Children's Home run by Sweet Hope Manor Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2771481 1 Registered provider: Sweet Hope Manor Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to four children. At the time of inspection, four children were living at the home. Their views were considered as part of the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a manager who is not yet registered with Ofsted.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

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

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 25 September 2024

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2771481 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/09/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2771481 3

p.2

improvement to be good

Children do not yet have good daily routines, particularly during the school day. Children tend to stay up late at night and then stay in bed in the mornings. For one child, there have been changes to their access to a games console during the night, because it is being played past an appropriate bedtime. As a result, children are not up and ready to engage in education. Several children have not attended school or engaged with tutors for some time. Staff are not yet consistently working with children on developing basic educational mathematics and English skills; this does not prepare them for later in their lives.

p.3

improvement to be good

The manager does recognise education as an area of vulnerability within the home. She advocates well to ensure that tutors and schools persevere with children and make adaptations to meet their current needs. Despite these efforts, children do not currently value learning and are not aspirational.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children are not yet engaged in hobbies or groups in the community and are reluctant to engage in trips with other peers at the home. Children’s plans do not adequately capture the children’s interests or what they enjoy. Consequently, some of the children are quite isolated socially.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children say that they like living at the home. Children can identify staff they get along with or could go to if they are worried or concerned about anything. This has helped children to become settled. Children live in a home that is kept to a good standard. Children’s bedrooms are spacious, and they can personalise them to reflect their interests, hobbies and tastes.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children regularly take part in meetings about their home. Children value the opportunity to influence the care they receive and make choices about their meals and activities. Staff work hard to help children to understand risk and to make more- informed choices to keep themselves safe. Children and staff take part in individual key- work sessions. These are not of consistent quality, with some recording being brief and lacking depth. Children’s learning or reflection from these sessions cannot always be easily ascertained.

p.3

improvement to be good

Involved professionals state that children are making progress. Several children have developed meaningful relationships with the staff, and this is helping them to develop trust in them. Consequently, children are now speaking more openly about their past experiences with their social workers. Inspection report for children’s home: 2771481 4

p.3

improvement to be good

Several children at the home smoke regularly and one child is known to smoke cannabis. There is not yet a coordinated response to this health risk and children are not engaged in cessation programmes for their smoking. When smoking paraphernalia has been found in a child’s bedroom, this has not prompted staff to put in place a proportionate response, such as regular room searches. This is a particular concern for one child who is known to smoke in their bedroom, as it poses a significant fire risk to all in the home.

p.4

improvement to be good

One child is known to be at risk of criminal exploitation. There are several professionals involved to address this, but managers do not fully understand their current involvement or the scope of their work with the child. There is not yet a coordinated approach with the wider network that informs risk assessments and care plans. This prevents joined-up and creative working to address this risk, moving forward.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children have individual risk assessments that set out the current risks and vulnerabilities for children. These guide staff on how to respond to children’s risks and manage behaviour. When children challenge staff with behaviour that is more difficult, staff try to encourage children to remain calm and to prevent situations from escalating. Staff can recognise when situations are escalating, or pose a risk to the child, and report to the police appropriately.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff have carried out work with one child to help them understand healthy relationships and build their sense of self-worth. This has encouraged the child to re- evaluate a potentially unsafe relationship and make more-positive choices. The manager has been proactive in referring this child to specialist services to further their understanding and the child is engaging well with this work.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children do not regularly go missing from the home. Additionally, staff are not having to use physical intervention to manage children’s behaviour. When more-serious incidents take place, staff understand what is required of them and work well as a team. The manager supports both staff and children to debrief and to reflect on what has happened, once children are calm.

p.4

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

Staff benefit from good support from managers. Regular team meetings and individual staff supervisions are well planned by the manager and offer staff a space where they can both reflect and learn. Staff say that they are well supported by the manager, and several staff members are aspirational about their careers with the company. However, staff retention at the home has been a challenge, with 10 staff having left the home since the last inspection. This has meant a significant change for children.

p.4

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

. Inspection report for children’s home: 2771481 5 Staff value the training that they receive and feel it prepares them well for working with children. Training offers a good breadth of information, and efforts are made by management to ensure that bespoke training to meet the children’s needs is available to the team.

p.4

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

Some tasks delegated to senior staff members have not always been completed. On occasion, this has impacted on the thoroughness and consistency of children’s plans. The manager has not always ensured that she has effective oversight of these delegated tasks to ensure the completion and robustness of recordings.

p.5

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

There have not always been the required safer recruitment checks, particularly for staff employed through an employment agency. This meant managers could not be assured of the appropriateness of all staff who have worked with children in the home. One such member of staff had several allegations made against them by a child. This shortfall in practice has been addressed by management and more appropriate systems are now in place. Inspection report for children’s home: 2771481 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

p.6

Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

p.6

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

p.6

Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

p.6

Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the home having structured daily routines for children when they are not in school, so they are prepared and ready to learn. 20 June 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. 20 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2771481 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

p.7

Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the need for there to be agreed and proportionate plans implemented to address identified risks for children, such as smoking, drugs misuse and exploitation.

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, this relates to staff ensuring that records have enough detail to describe the events clearly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that all staff consistently follow the home’s policies and procedures for the benefit of the children in the home’s care. Everyone working at the home must understand their roles and responsibilities and what they are authorised to decide on their own initiative. There should be clear lines of accountability. Each home must have clear arrangements in place to maintain effective management when the manager is absent, off duty or on leave. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations’, including the quality standards, page 54,

p.7

Recommendations

paragraph 10.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand factors that affect children’s motivation to behave in a socially acceptable way. Staff should encourage an enthusiasm for positive behaviour through the use of positive behaviour strategies in line with the child’s relevant plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations’, including the quality standards, page 39, paragraph 8.13)

p.7

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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2771481 8 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: 2771481 9

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sweet Hope Manor Limited

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ

p.9

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jennifer Whitehead

p.9

Inspector

Louise Copping, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2771481 10 to 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.

p.9

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10