Children's home run by The Little Flower

Inspection report for children’s home: SC462631 1 SC462631

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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 provides care for up to three children with physical or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager have been registered with Ofsted since March 2013.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children and one young person aged 20 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’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: SC462631 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/03/2024 Full Good 28/02/2023 Full Good 22/02/2022 Full Good 05/03/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC462631 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to lead fun and busy lives at this home. The home has a strong family-friendly atmosphere, where the children’s individual needs, personalities and preferences are the primary focus of the staff caring for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff’s care and affection towards children results in children being happy, relaxed and comfortable in their home. Parents spoke of the ‘genuine affection’ showed to their children, with one parent stating that staff ‘love’ their child ‘from their heart’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop positive relationships with staff, who are strongly attuned to each child’s needs. As children are non-verbal, they rely on staff to understand their individual communication methods and how they communicate their needs and wishes. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of what children are conveying through their body language and vocalisation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and support children to take part in various fun activities. Children enjoy music, wheelchair dancing, swimming, arts and crafts, visits to local farms and other attractions. Staff capture these moments by taking photos that are shared with children and family members and frequently displayed amongst children’s artworks on the lounge walls.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care plans and risk assessments are comprehensive and dynamic. They draw upon the knowledge of professionals and family members’ knowledge to ensure that there is a bespoke and responsive plan of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs and personal care needs are met well. Staff have the appropriate training and skills to support children’s health and medication needs. Staff support children to attend medical appointments and ensure that they have access to specialist services. One child experienced a period of hospitalisation. During this time, staff supported the child in the hospital. This gave the child consistency and a feeling of stability by being cared for by familiar faces, which reduced their anxiety. The parent of this child stated that this ‘helped them recovery to full health’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean, well decorated and comfortable. Children’s bedrooms are suitable for their needs. Each child’s bedroom is personalised, with children’s favourite items and family photos reflecting their personalities and interests.

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

Staff are aware of children’s vulnerabilities and know how to keep them safe. Detailed written risk assessments and individualised care plans support good safeguarding of Inspection report for children’s home: SC462631 4 children and are regularly reviewed. This enables staff to identify and be responsive to children, and be able to keep them safe.

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

Activities in the community are appropriately assessed. Staff are aware of the risks to the children and understand the mitigation strategies in place to reduce these risks. This includes a thorough risk assessment and care plan being in place for the young adult being cared for in the home.

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

Children’s behaviours are well understood by staff. There have been no behavioural concerns since the last inspection and physical restraint is not used at this home. Some restrictive measures are employed to safeguard children’s safety, such as wheelchair straps or arm splints. Any use of these is evident in children’s plans and frequently reviewed.

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

Safeguarding incidents are rare at this home. On the one occasion of concern, leaders and managers responded promptly following appropriate safeguarding procedures. Leaders, managers and staff worked effectively and transparently with external agencies and parents in the best interest of the child.

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

Appropriate levels of staffing support are provided to children, informed by comprehensive assessments of their needs. Additional staff support is put in place promptly when children’s needs may change. Staff are suitably qualified. They undertake appropriate safeguarding training and specialist training to provide children with appropriate safe personal care.

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

Staff are suitably vetted and safer recruitment checks are in place. Staff demonstrate good knowledge of safeguarding procedures and policies such as the whistle-blowing policy and managing allegations against staff procedure. The local authority designated officer, social workers and parents said that they have no safeguarding concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is a committed and passionate practitioner who has high aspirations to provide the best-quality care to children. She knows the children very well and has a clear understanding of the experiences that lead to progress for them. No matter how small an achievement, these are celebrated with lots of praise and positive reinforcement. This has contributed to the transparent positive culture observed at this home, where everybody works hard to ensure that the children have the best possible outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from parents is overwhelmingly positive. Parents praise the ‘open dialogue’ and updates regularly provided by staff. One parent said that the registered manager and staff ‘treat my child like their own daughter’ and they are confident in the care given to the child, stating that they ‘can’t speak more highly’ of the registered manager and staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC462631 5 The registered manager has an open-door policy for parents, staff and professionals. One professional reported that the registered manager encourages unannounced visits to the home, demonstrating further the transparent culture established.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager assesses effectively the quality of care provided to children. Management reports are comprehensive and accurately reflect the care the home provides. The registered manager works well with the independent person and this helps them to identify where improvements may be needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are highly motivated and say that they feel valued by leaders and managers. The registered manager is supportive of staff to obtain additional education and formal qualifications to enhance their career development. Regular team meetings and individual supervision sessions are held, which provide opportunities for staff to discuss concerns and ideas, providing a further platform for learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose requires updating to reflect the ‘wholly and mainly’ principle given that the home is currently providing care for a young adult. Inspection report for children’s home: SC462631 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the information set out in the statement of purpose reflects the process of agreement between the registered person and placing authority for the arrangements when children turn 18 and remain living in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 14- 15, paragraph 3.5 and 3.6)

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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: SC462631 7

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Cheridah Caesar-Mejias

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Cheridah Caesar-Mejias

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Inspector

Amanda Burrows, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC462631 8 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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