Children's Home run by Stonelake London Limited in Brent

Inspection report for children’s home: 1264048 1 Registered provider: Stonelake London Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in September 2017 and is privately owned. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2022.

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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 inadequate

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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: 1264048 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/06/2024 Full Good 04/07/2023 Full Good 26/04/2022 Full Good 02/02/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1264048 3

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improvement to be good

All four children living at the home spoke with the inspectors during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Children have variable experiences living at the home. While some children have settled in and made progress, others have left the home because staff have been unable to safely support them. Two children lived in the home for a period of only two months. This has reduced the overall quality of children’s experiences at the home.

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improvement to be good

Children make mixed progress in their education. One child has made significant progress in school and has been well supported by staff in all aspects of their education. Staff work well with professionals to secure children’s access to education, and this is discussed in key-work sessions and team meetings. However, staff have sometimes struggled to encourage children to increase their attendance or engage with tuition. This has led to some children sleeping late into the day and staying up late at night. Staff do not provide consistent support to ensure that children have a healthier and more structured daily routine.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage positive behaviour through the appropriate use of rewards and consequences. Although there is management oversight, there is no evidence in the children’s case records that they are spoken to when their behaviour leads to a consequence being issued. Therefore, it is not clear whether children understand the reasons behind the consequences.

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improvement to be good

Children have a weekly planner and are offered a range of enjoyable activities. However, it is unclear how children choose these activities, and staff are often unable to encourage them to participate.

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improvement to be good

Health and safety checks are carried out, and the home is a physically safe environment for children. The ground floor is clean and tidy, and there is a back garden that features a newly built cabin where children can relax on beanbags. However, the first floor of the home is not well maintained. There is some disrepair to the paint and a door frame, and the landing carpet is stained. The curtains in one child’s bedroom were ripped. Staff replaced them during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Missing-from-care incidents are not consistently well managed. Some children have individual plans for staff to follow when they go missing from the home. However, the plans do not sufficiently explain the actions required. For example, plans do not always include the deadlines for completing actions to ensure children’s safety. Where deadlines are clear, staff have not always met them. Staff request return home interviews and Inspection report for children’s home: 1264048 4 carry out debriefs when a child returns home. However, leaders and managers do not use this information to guide the ongoing review and protection of children from going missing. One child’s grab pack does not include all the information relating to the child’s risks. Staff do not routinely liaise with children’s placing authorities regarding strategies to prevent children from going missing.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not always carry out robust risk assessments when considering a new child for the home. There is evidence of some recent improvement in this area of practice. However, there are examples of children moving into the home without a comprehensive assessment of how staff will meet their needs and how those needs may affect other children who already live at the home. There is a lack of professional curiosity about information shared by local authorities. For example, leaders and managers did not ask questions about a serious incident that led to the disruption of a child’s time at their previous home. As a result, incidents occurred in the home that could not be managed, and the child moved out within two months of arriving.

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improvement to be good

For some children, the frequency of incidents in the home decreases. Staff are usually able to de-escalate situations, and there has been no use of physical intervention since the last inspection. Children are spoken to following incidents, and key-work sessions often take place. However, staff are not debriefed, which limits their opportunity for support following incidents and to reflect on their practice and alternative ways of managing situations.

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments contain strategies for staff to manage potential risks, and staff understand children’s risks. However, risk assessments are not always updated following incidents, and there is no system in place to ensure that staff are up to date with the current strategies for managing risks.

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improvement to be good

Children’s medication is well managed. Staff understand the protocol, and the registered manager carries out daily medication audits.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not drive improvements in the home. Only one requirement from the last inspection has been met. There are no systems in place to monitor and review the service. As a result, leaders and managers do not know the home’s strengths and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not implement the therapeutic framework set out in the home’s statement of purpose. The home has a therapist who provides sessions for the children and consultation and training for staff. However, leaders and staff have differing perspectives on this, and it is not embedded as a way of working with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff supervision is not effective. Staff receive regular supervision and feel well supported by managers. However, records indicate that leaders take a passive approach. They do not discuss children’s individual risks or the plans to reduce risks. Managers’ Inspection report for children’s home: 1264048 5 responses to issues raised by staff are not recorded, and supervision sessions rarely result in any follow-up actions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children’s case records lack important information. Staff regularly update records but do not record their actions. As a result, it is difficult to understand how some situations have been managed. For example, on one occasion, all children in the home had been up all night on the landing. Staff recorded this information but did not record what the children were doing or how staff responded. The registered manager had not read all the records and did not know what happened. Bedroom searches have taken place, but the records of these could not be located.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The quality of staff’s communication with parents and external professionals is inconsistent. Some are satisfied that they are kept well informed, but others have not been regularly updated and feel they have to chase staff for information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not obtain children’s feedback to inform the development of the home’s service. Their views are not included in the review of the quality-of-care report and do not inform staff’s annual appraisals. Although house meetings take place, they serve more as a forum for staff to exchange information than as a means of gathering children’s wishes and feelings about life at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 1264048 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that children have individualised missing-from-home plans and protocols that give staff clear direction on actions required. 16 July 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— 16 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1264048 7 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

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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must have effective oversight of staff practice. Leaders and managers must ensure that the staff team provides consistent boundaries and healthy daily routines for children. Leaders and managers must ensure that all staff receive effective supervision. Leaders and managers must ensure that staff maintain consistent effective communication with external stakeholders and accurate records of significant events. Leaders and managers must ensure that they have effective monitoring and reviewing systems in place.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. 31 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1264048 8 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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that they fully assess all the information in children’s placement referrals and carry out effective risk assessments to consider how children already living at the home may be affected by new children moving in.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

securely in the children’s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff record their actions when they have managed incidents and that records of bedroom searches are safely stored and available for review. 31 July 2025

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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. 31 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1264048 9 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff are trained in the home’s therapeutic framework and use this in their work with children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality-of-care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing, and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities, and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 31 July 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences are reviewed so that children understand why there are concerns about their behaviour and the reasons for the consequence. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that staff’s performance appraisals consider the views of children and professionals who have worked with the staff member. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 60, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns home after being missing, the local authority provides the child with an opportunity to have an independent return home interview. Information from the interview is important to ensure that risks are reviewed and that measures are in place to protect the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 1264048 10

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets children’s needs. This specifically relates to ensuring that the home environment is maintained to a high standard and any disrepair is promptly addressed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 1264048 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Stonelake London Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinckot House, 211b, Station Road, Harrow HA1 2TP

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Inspectors

Jo Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1264048 12 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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