC066185 7 sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response;

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Requirement Due date

describe the measures which may be necessary to protect children following an allegation of abuse or neglect. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure a clear record is held of any safeguarding investigation.

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Recommendation

 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. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: SC066185 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 17 Leigh Road, Ramsgate, Kent CT12 5EU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Leslie Davenport

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Inspector

Kerry Howarth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC066185 9 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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