Children's home run by Esland North Limited in Amber Valley

Inspection report for children’s home: 1240433 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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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 owned by a private company and provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. Three children were living in the home at the time of the inspection and all of them were spoken to as part of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2023 and is suitably qualified.

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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

Date of last inspection: 30 October 2024

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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: 1240433 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/10/2024 Full Good 30/01/2024 Full Good 02/08/2022 Full Outstanding 14/12/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 1240433 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in the home. Staff use boundaries and structure to help children settle in the home, feel safer and build positive daily routines. Children take part in a wide range of planned activities and hobbies. One child’s sleep routine has improved since moving here, which helps them to engage with daily activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers are committed to providing good outcomes for children in the home. They understand the progress that children are making and have positive and open relationships with them. They encourage children to keep building on their achievements. Managers encourage children to contribute to their plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children can identify staff in the home who they trust and feel they can talk to. Children are also supported by a qualified specialist who helps them with their emotional well-being. The children see the specialist regularly and this helps them to recognise their emotions and understand the reasons they are in care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers treat children entering or leaving the home with dignity and care. When one child reflected positively on their time in the home, managers listened to the child’s thoughts about the future. They engaged in open conversations about potential challenges ahead. The manager also ensured that the child had access to advocacy support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For children newly arriving at the home, the manager carries out a comprehensive assessment to understand their individual needs, determine necessary staff training, gather feedback from current children and plan a structured induction. The manager reviews and tailors the child’s records to incorporate their personal views and preferences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff in the home have recently completed training around language that loves and refreshed their knowledge and skills of therapeutic care. Children’s records are changing as the staff have started to change the way they write. This means that if children wish to read their records in the future, they will be more accessible and reflect the staff’s care towards them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Recent damage occurred in the home in the kitchen, lounge and hallway. The damage is being repaired. All areas of the home were not clean, which had not been noticed by staff in the home. This included broken items that were not tidied away inside and outside of the building.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s guide is an informative document that is appropriate for older teenagers. However, some wording in it is not appropriate or accessible for younger children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1240433 4

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

the manager has good oversight of incidents of physical intervention and the corresponding records. Debriefs take place with children and staff after incidents. The manager evaluates the incident and supports staff to reflect on their practice and recording. There was an unsettled period recently where physical intervention increased. Several factors contributed to this, but these factors have been addressed by managers. Incidents of physical intervention are now decreasing.

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

If children raise concerns regarding the support that they receive, the manager makes sure that children are safe and then investigates their concerns. The manager shares information with safeguarding partners. However, on more than one occasion, other professionals have been delayed in responding. The manager has worked closely with others to seek an appropriate response for the children.

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

Managers complete thorough recruitment checks for adults who come to work in the home. Checks are carefully made for both regular and temporary staff. Temporary workers are rarely asked to work in the home. This means that children are supported by familiar staff who they know and feel comfortable with.

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

Children do not go missing regularly from the home and staff understand their responsibilities to follow them and report this. When children have been reported as missing from the home, staff have used their knowledge of the child’s contacts and, with the police and specialist teams to help, they have found them quickly and returned them home. Children are welcomed back into the home and offered well-being support and an independent return home interview.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff working in the home are well supported by the manager and the new responsible individual. Staff value leaders and managers’ openness to listen and the support of their colleagues. Staff are also able to seek support from the company therapist, which has benefited some staff, particularly during stressful times.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff working in the home receive regular supervision. They are given regular feedback on their performance from colleagues who have received training and are being supported in their development. They meet together as a team regularly and use the time effectively to reflect and plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff in the home are suitably qualified and receive training that helps them to understand the children’s needs better. Staff recognise that they now spend more time reflecting after an incident, seeking to understand why it may have occurred. This has led to improved practice and recording in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has invested in developing the senior team in the home. They are working cohesively and ensure that as a team they are providing consistent support to the Inspection report for children’s home: 1240433 5 children. This helps children to feel safer and reduces the risk of staff giving confusing messages to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In recent months, there were multiple changes within the home in quick succession, including a brief emergency placement of another child. This contributed to an extremely unsettled period in the home for children and staff. There was limited management oversight for a time due to the manager not being at work and incidents were not appropriately overseen. This had a significant effect on the children, and it took a long time for their anxiety to reduce. Managers are now back at work and a reduction in incidents is being sustained. Inspection report for children’s home: 1240433 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is maintained and is a warm and welcoming environment, particularly in the communal areas. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided with a copy of a children’s guide. This must be age-appropriate, provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to make sure they understand it. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)

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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: 1240433 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Carol Jagger, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1240433 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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