Children's Home run by Abbey Green Therapeutic Children’s Services Ltd in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2700720 1 Registered provider: Abbey Green Therapeutic 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 and operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to three children who may have social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a registered manager.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living in 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2700720 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/06/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/05/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2700720 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the inspection, the inspector spoke with one of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from care provided by staff who are caring, supportive and have their best interests at heart. They put the children’s needs at the centre of their care practice. Children feel able to approach staff and ask for help. Consequently, staff are responsive to children’s requests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress at their own pace, given their ages and stages of development. There is a strong emphasis on developing their independent living skills. Staff are exploring various ways to help children become more self-sufficient, such as using public transport. This helps children discover how self-reliant they can be and gives them confidence to learn new skills with the right support from the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A child has moved into the home since the last inspection. The transition was carefully planned and coordinated with a clear focus on the children’s well-being. Both children’s needs were equally considered, and their views were sought and listened to throughout the transition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s voice is captured in many ways. Children devise their own weekly routines, plan their menu for the week and request the activities they would like to do.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with appropriate primary health services. Staff have worked hard in supporting one of the children to allay some worries around a specific medical condition. This has meant, at times, they have strongly advocated for the child to have extra tests to alleviate their concerns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff acknowledge the importance of education for children. They actively support children’s participation in educational activities. Furthermore, they have identified and provided additional support to help children achieve grades that align with their future career goals.

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

The children have up-to-date and individualised risk assessments that accurately reflect their risks and vulnerabilities. The risk assessments include all the essential information about the children, providing staff with the necessary information to meet their needs. This helps to keep children safe.

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

When incidents occur, staff take appropriate action and put children’s safety first. The staff will take proactive steps to de-escalate situations as quickly as possible. After every incident, staff engage with children to explore their feelings about what happened. The manager reviews all incidents, setting actions and identifying any learning opportunities. Inspection report for children’s home: 2700720 4 Staff only hold the children when it is necessary to prevent harm to them and others. Staff use various strategies to try to divert children’s behaviour, although physical intervention is sometimes required. On these occasions, staff fill out detailed reports, which are reviewed by the manager.

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

The children and staff have developed trusting relationships. Children feel able to disclose their worries and seek support from staff. Staff are always quick to respond and reassure children that they are safe and cared about.

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

The staff work as a team to ensure that behavioural boundaries and guidance for what constitutes acceptable behaviour remain consistent so children understand what is expected of them. This provides children with a safe living environment where they know how staff will react and support them. The correct tracker is not always used to record the consequences children receive for negative behaviour. This would help with the clarity and accuracy of information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is registered with Ofsted and provides strong leadership of the home. She is caring and dedicated to the children and staff. The manager is reflective in her approach to care and continually seeks ways to improve practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager continues to enhance staff’s skills and knowledge. Staff training is planned and provided on a regular basis to ensure that carers remain skilled and responsive to the children. When needed, the manager ensures that the staff receive child-specific training to equip them to meet children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from structured team meetings. A psychotherapist who supports the home oversees a monthly reflective supervision session for the staff. The therapists share different ways of working with the children. Staff value the support from the leadership team, and they recognise and value their commitment to the staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recognises the importance of children spending time with their family. For example, they have provided support to a parent to help enhance their parenting approach for the benefit of their child. This support is ongoing and has enabled the relationship to develop and flourish between a parent and child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has formed good working relationships with various external professionals involved in the children’s lives. Communication between agencies takes place regularly and ensures that all involved with the children are kept up to date and work in a coordinated manner to benefit the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has worked hard to develop systems that allow her to have oversight of the home. As a keen and reflective manager, she has adapted processes to achieve positive changes in practice. However, the location risk assessment has not yet been reviewed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2700720 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the information recorded in the location risk assessment is correct and up to date. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that when consequences are imposed, the details are accurately recorded in the appropriate tracker. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: 2700720 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Abbey Green Therapeutic Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 3, Mercia Court, Bingham, Nottingham NG13 8QX

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Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2700720 7 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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