Children's Home run by Branas Isaf (Holdings) Ltd in Herefordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1257074 1 Registered provider: Branas Isaf (Holdings) Ltd 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 company. It provides care for up to eight children of the same gender who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, five children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2024 and is suitably qualified.

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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: 1257074 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/08/2024 Full Good 15/01/2024 Full Good 15/03/2023 Full Good 08/12/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 1257074 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children spoke to the inspectors during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs. Children have personalised care and support plans, which are reviewed and updated by the clinical team as their needs change. Staff help children contribute to their support plans. This allows children to express their views, wishes and feelings while also feeling heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are strong advocates for children’s education. All children are in full-time education. Staff work closely with education professionals to create plans for children. This helps to establish routines for children’s education and encourages their aspirations for the future. One child told the inspectors how proud they are to have passed their English exam.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children in exploring their interests. Children enjoy different activities that help them develop confidence, including horse riding, ice skating, Army cadets, playing musical instruments, and going to watch football matches. Staff encourage children to participate in community activities. Two children helped to arrange a community activity for a charity. This promotes children’s independence in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion for children. This promotes an inclusive and nurturing environment. One child is receiving support from staff to explore their personal identity, while another child is receiving assistance to explore the impact of racism. One child told the inspectors that staff are ‘amazing’ in terms of their support. Staff help children and their families maintain their relationships with each other. As a result, children feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are creative in supporting children’s moves into and out of the home. This helps children feel safer and more prepared for these moves. Since the last inspection, three children have moved out of the home, and two children have moved in. When children experience difficulties living at the home, the manager explores these with external professionals. This enables well-informed decisions to be made about children’s future care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in shared and individual homes. The children’s personalities and interests are reflected throughout the entertainment centres and their bedrooms. Each home has a garden where children can relax, play football, have barbecues and grow vegetables. However, the manager recognises that there is room for improvement in this area, and plans are in place to update the home’s decor and address outstanding repairs.

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

A clinical team supports staff, assisting them in understanding children's needs. Staff help children engage in therapy. This provides children with a safe space to explore their Inspection report for children’s home: 1257074 4 lived experiences. All children have comprehensive risk and support plans that are regularly reviewed and updated by the clinical team. This aids in providing children with bespoke care and support.

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

Staff develop positive relationships with children. This helps children to feel safer and prevents them from going missing from home. Staff help children to develop their independence in the community. Staff are supporting one child to use public transport and another to go grocery shopping. As a result, children understand the risks and develop their confidence.

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

Staff understand how to use physical interventions to keep children safe. Staff help children understand why a physical intervention was used. This helps children to explore their feelings and understand the risks. The management team reviews all physical interventions and speaks to the children and staff. This approach helps children to feel valued in a safe and nurturing environment.

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

Children know how to make complaints. The manager takes all complaints and allegations seriously. The manager appropriately communicates with social workers and independent reviewing officers when allegations against staff arise. This helps children to feel safer and trusting of the adults who are responsible for their care. The manager is proactive in reviewing lessons learned from complaints and allegations, which keeps children at the centre of all decision-making.

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

Staff help children learn about internet, mobile phone and gaming safety. Staff work jointly with the clinical team to help children understand the risks. Since the last inspection, the management team has significantly improved the security systems and safety checks. This helps children to be safe when using electronic devices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and passionate about providing a nurturing environment for children. She is dedicated to creating opportunities to support children’s ambitions. The manager is supported by an excellent trainee manager and committed staff team who share her vision. External professionals speak positively about the overall experiences and progress of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are consistent in their safe recruitment of staff. Staff receive a detailed induction and ongoing training to develop their knowledge and practice. Staff have received specific training to improve their recording. This is helping to capture children’s views and experiences effectively. Staff receive specialist training to understand children’s individual needs. This helps to develop staff practice and keep children safer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive reflective supervision sessions and appraisals, with a strong emphasis on improving children’s experiences. Staff value the reflective team and multidisciplinary meetings. These meetings help to enhance staff practice and to develop individual support plans for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1257074 5 The manager has effective monitoring systems in place to review the experiences and progress of the children, staff practice and the home. This helps to identify areas for development. The manager acknowledges that the system for sending safeguarding information to Ofsted in a timely manner is an area for development. Inspection report for children’s home: 1257074 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets children’s needs. In most cases, children’s homes are homely, domestic environments. The home must comply with relevant health and safety legislation; however, in doing so, it should seek, as far as possible, to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. This relates to ensuring that the living environments are consistently well maintained. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should outline the steps to take if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. The notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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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: 1257074 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Branas Isaf (Holdings) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspectors

Siân Heffey, Social Care Inspector Jas Nahar, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1257074 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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