Children's Home run by Amegreen Children’s Services in West Berkshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC473329 1 SC473329 Registered provider: Amegreen Children’s Services Full inspection 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 five children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2023.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 11 September 2024

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC473329 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/09/2024 Full Good 29/11/2023 Full Outstanding 20/07/2022 Full Outstanding 17/11/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC473329 3

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improvement to be good

Children’s experiences are variable because they have inconsistent experiences of moving on from the home. Two children moved on from the home in well-considered and planned ways. Both children made progress and experienced positive outcomes. However, two other children moved on after being in the home for a short period and following immediate notice to move. More could have been done to help these children understand what was happening and why. As a result, not all children have made progress from their starting points.

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improvement to be good

Before children move into the home, leaders consider all available information to assess whether they can meet each child’s needs. Once children have moved in, risk management and support plans are implemented to ensure that staff have a clear and current understanding of how to best support them. However, when further information is identified regarding children’s needs and risks after they have moved in, leaders and managers, and consequently staff, are not always consistent in their responses to this. Specifically, two new children experienced serious incidents. One child, who was already living in the home, said that they feared the newer children due to the frequency and intensity of the incidents. Leaders and managers did not share this information with the child’s local authority or parents. They also did not take effective or prompt action to help the child feel safer.

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improvement to be good

The children who continue to live in the home have made progress. They access education and enjoy positive relationships with staff. Both children have developed new language and skills for expressing their emotions. This has contributed to a reduction in the frequency of incidents and the need for physical intervention. This is underpinned by the children accessing the in-house therapeutic support. Children are supported to explore interests and activities outside of the home, although one child has struggled to access an activity that works for him. Staff continue to support this.

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improvement to be good

Children talk fondly about staff and say that they can raise any worries or concerns with them. Through these relationships, staff develop a good understanding of children’s strengths, vulnerabilities and preferences. As a result, the children experience care that is tailored to their wants, likes and needs.

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improvement to be good

Most children have accessed education. Staff have achieved this by ensuring effective and timely communication with education professionals. This has enabled a responsive and joined-up approach to learning. This helps to improve children’s self-esteem and belief that they can achieve well.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are generally well understood and managed by established members of staff. However, guidance about a child’s specific health needs, emergency medication and the protocols that must be followed was not readily available, and some Inspection report for children’s home: SC473329 4 medical information was not up to date. These unclear arrangements compromise the responses of new and agency members of staff should the child require the protocols to be followed. The monitoring systems used by leaders and managers had not identified this issue.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to spend time with the people who are important to them, and staff work hard to develop relationships with parents. However, communication about when family time should take place is not always effective, meaning that children have experienced missed telephone and video calls with their parents.

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improvement to be good

The home is bright and decorated well. Staff support children in personalising their bedrooms. However, children cannot access some locked areas of the home. The restriction of these areas of the home lacks a clear rationale. Furthermore, some fire doors were locked. Action was needed to address these issues during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from clear and consistent boundaries implemented by staff who operate in line with the home’s preferred model of care.

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improvement to be good

There is a positive culture of safeguarding in the home, led by the manager. As a result, staff clearly understand their responsibilities in this context and show diligence when responding to complaints or concerns from children.

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improvement to be good

When children make an allegation, all appropriate notifications are made, and detailed record-keeping demonstrates good communication with partner agencies. Where investigations are required, these are carried out promptly and effectively, with an emphasis on supporting children and learning.

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improvement to be good

The use of physical intervention to keep children safe when they have become very distressed or are behaving in a way that may pose a risk of harm to themselves or others is low. However, when such incidents occur, the quality of the recording of them is not consistently clear enough. This is because the type of hold used is not always included, and the methods used to try and de-escalate a situation are not always recorded accurately. Furthermore, the language used in these records does not always align with the overarching model of care. This had not been identified by managers, who review every incident to ensure the appropriateness of staff responses. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that physical intervention is used consistently and only when necessary.

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improvement to be good

There have been occasions where children have gone missing from the home. There are clear protocols in place to manage this, which staff understand and follow. This includes effective communication with police and local authorities. As a result, children return home as soon as possible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Inspection report for children’s home: SC473329 5 A suitably qualified and experienced registered manager leads the home, with support from a similarly experienced senior management team. Leaders and managers share the belief that children can achieve well in life, and this is reflected in the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff say they are generally well supported by managers, who are present in the home. Staff receive a combination of mandatory and specialist training that is relevant to their role and the children’s needs. However, new staff joining the home do not receive sufficient training or induction before working with children. As a result, new staff report feeling overwhelmed and ill-prepared for meeting children’s needs. Managers are aware of this and have plans to review the current induction programme, but this is yet to be implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff receive good-quality supervision, during which practice is reviewed, safeguarding matters are discussed, and professional development and their well-being are explored. However, supervision does not take place at regular intervals, and new members of staff have had to wait a significant period for an opportunity to review their practice and progress. This was also an identified shortfall at the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager feels well supported by senior leaders in the organisation. They meet regularly with the managers from the other homes in the organisation for peer support and to quality assure each other’s work. This provides a productive space to plan for personal and team development and learn from peers. Despite this, the monitoring systems in place are not fully effective. This is because they have failed to identify the shortfalls found during this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Professionals from the various agencies that work with the home are positive about the quality of care that children receive and the progress that is made. One social worker praised the manager’s proactive and tenacious approach to securing appropriate support for children. However, some professionals raised concerns about the consistency in communication from staff and managers. This was echoed by parents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There are appropriate processes in place to identify and recruit new staff members. Agency staff are subject to the same checks and vetting as permanent staff before they work with children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC473329 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

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice related supervision by a person with appropriate experience;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 28 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child's health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child's health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child's age and understanding. (Regulation 10 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)) 28 June 2025

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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 aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 28 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC473329 7 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s 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;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(c)(e)(i)) 28 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (d)) 28 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC473329 8 In particular, ensure that there is effective communication with children’s local authorities and relevant family members when children raise concerns, or other relevant matters need to be shared.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of restraint are reviewed effectively to enable the registered manager and staff to reflect on the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that children can access all shared areas of their home, unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 3.10)

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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: SC473329 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Amegreen Children’s Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Corner House, 18 to 20 West End Road, Mortimer, Berkshire RG7 3TF

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Inspector

Becky Paradise, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC473329 10 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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