Children's Home run by Elm Lodge Residential limited in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2808727 1 Registered provider: Elm Lodge Residential Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to three children with social emotional and behavioural challenges.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2024 when the home opened.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2808727 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were two children living at the home at the time of inspection. One child moved in shortly before this inspection. Another child has been at the home since it opened in December 2024. Both children took part in the inspection and offered positive feedback.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have helped the child who recently moved in to settle in well. Staff take things at the child’s pace. They spend time getting to know them and understand their history. The child said that they are ‘OK’ and they have everything they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers ensure a high staffing ratio. This allows staff the time to spend with the children. The staff support the children to take part in things they enjoy. Spending positive time together helps the staff and children to build positive relationships with each other. The children really enjoy cooking. Staff encourage this by taking them shopping to purchase food they want and supporting them to prepare meals. The children are both very good cooks and enjoy cooking for the staff. The relationships built between the children and staff give a calm family atmosphere to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child had been out of education for a number of years. The support given by the staff has enabled them to begin to re-engage with education. They recently started attending a mainstream education provision and are building up their timetable. Another child, who recently moved in, has also been out of education for a number of years. The manager has quickly worked with the social worker to try to find the child a suitable education setting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff carefully consider the children’s health needs. They support them to receive the healthcare they need. They are observant and seek medical advice for children when they need to. Health appointments are well documented. This ensures comprehensive records of children’s health for the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children come from diverse cultural backgrounds. Staff are mindful of this and try to support each child’s heritage. For one child, it is their first time in care, so staff have had sensitive conversations about this and try to understand how it may feel for the child. Staff have helped another child explore their cultural heritage through learning about different music, food and places from their culture.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to spend time with their family. They work well with children’s local authorities in respect of spending time with family and any reunification plans. One child is preparing to move home to their family in the Inspection report for children’s home: 2808727 3 next few weeks. This is a positive outcome for them. Staff are helping to prepare them for this move. Their support helps the children maintain and build their family relationships into the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There was limited information about one child who moved in. The manager completed an assessment and was confident that staff could meet the child’s needs. However, it is not clear how the other child’s needs were considered. There have been no concerns. However, the failure to consider how each child’s needs may impact on each other has the potential to undermine how well staff are able to meet the children’s needs as a group and undermine children’s stability.

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

Staff have helped one child to make great progress in understanding and regulating their emotions and behaviour. The child, before they moved in, presented significant risk of harm to themselves and others. Leaders and mangers ensured that the child had a period of stability on their own at the home. Staff have built positive relationships with the child. This has enabled them to support the child better to understand and manage difficult emotions and tricky situations. As a result, the child’s behaviour has become more settled.

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

No children have gone missing from home. One child would sometimes be away from home without permission. However, staff identified that the child was spending unauthorised time with family. The manager successfully worked with the child, their family and their local authority to plan how they can safely spend more time together.

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

The staff build positive relationships with the children. These relationships underpin how settled the children have been and how well they are supported to manage difficult moments. Consequently, there have been no physical interventions. The one formal consequence for behaviour since the last inspection was reasonable and proportionate. Staff help the children to think about their behaviour through targeted planned discussions.

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

The manager ensures that when new staff join the team, the relevant checks are completed in the vast majority of cases. However, the home’s policy for overseas checks was not clear. As a result, no overseas check was carried out for one member of staff who should have had such checks completed. The manager updated the policy during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have high aspirations for the children and are helping children in their care to succeed. The dedicated manager is clear about the ethos he wants to create. He leads the team well and motivates his staff to deliver high- Inspection report for children’s home: 2808727 4 quality care and support to children. The manager is currently undertaking a suitable level 5 leadership and management diploma.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported. They spoke positively about the manager and the support he offers them. Supervision is regular and there is a good focus on staff’s continued professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a good-quality training offer for staff. Several staff members are enrolled on relevant level 5 residential childcare training. They have all taken part in trauma-informed training, and this is the basis of their practice. The staff are considerate of children’s needs and their journeys through care, and this is evident in the relationships they build with them. Staff have important conversations with children and these are well documented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff say that they work well together. They are proud of the work they do, and team morale is high. The good support systems for staff mean they feel valued. This ensues a stable and consistent team of staff who get to know the children well. This helps them to offer consistent good-quality individualised care to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff write children’s records with the child in mind, should the child wish to read them now or in the future. The language is thoughtful and child-friendly. The manager is conscious about the language staff use and is promoting this approach in staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works proactively with the local community. He attends monthly neighbourhood watch meetings. There have been no challenges for the home in the community, and the children and staff have integrated positively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is reflective and keen to continually develop practice. He is creating a reflective learning culture in the team. Inspection report for children’s home: 2808727 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure they have fully considered the impact that a new placement will have on the existing group of children. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks. In particular, overseas checks need to be completed (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: 2808727 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Elm Lodge Residential Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 47 Elm Road, Shoeburyness, Southend-on-Sea SS3 9PD

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Inspector

Mary Costello, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2808727 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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