Children's Home run by DOONAMIS LIMITED in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2672782 1 Registered provider: Doonamis Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private company and provides care for up to three children. It provides emergency, short-term and long-term care for children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2672782 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/04/2024 Full Good 03/04/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/01/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2672782 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved into the home. One child left in a planned way and had a successful move to foster care. Two children were living in the home at the time of the inspection and both were spoken to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure the home is safe and well maintained. The home has undergone some decoration. The kitchen has been fitted with a number of new appliances for the children to use.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with a wide network of professionals. This helps staff to meet the children’s physical and emotional health needs. When children are unable to attend appointments as they are struggling with their feelings and emotions, staff ensure that these appointments are quickly re-booked.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made good progress with their education. Both children are in education, and staff offer good levels of support to ensure that children attend and have the right levels of support in place to help them to achieve their potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to see their families and advocate for them when they are not being listened to outside of the home. One child has been supported to raise concerns about the level of restrictions set by their local authority about family visits and several changes in social worker in a short space of time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children with their individual interests. One child is taken to have their nails and eyebrows done on a regular basis. Other children enjoy the gym and fun activities with staff like trips to the beach, trampoline parks and aquariums.

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

Staff help children to become safer. Episodes of going missing from care have reduced dramatically, as have incidents of physical restraint. Strong attachments with staff help the children talk about their feelings.

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

Children feel listened to. Staff enable children to express themselves. Children who communicate issues with their identity are treated with acceptance and understanding with good levels of support for them to make safe decisions.

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

Children who struggle at times with their mental health are well supported by a caring and committed staff team. The staff work well with other professionals to create effective up-to-date care plans and assessments. Inspection report for children’s home: 2672782 4 When children need extra support, staff act quickly to ensure that this is made available to them. Staff respond positively to changing needs. They show resilience and a sense of calmness when dealing with challenging situations.

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

When children have raised concerns, leaders have made sure those concerns are taken seriously, no matter how trivial they may appear. Staff ensure that action is taken to help the children feel listened to.

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

One headteacher said the staff keep them up to date with any significant changes for the child. This means the school is better prepared and able to put in the necessary support to keep the child safe in school. The headteacher said communication is good and they know they can call on staff when the child is in distress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is not currently registered with Ofsted. The home has had a change in leadership since the last inspection. The previous manager left the home in April 2025, and a member of staff has returned to the home as manager, having been in the role of deputy at the company’s sister home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children know the staff well and feel they can turn to leaders should they have any worries. The children also see the responsible individual regularly in the absence of a registered manager. Children feel they have a good relationship with the responsible individual and can go to her for support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders make sure staff are appropriately skilled and experienced. Staff attend specialist training to help them to understand complex needs, as well as therapeutic models to better connect with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular team meetings. Leaders make sure that staff are given a voice, so they can discuss their concerns. Leaders listen to the staff, taking on board new suggestions for better work patterns and extra resources they would like for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Information has been shared effectively with professionals .Leaders keep professionals up to date with changes in management. One social worker said the change has been seamless.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the change in leadership, staff supervision has been regular and effective. However, for a significant period of time, staff were not supported to reflect on their practice or be supported with their well-being in a structured way, due to a lack of staff supervision. Inspection report for children’s home: 2672782 5

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff have regular and effective supervision to help support their well-being and reflect on their practice. In particular, they should ensure that recent improvements are sustained. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2672782 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 117 Kingfisher Close, Shoeburyness, Southend-On-Sea SS3 9YB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Kirandeep Jamwal

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Inspector

Dan Williams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2672782 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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