Children's Home run by Almond Care Children’s Services Ltd in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2661513 1 Registered provider: Almond Care Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private provider. It offers care for one child who experiences social and emotional difficulties and/or has learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, no children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 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

Date of last inspection: 19 December 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: 2661513 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/12/2023 Full Good 13/09/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2661513 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved into the home, and four children have left.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education. If children face challenges or setbacks in education, the home actively advocates for them. This means that children receive education with support tailored to their specific requirements. Staff also encourage children to persevere with their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff meet with the children regularly. Records show a good level of engagement from children. Staff work hard to ensure that children feel listened to. Staff encourage and help children to develop age-appropriate independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are offered a wide range of activities and participate in those of their choice. One social worker said their child engaged in many activities with the staff and thoroughly enjoyed them. Staff assisted another child in building up their confidence to join a football team, which is something they have always wanted to do.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive personalised care. Children have a say in how the home is decorated. One child disliked the colour of the paint around the home when they moved in. This was changed based on the child’s preferences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported in maintaining contact with people who are important to them. Staff help and support children with family time, which means that they can maintain important family connections. One child was born outside of the UK and had no family connections. Staff worked hard to find family members, and they worked with social workers to safely unite the child with some of their relatives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s guide is child friendly and gives children a sense of what it is like to live in the home. The guide also contains information to help children understand who to speak to if they are worried or if they need support outside of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has a process of assessing children before they move into the home. However, on one occasion, the manager did not ensure that the home could meet the child’s needs before they moved in. The child moved into the home in an emergency. Consequently, leaders and managers decided they were unable to meet the child’s needs after some significant incidents, which resulted in the child’s placement ending.

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

Staff have completed mandatory safeguarding training. They are confident in their roles of reporting and escalating any child protection concerns. They understand the whistle- blowing policy. Inspection report for children’s home: 2661513 4 Feedback from professionals is positive. A social worker said they have no safeguarding concerns. They witnessed staff managing an incident involving their child and felt staff managed the incident effectively.

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

Staff are assisted by detailed risk assessments and plans. These cover a range of topics, including children’s daily routines, managing behaviour and other risks. Children participate in their risk assessments, providing them with opportunities to recognise personal risks and devise strategies to keep themselves safe.

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

Physical interventions are rare and managed well. There has been one allegation against a staff member, which was investigated promptly and effectively. There have been no complaints made by children. When children are involved in incidents, there are plans for follow-up discussion. This means that children receive support to reflect on their behaviour.

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

There have been incidents of children going missing from the home. When children go missing, staff are quick to respond. Partnership work with the police is effective, and staff actively ensure that the children return home as soon as possible. Staff identify learning and patterns from each incident and apply this knowledge to the management of future incidents. However, on some occasions, children have not received independent return home interviews. This means that opportunities may be missed to understand why children go missing and to help prevent these incidents from reoccurring.

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

Generally, leaders and managers have ensured that notifications are made to Ofsted when required. However, there has been one occasion when there was a significant delay in reporting a serious incident to Ofsted. This resulted in a reduction in Ofsted’s ability to monitor the home on that occasion.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably experienced and is working towards a relevant level 5 diploma. The manager was present during this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is ambitious for children and has a good understanding of their needs. Staff said that the manager is very supportive. One staff member said, ‘[Name of manager] is one of, if not the best, manager I have worked with. She is good with the children and staff and is very hands-on.’ Staff morale is high, and staff say they would not change anything about the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from families is positive. One parent described communication as being ‘very good’ and said that they are impressed with the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff undertake a wide range of training tailored to the needs of the children. Some staff hold a relevant level 3 qualification, and those who are not qualified are working towards completing their qualification. Inspection report for children’s home: 2661513 5 The manager works closely with and is supported by the responsible individual. This provides an extra layer of management oversight of the home and support for the children and staff team. Effective management systems are in place. Records are of a good standard and provide information about the care children receive. Regular audits take place, with actions to address any shortfalls or learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular team meetings and one-to-one supervision and are happy and fulfilled in their roles. However, some staff have not received annual appraisals, resulting in missed opportunities for staff development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good, safe recruitment practices in place. Staff are assessed as suitable before any appointment is confirmed. These procedures promote the safety of the children by preventing unsuitable adults from working with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager carries out a review of the premises; however, they have not consulted relevant external agencies. This means opportunities to identify and mitigate risks in the local area may be missed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2661513 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the home’s ability to meet children’s needs is thoroughly assessed before children move into the home, to limit the possibility of placements breaking down and children having negative experiences of moving on from the home. 28 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 28 April 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Information provided by such interviews should be considered when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30) Inspection report for children’s home: 2661513 7  The registered person should ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should consider, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61,

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Recommendations

paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. In particular, the registered person to ensure that, when carrying out the review, they consult and consider the views of each relevant person. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: 2661513 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Almond Care Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4 Barling Way, Nuneaton CV10 7RH

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Inspector

Anver Rose, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2661513 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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Inspector

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