Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes Ltd in East Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 1 Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and run by a private organisation. It provides care for up to six children who experience social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, f o ur children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The post for a registered manager has been vacant since January 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

Three of the children living in the home attend one of the organisation’s schools, which is located on the same site. The inspector only inspected the social care provision.

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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

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: 1263129 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/08/2024 Full Good 09/11/2023 Full Good 06/12/2022 Full Good 02/03/2022 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 3

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improvement to be good

This area is judged as requires improvement, primarily due to shortfalls in practice, which means that the home is not offering care and support in line with its statement of purpose.

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improvement to be good

A high turnover of staff has created challenges in providing care and support outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. Children living at the home have complex support needs and an identified need for therapeutic intervention. Although a therapeutic practitioner is available in the home, difficulties in maintaining a consistent team have resulted in challenges in embedding specialist interventions. As a result, children are not making progress or developing independence in line with their local authority plans.

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improvement to be good

Children struggle to identify adults they can trust and discuss their worries with. There is a procedure in place to respond to complaints, worries and feedback, which is child focused and helps to reassure children when they are worried. However, failing to maintain a consistent staff and management team has made it difficult for children to establish relationships that enable them to express their worries, thoughts and feelings. Children have not been informed by staff or management about leadership changes in a way that makes it clear to them who they can raise complaints with.

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improvement to be good

Children are not supported to engage with relevant health services when potential medical needs are identified. Managers and staff have not considered whether a child’s behaviour is the result of a medical need, and plans to address new needs have been created in isolation, without input from healthcare professionals, families or social workers. When children’s health assessments have identified individual needs for intervention, such as daily exercise, the home has failed to implement these in children’s daily support planning. As a result, children’s physical health needs have not consistently been met.

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improvement to be good

Children are involved in deciding how to decorate and personalise their own spaces. Group meetings allow children to discuss changes they would like to make to the home. There have been delays in carrying out appropriate home maintenance tasks. Managers have started to address the home’s decor and furnishings, but they have not yet improved the home’s hygiene and cleanliness.

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improvement to be good

Some areas of the home are inaccessible to children, including the games room and laundry area. The decisions to restrict access to these areas are not based on risk assessments. Systems for reviewing the use of surveillance, monitoring and restrictions have not been regularly reviewed to ensure that they continue to be in children’s best interests. When it has been identified that monitoring may be affecting a child’s ability to move freely and independently to meet their needs, managers have failed to review this. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 4 Children are supported and encouraged to develop new hobbies, skills and interests. Staff consider children’s needs when planning activities, and children are encouraged to have fun and participate in social groups away from the home. Children have been on holiday and are regularly attending church, youth clubs and music sessions. Reward systems encourage children to learn new skills and make positive contributions to their

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improvement to be good

home. Children are encouraged to reflect on their successes with adults and their peers.

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improvement to be good

Children are making good progress in their education. Staff are ambitious for children and encourage further learning outside of the classroom. All children are enrolled in school, and the home works closely with professionals to remove barriers to education.

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improvement to be good

There are insufficient arrangements to verify the suitability of staff before they start working in the home. Staff moving across the organisation have come to work in the home before the manager has ensured that they are suitable for working with children. Furthermore, there are no records available to ensure that contractors working unsupervised in the home are recruited safely. Decisions made by leaders in the wider organisation have affected the manager’s ability to oversee staffing in the home.

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improvement to be good

Behaviour support planning is not consistently applied. There is clear guidance in place to support staff when responding to known behaviours and risks. These documents concentrate on supporting children during incidents and providing follow-up support to re-establish positive connections between children and staff. Difficulties in maintaining a consistent team have resulted in support planning not consistently being applied. As a result, children receive different responses to the same behaviour and lack the necessary support to understand when behaviours are socially unacceptable.

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improvement to be good

Consequences are not commonly used in the home. When they have been used, they have not been applied in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Consequences have not aligned with the home’s therapeutic ethos, and they have not recognised children’s right to choice and autonomy. Records of consequences are unclear. As a result, managers are unable to review the proportionality and effectiveness of the consequences used.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing, staff respond promptly to ensure their safe return to the home. Staff carry out frequent searches of the local area and work closely with relevant professionals to support children on their return. Return home interviews are requested in a timely manner from the local authority; however, there is no follow-up action taken when they are not received. As a result, information from return home interviews is not incorporated into ongoing risk management and missing-from-home responses.

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improvement to be good

Staff respond appropriately to incidents of mental health concern. Information is shared with professionals in a timely manner, and close multi-agency working ensures safe responses to mental health concerns and self-harm. Managers have been proactive in Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 5 ensuring that additional training needs in this area have been swiftly identified, and refresher training has been issued to ensure a consistent, safe and supportive response.

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improvement to be good

Allegations have been appropriately addressed and shared with the local authority designated officer and relevant safeguarding partners. When staff responses fail to meet the expected standard, appropriate action is taken to ensure that they receive support and training to enhance their practice. There are clear systems in place to support staff in whistle-blowing and raising concerns.

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

The home has experienced a period of instability following the departure of the previous registered manager in January 2025. Since then, there have been frequent changes to the interim arrangements for overseeing the home on a day-to-day basis. An interim manager joined the home in April 2025 and has been a consistent source of support for staff children and a point of contact for professionals. The interim manager has been able to identify several shortfalls in the oversight and leadership of the home, which has included difficulties in maintaining oversight of incidents and frequency of supervision. Since they joined the home, there has been an improvement in incident monitoring, supervision frequency and safeguarding practices.

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

Challenges in maintaining a consistent management and staff team have resulted in an increased use of agency support. Managers have ensured that agency usage does not exceed 50% of the staff on shift. However, to achieve this, leaders and managers have occasionally stepped away from their managerial responsibilities. This has subsequently affected monitoring, staff support and morale.

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

Staff are not supported to understand the home’s aims, ethos and models of care. Staff working in the home have been unable to identify the therapeutic models of care outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. Staff training in this area has not been consistently provided, and there has been a delay in ensuring that new staff members receive support to understand the aims and ethos of the home. As a result, children are not making progress in line with their identified plans. Managers have now created a training plan to ensure that staff receive training in the relevant models of care.

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

Supervision for staff has not been provided in line with organisational timescales. Staff have not received the opportunity to reflect on the changing needs of children or the individual impact of their work. Since the interim manager joined, they have introduced a new monitoring system to ensure that staff receive frequent supervision. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 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

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs;

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(c)) 20 August 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or 20 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 7 if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them 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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)) 20 August 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—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; 20 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 8 ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(v)(viii)) 20 August 2025

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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: 1263129 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 Rayns Way, Syston, Leicester LE7 1PF

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Inspector

Georgia Carty, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1263129 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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