Children's home run by Esland North Limited in Amber Valley

Inspection report for children’s home: SC063794 1 SC063794 Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home, which provides care for up to three children who have experienced social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2024.

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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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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 home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 8 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: SC063794 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/11/2023 Full Good 31/01/2023 Full Good 08/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC063794 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out and one child has moved into the home. Moves for children are well planned by the manager, with input from key professionals to ensure that staff can meet the needs of children. Children are positive about their experiences of moving into and out of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is maintained to a good standard. It is decorated in line with the children’s wishes and feelings and their bedrooms are personalised. This increases children’s feeling of comfort.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care that staff provide to children is enhanced by a therapeutic team who offer practical and emotional support to both staff and children. This has helped staff to build strong and trusting relationships with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the importance of education. Both children are not currently accessing formal education provision, however, staff have collaborated creatively with key professionals to arrange other educational opportunities for them. This includes providing a tutor for one child and securing volunteering opportunities for another. One child also attends community groups to support with employment skills and they are positive about their experience of this. Staff also advocate strongly for children’s wishes and feelings to be heard in respect of their education and how they feel they can be supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children maintaining relationships with their family and friends and support this in line with children’s wishes. This has supported children to have positive time with people who are important to them, and staff ensure arrangements are safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children in preparing for independent living. They create plans with the children, and these are incorporated into everyday life. Staff work with a range of professionals to ensure that children’s complex needs are understood and supported as they move into adulthood. One child said that the support from staff has prepared them for independence and that they felt ready for the move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff do not consistently capture children’s day-to-day activities and include their voice in their reports. This can have an impact on the evaluation of children’s care and if changes need to be implemented.

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

The home provides a safe environment for children. Staffing is consistent, and this promotes positive relationships with children. Children say that they feel safe and well cared for. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063794 4 On occasions, children have been missing from home. Staff confidently follow protocols in these situations and work in collaboration with safeguarding agencies to ensure that children return home safely. Missing-from-home incidents have good managerial oversight and are discussed with children swiftly to ensure that safety planning can be implemented. For one child, missing-from-home incidents have significantly reduced, helping them become safer.

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

There have been some self-harm incidents since the last inspection. These have been responded to in a caring and empathetic way, and children have been supported with any medical needs. Staff have responded in line with children’s risk assessments and updated their plans with any learning taken from incidents.

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

The manager has created good-quality risk assessments and support plans. These are reviewed regularly to ensure that staff use up-to-date strategies to provide safe and effective care. These plans have been created with the children, which helps them have a sound understanding of risks and how staff support them. Staff generally respond to any risks to children well and take action to keep them safe. However, there have been some occasions when staff have not followed children’s risk and support plans, which has led to risks not being managed effectively. The manager has identified these concerns quickly and responded appropriately. He has taken steps to ensure that children are safeguarded and learning from the incidents has been disseminated to staff.

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

There have been some concerns raised by children about staff practice and these have been addressed thoroughly by the manager. Children are involved throughout the process and all outcomes and learning are shared with children and staff. Appropriate steps are taken to address any practice issues identified. This improves children’s confidence that managers are listening to them and acting on their concerns.

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

Staff use rewards to promote positive behaviours and build relationships with children. However, these are not used consistently, which limits their effectiveness.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed to the children and ensuring that they receive the best possible care from therapeutically informed staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about working in the home and feel supported by the manager. They said that they can be open and honest if they have worries or concerns and are confident in the manager’s ability to deal with these issues. Staff have regular supervisions and have had single-subject development sessions where further learning has been identified as necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff also attend team around the child meetings with the therapeutic team. Children’s plans and any incidents. These discussions help staff to further understand children’s needs and develop the care and support that they provide. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063794 5 The manager and staff have good working relationships with partner agencies. A social worker said they found the team to be helpful and supportive in ensuring that the child makes progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight and monitoring systems are in place to ensure that the children are being provided with safe and consistent care. When any areas for development are identified, the manager takes swift action to ensure that there is continual improvement in care. The manager also reviews all incidents that children are involved in and ensures any learning is identified, for both children and staff. However, there is a need for more consideration of the impact of these incidents on the children involved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s wishes and feelings are gathered in multiple creative ways to ensure that they have influence on the care that they receive and their home enviroment. Staff also ensure that the children have access to an independent advocate to ensure their voices are heard and supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses and has a robust plan in place for how to continue to strengthen and develop the home. Striving to continually improve ensures children receive high-quality, trauma-informed care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063794 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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff work in line with children’s risk assessments to ensure risks to children are managed effectively. 12 April 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure staff understand the system for rewarding and celebrating positive behaviour. In particular, rewards should be used consistently with children to promote positive behaviour and relationships. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.39)  The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. In particular, they should consider the impact of care and incidents on children, to improve care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.2)  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

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Recommendations

recording. In particular, records of direct work with children should be clear, to help understand the benefit of this work, and records should be consistent in style. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: SC063794 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: SC063794 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Esland Ltd, Suite 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Children’s home details

Responsible individuals: Lesa Dranfield and Melanie Fletcher

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Inspector

Hayley Booth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC063794 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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