Children's Home run by Supercare Residential Ltd in East Sussex

Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2778271 1 Registered provider: SuperCare Residential Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to four children with special educational needs or disabilities. There were two children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since 4 June 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

Date of last inspection: 26 November 2024

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At these inspections, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. The inspector has looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2778271 2

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Findings from the inspection

The inspector did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

Since the last inspection, another child has moved into the home. Both children are settled. One child said that they are happy and like living in the home. The other child was not available to talk to.

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Findings from the inspection

Managers and staff work positively with professionals to ensure that all necessary information is shared before children move into the home. This information is now held in children’s records. Children are involved in their own plans, and they are kept informed of significant dates to ensure that they are prepared when moving into the home. However, further work is required to ensure that the compatibility of each child is fully considered before a new child moves into the home. Despite this, children move into the home in a planned way.

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Findings from the inspection

Currently, neither of the children are accessing full-time education. Staff advocate on behalf of children to ensure that appropriate education provision is sought for them. This includes consulting with the virtual school on a regular basis. As a result, arrangements have been made for a tutor to support the children in the interim to ensure that their educational needs are addressed.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff have a better understanding of children’s presenting behaviours and have benefited from the support and input of the linked therapist for the home. However, staff have not yet received training specific to children’s needs to fully understand their presenting behaviours and consistently use appropriate strategies to manage these.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff encourage restorative conversations with children following incidents and give them the opportunity to discuss their feelings and offer a meaningful apology where appropriate. However, there have been times when incidents have occurred due to staff not setting appropriate consequences. Subsequently, this led to a situation where a child’s response placed them at risk. No harm came to the child during the incident, and behaviours that are similar in nature have since reduced.

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Findings from the inspection

Managers have taken appropriate steps to manage staff practice and performance issues. Necessary actions have been taken to ensure that children are looked after by appropriate staff following debriefs and managing poor performance. As a result, there are systems in place to prioritise the safety and the quality of care for children.

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Findings from the inspection

There have been some improvements to the arrangements for staff supervision. As a result, most staff and the manager have received supervision on a monthly basis since the last inspection. However, it is recognised by leaders that consistency to this practice needs to be sustained. Consequently, improvements mean that most staff have now had individual one-to-one time to meet and discuss matters related to Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2778271 3 their role and the children they care for. This ensures that staff and managers feel confident in their role and have access to support to manage challenging situations.

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Findings from the inspection

Physical interventions are used as a last resort to keep children safe. When these are used, the incident and the actions that the staff have taken are recorded. Both staff and children have had opportunities for a debrief. However, some incident reports do not provide enough detail in relation to the behaviours staff were managing at the time. Consequently, this has a potential for incidents to be minimised. Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2778271 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/11/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2778271 5

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children to aspire to fulfil their potential;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)) 2 June 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that consequences used in response to children’s behaviour are restorative in nature, and help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that the compatibility of children is considered when making decisions about new children moving into the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4) Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2778271 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: SuperCare Residential

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Nunn Hayward, 2-4 Packhorse Road, Gerrards Cross SL9 7QE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Coleman

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Inspector

Karen Flanagan de Martinez, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2778271 7 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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