Children's Home run by SureCare Residential Limited – The White Trees Group in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2661812 1 Registered provider: SureCare Residential Limited - The White Trees Group Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties and/or have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since March 2023.

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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: 2661812 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/07/2024 Full Good 02/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/06/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2661812 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved in and two children have moved out of the home. At the time of the inspection four children were living at the home. Two children contributed to the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff plan children’s moves into the home well. The process includes visits by staff to the child and a visit by the child to the home. Children who move in are warmly welcomed by staff and the other children. One child has moved on as staff were not able to keep the child safe despite their best efforts. Another child has moved closer to their family. Staff work carefully with placing authorities to ensure children move on to appropriate settings. Staff help children experience positive endings. They prepare the children well and support their moves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points Staff help children with individualised goals and aspirations. For one child, this included supporting them to become more independent in preparation for moving to an adult service. These targets were relatable and achievable for this child. Staff help children contribute to their plans. They create professionally written plans that are child friendly. This helps children to know their targets and work towards achieving them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand how to communicate with children effectively. They use a therapeutic model to guide their practice. This helps children form and maintain positive attachments with staff. The staff recognise that connection is important to children. Once child said, ‘I see the staff as my family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff strive to gather feedback from children, and they listen to their views. They respond to, and act on, children’s wishes and feelings whenever possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff help the children to maintain relationships with people who are important to them, when it is safe for them to do so. Staff are interested in children’s lives and their families. They welcome children’s friends and families to the home. This creates special memories of meaningful time spent together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and encourage children to attend education, with clear planners and reward charts. They have good relationships with education professionals. One professional said, ‘[Child’s name] is doing brilliantly, this is one of the best homes I have worked with in motivating them to attend education.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s health and well-being needs, including their mental health. They encourage the children to attend all medical appointments and maintain healthy routines and lifestyles. This includes specialist input in helping children understand and manage their emotional well-being and development. When children have refused to see Inspection report for children’s home: 2661812 4 mental health professionals, staff have been creative and sought out other therapists. This has provided children with alternative solutions to support their mental health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from professionals is unanimously highly complimentary. This includes responses from social workers, reviewing officers and a teacher. External feedback recognises that staff maintain consistent and person-centred approaches when caring for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The house is very well presented and is furnished and decorated to a high standard. Children have helped to choose the furnishings. This provides children with a homely and nurturing environment.

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

Staff support the children to feel safe. The children feel confident in speaking to staff if they have any worries. Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities and duties. They know the children they support well and have a good knowledge of their strengths and vulnerabilities. This helps children to feel valued and well cared for.

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

Staff use well-thought-out and sensitive approaches to help children understand risks and their responses to difficult situations. They help children to take measured risks. Staff have carried out important work with them about community safety, consent and safe relationships. This enables them to take part in activities and helps them to develop their understanding and skills of how to keep safe.

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

Staff provide children with clear boundaries. On occasion, staff use natural consequences for children as part of a wider approach to behaviour management. The manager reviews and monitors these interventions to ensure that they remain effective.

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

The use of restraint has decreased. Restraint is only used as a last resort to keep children safe. All restraint records have had good oversight from the manager. Following restraint, managers have talked to the staff and children about what has happened and what could be done differently in the future. This gives staff and children the space to reflect on their thoughts and feelings.

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

Missing-from-home incidents are managed well. Staff take appropriate action. They search for children and escalate any concerns as needed. Staff share concerns with professionals, including the local police, to help protect children. The manager’s effective evaluation of each incident informs care planning and helps staff to identify factors such as triggers and patterns of incidents.

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

When concerns about staff are raised, leaders and managers respond swiftly to help keep children safe. The concerns are shared with the relevant external professionals, and thorough investigations take place, allowing for action to be taken. The manager encourages a culture of reflection and learning. Staff go on to discuss safer practice in team meetings and supervision sessions. Inspection report for children’s home: 2661812 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The suitably qualified and experienced manager is child focused and dedicated to improving children’s life opportunities. He ensures that children receive good-quality care. The management team knows the children well and speaks about them with pride and enthusiasm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager maintains good oversight of children’s progress and is fully involved in all aspects of care planning. Leaders and managers are strong advocates for children. They actively challenge virtual schools and local authorities to ensure that children’s wishes and feelings are considered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well led. They feel valued and appreciated in their roles. Staff said that managers are approachable and supportive and have created an open culture. The manager has employed a knowledgeable team of staff, who are committed to helping children to achieve good outcomes. The home has a stable and experienced workforce. All senior staff hold a suitable and relevant qualification. The consistency and approach of the staff team help children to build trusting relationships and form healthy attachments with the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers follow safer recruitment processes. New staff receive a suitable induction. Staff receive ongoing support through supervision and consistent guidance from the management team. However, further training requested by staff two months ago has yet to be arranged by managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal monitoring is mostly of a good standard and is used effectively to drive improvements. However, the recently submitted review of care was incomplete and significantly delayed. This does not demonstrate that the manager considers all information available to understand the strengths and areas for development of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has met the one requirement and recommendation from the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2661812 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 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

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (3) (4)(a)) 28 November 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: 2661812 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: SureCare Residential Limited - The White Trees Group

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Old Snap Factory, Twyford Industrial Estate, Twyford Road, Bishop’s Stortford CM23 3LJ

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Inspector

Lexi Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2661812 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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