Children's Home run by Virtue Therapeutic Care and Education (East Sussex) Limited in East Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2675807 1 Registered provider: Virtue Therapeutic Care and Education (East Sussex) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately run and provides care for up to eight children who experience social and emotional difficulties. There are currently three children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The organisation has a school on the same site. The inspector only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2025.

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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: 2675807 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/08/2024 Full Good 19/07/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2675807 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good quality, individualised care at the home and make progress from their starting points. Staff understand children’s needs and are committed to improving their outcomes. Children and staff have formed good relationships, and these contribute to children’s positive experiences. Children say that they like living at the home and that staff know how to support them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a large home, some of which has been adapted to meet their individual needs. They benefit from the spacious garden that includes areas designed specifically for children’s activities. They enjoy playing tennis, football and other sports, and some, who did not like sports in the past, now enjoy the outdoor activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in relation to their individual needs, and they are supported to learn and improve their social skills. One child, who previously did not like going out, now leaves the home supported by staff and is able to attend all their health appointments. Children who missed out on education opportunities in the past are now benefiting from attending their education provision.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have formed good relationships with each other, based on understanding and respect. They participate in group gatherings, where they share their positive experiences as well as any niggles that they might have. They are able to challenge each other in an appropriate manner. Children are encouraged to enjoy mealtimes together with staff. This improves children’s positive experiences of living together and strengthens relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand and act on children’s views and wishes. Children are consulted and listened to during their individual times with staff and via children’s meetings. They take pride in their bedrooms. They said that they received the items that they requested, and their bedrooms are now personalised. Children know how to make complaints, but they said that they resolve these by talking to staff and managers directly, so formal complaints are rare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are prepared for their futures and are helped to develop life skills. They have had positive experiences when leaving the home and have had individualised transition arrangements. One child left the home to live independently because they had progressed and no longer needed staff support.

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

Staff identify and understand children’s vulnerabilities and use their positive relationships to encourage children to stay safe. Staff are provided with individualised guidance for each child’s risk behaviours. However, some guidance provided is not clear and is contradictory. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675807 4 Staff appropriately report any safeguarding concerns to the registered manager, who ensures that safeguarding protocols are followed. The registered manager is passionate about maintaining children’s safety, and they proactively escalate any concerns to the network of professionals who are involved in a child’s life. The registered manager works closely and transparently with local authority designated officers, children’s social workers and other relevant professionals. Staff working arrangements are being assessed to ensure the safety of children and staff when concerns are reported to the

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

registered manager. In addition, reflective practice is being positively applied with an aim to improve safeguarding arrangements. However, thorough investigations are not always completed consistently.

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

Staff discourage children from leaving the home without permission. They use their relationships to help children to stay safe and educate them about the risks in the wider community. If children do go missing from the home, staff attempt to locate them quickly and ensure their safety. Staff report such incidents to relevant professionals in a timely way. However, there have been occasional missed opportunities to explore the potential risks posed by strangers when professional curiosity has not been applied with an aim to safeguard.

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

The registered manager ensures a thorough assessment of potential risks so that any additional safeguards are well considered and reasonable. Furthermore, they ensure that this is in the best interest of the child’s safety and agreed by all relevant professionals. These measures are regularly reviewed and adjusted as necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Changes in leadership have taken place since the last inspection. The new registered manager and responsible individual have been appointed and have already put their positive stamp on the home and the development of the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has an ambitious vision for the home and is committed to continuous development of the service provided to children. They have strong relationships with the children, who, in return, respect and trust them. Professionals, parents and staff said that the registered manager is good and takes effective actions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. They continue to upskill the staff team and organise theoretical and practical learning as an ongoing practice. Staff are being educated to think about the safeguarding of children from different perspectives. The registered manager ensures that staff receive regular and in-depth supervision sessions, where they are encouraged to reflect on their practice, children’s needs and their professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager’s oversight of challenging situations is comprehensive. They skilfully role model the best care that children should be receiving because they are committed to children’s welfare and progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675807 5

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 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)) In particular, records of investigations into allegations should be of a consistently good quality and clearly describe the outcome; children’s plans should clearly describe what staff need to do to keep children safe; and staff should ensure that they act on any indicators that children may have been at risk of harm. 29 September 2025

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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: 2675807 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Virtue Therapeutic Care and Education (East Sussex) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Moran House Suites 7-8, 449-451 High Road, Willesden, London NW10 2JJ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Duduzile Robbins

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Inspector

Sonata Brisley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2675807 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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