Children's Home run by Crusoe Care Limited 06843979 in East Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 1 SC484302 Registered provider: Crusoe Care Limited 06843979 Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to two children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. It is owned and run by a private organisation. At the time of the inspection, there were two children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since April 2015.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 18 September 2024

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/09/2024 Full Good 21/09/2023 Full Good 13/12/2022 Full Good 25/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff provide exceptional stability, consistency and care for children. This enables children to thrive, achieving excellent progress in their lives. Children, who may previously have experienced neglect, rejection and very difficult experiences in their early years, have learned to trust the adults who look after them. Staff share a simple but effective ethos, creating a family-like environment where children feel loved and valued. Children talk about the adults at the home with affection and respect.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children with a wide range of needs and they tailor their support expertly to ensure that each child feels valued as an individual. Whether children are learning to navigate the complexities of relationships, or learning to manage complex and difficult emotions, staff always provide first-class advice and age-appropriate support. Most importantly, children trust staff absolutely and are willing to share their feelings, knowing that they will be always supported with respect and sensitivity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have access to a wide range of different life experiences and opportunities. Staff and children spend large amounts of quality time together both inside and outside the house. Staff also ensure that children are given the freedom and opportunity to engage in busy and active social lives in the community. This supports children to build self- confidence and resilience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children live in a beautiful home that they take pride in. Staff have been highly successful in creating a space that feels very homely. Children are happy to invite friends around, and they feel fully integrated into the community around them, whether through school, clubs or casual social connections.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff can contribute to decision-making when children are put forward to come and live at the home. A child who came to the home most recently had needs that some staff had not had experience of supporting before. Staff have gone above and beyond to educate and inform themselves about how to support and care for the child effectively. As a result, staff have created a stable and successful placement for a child who has had a complex life prior to moving in.

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

Staff have a strong understanding of safeguarding risks and practice, and know the children very well. This means that they are able to anticipate potential risks and intervene to prevent or mitigate them and help keep the children safer. This understanding of individual children’s risks is not well reflected in written risk assessments which are not always kept up to date. This risks reducing the effectiveness of staff practice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 4 Staff’s support for one child to help them learn to keep themselves safe as they become more independent is noteworthy. They have successfully supported the child to make a transition within the year from being mostly at home and socially quite isolated to managing a busy and healthy social life very successfully and safely. The willingness and desire of the child to seek out staff to share their concerns, questions and worries are

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

testament to the quality of relationships at the home.

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

Staff recognise their place in wider safeguarding networks. While the frequency of safeguarding issues is negligible, staff are completely confident in knowing what they need to do should concerns arise. It is of note, again indicating the quality of connection that staff have with children, that there have been no serious safeguarding incidents, children do not go missing from the home, and children relate to staff with great respect and mutual affection.

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

Professionals from the various agencies that work with the children and staff are impressed with the home and say that they are confident that children are always kept safe. One social worker noted how adept staff were at adapting their support quickly to meet the changing demands of children, ‘[Staff] have a good sense of [child] needs and how best to support him. However, when his needs change, they also seem able to regroup and rethink their support.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders have a clear and ambitious vision for the care and support they wish children to receive at the home. They express this eloquently and role model this expertly to their staff. In doing so, leaders have created a strong shared set of aims and values for the team. Leaders are reflective and thoughtful about how they support high standards of care. They adapt and learn from any challenges they, and the staff, face along the way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

This year, leaders have responded well to recommendations from the previous Ofsted inspection, using this to drive forwards improvements in the standards of care and support. Leaders have greatly enhanced safeguarding practice, workforce planning and professional development for staff and have greater oversight of care practice. Staff have been supported to enhance their skills and feel more confident in their work as a result.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff praise the accessibility and openness of leaders. They are present and available to staff and children. Children say they can approach anyone in the leadership team to talk through any ideas, suggestions or concerns that they may have. They are confident that leaders value their input and take them seriously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders place children at the heart of everything they do. They know the children extremely well and work tirelessly to create the opportunities and experiences that children need to maximise their chances of achieving successful and fulfilling lives. Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 5 Staff speak positively about the changes they have seen this year and are enthusiastic about what they see as positive progress in the quality of care and support for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders have a focus on continuous improvement. While they share a healthy and justified confidence in the effectiveness and impact of the home for children, they continue to strive to find ways to improve the service. Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 6

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Recommendation

 The registered provider should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, page 4, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendation

In particular, risk management plans could be more tailored to meet the specific, individual needs of each child.

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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: SC484302 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Crusoe Care Limited 06843979

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 25 Clinton Place, Seaford, East Sussex BN25 1NP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Timothy McIlwaine

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Inspector

Peter Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 8 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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