Children's Home run by Kelwel Care Homes Limited in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2787006 1 Registered provider: Kelwel Care Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private organisation and provides care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 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 requires improvement to be 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: 2787006 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/08/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2787006 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, four children were living at the home. Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home and one child has moved on in a planned way. Three children contributed to the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Moves into the home are carefully planned and consider the needs of the children who already live there. Children visit the home before they move in. This helps them to settle in quickly. Moves out of the home are also planned; one child moved to a more independent setting and staff organised a special meal to celebrate the child moving on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children appear comfortable with staff and were seen laughing and joking with them. Staff have a good awareness of children’s needs. Other professionals and family members are highly complimentary about how well children are cared for. They said that children’s emotional and social awareness have increased because of the support of staff. All children have made progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children can identify adults whom they trust and can share concerns with. This has allowed children to feel comfortable enough to share their wishes and feelings. Children know how to make complaints and managers take appropriate action to respond to these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have access to a psychologist, who helps them think about how they care for children. However, for one child, staff have not sufficiently explored ways in which the child could be supported with their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff understand the importance of children’s relationships with family and friends. Staff support children to spend time with those important to them. These connections support the child’s identity and help them to build social relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff arrange special trips and activities for children. One child visited Paris to celebrate a special anniversary. Staff capture children’s experiences in high-quality memory books. This helps children to reflect on important events and accomplishments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide consistent support to help motivate children to attend education. All of the children were out of education for a significant period before moving into the home. Since the last inspection, three children have made progress with their attendance. The manager has strongly advocated for another child to ensure that their educational needs are recognised by the wider professional network. As a result, professionals have agreed to review the child’s learning plan. Leaders and managers are proactive in challenging social care and education professionals to prevent delays to children’s educational experience. Inspection report for children’s home: 2787006 4 The home is welcoming and well furnished. Living areas are decorated to a good standard and are comfortable and spacious. Photos of children and staff are framed and feature on the walls of the home. Children have the opportunity to personalise their

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

bedrooms. However, one child’s window blind has been broken for a significant period and has not yet been replaced. This detracts from an otherwise homely environment.

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

Staff regularly monitor, discuss and review children’s plans. Children’s plans are detailed and provide clear strategies for staff to use to help them to support children. Staff actively seek children’s views and include them in their plans. As a result, children’s needs are well understood.

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

Staff do not use physical interventions with children. Staff use creative and person- centred responses that work well with children. These have helped to reduce incidents. Staff helped two children to attend an educational course to help them understand their behaviour. This helps staff to have discussions that support children to reflect on their behaviours and to make more positive choices.

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

Staff use rewards to encourage positive behaviour. Rewards routinely include a reflective conversation with staff. Rewards are personalised and help children to work toward goals important to them.

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

On occasion, children go missing from the home. Staff follow children’s plans to help find and return them as soon as possible. Managers work proactively and effectively with external agencies. This multi-agency response helps to keep children safe. The frequency of one child’s missing-from-home episodes has significantly reduced in the short time they have lived at the home.

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

Staff help children to understand the impact of substance misuse. They confidently educate children on the risks of substance misuse. Staff increase their monitoring of children if they report or appear to be under the influence.

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

Leaders and managers take effective action to address safeguarding concerns and staff practice that has fallen short of expectations. This includes carrying out investigations to identify wider learning for staff. This helps staff to improve their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is suitably qualified. The manager is committed to achieving positive experiences and outcomes for children. She is supported by a deputy manager. However, there have a been a number of shortfalls identified that undermine the leadership and management of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers and the small team of permanent staff are proud of their work and are committed to supporting children. However, at times, morale is impacted by staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2787006 5 leaving. Remaining staff and bank staff work extra shifts to help minimise disruption to children. There is a reliance on staff who are not always familiar to the children. Leaders and managers are in the process of recruiting staff to reduce the reliance on bank staff. This will help bring a sense of stability for both staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Children are able to contact staff on their personal phones when staff are not at the home. Senior managers have not recognised that this method of communication cannot be fully monitored. They have also not considered the importance of ensuring that staff have uninterrupted time away from work to rest. Creating this culture within the home does not provide effective safeguards for children or staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff supervision has not always happened in line with the home’s own policy. Some staff have had significant gaps between meetings. This has meant that opportunities for continuous professional development may have been missed. There has been a recent improvement in the frequency of supervisions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There are some systems in place to help leaders and managers audit and monitor records. However, managers have not routinely reviewed information detailed in external independent audits to ensure that it is reflective of the day-to-day running of the home. This has meant that some reports contain inaccuracies. The quality of care review did not evaluate the impact of the care provided to children. This limits the capacity for leaders and managers to have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a range of training available to help staff understand children’s needs and how to support them. However, leaders and managers do not regularly review staff’s training and development plans. Some staff have not completed their mandatory training to ensure they have the necessary skills to support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff do not understand the home’s statement of purpose relating to the model of care. Leaders and managers have taken some steps to embed the home’s model of care into staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have responded appropriately to incidents, although they have not always notified Ofsted in a timely manner. This limits Ofsted’s ability to monitor incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The management team has a good understanding of the children’s needs. Other professionals are regularly updated. Communication between managers and professionals is good. Children benefit from the manager’s approach to close, multi- agency working. External professionals describe managers as being hands-on and considerate. Inspection report for children’s home: 2787006 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 notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter. (Regulation 40 (4)(c) (5)(a)(i)) 12 August 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—

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Requirement Due date

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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; 22 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2787006 7 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

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)(c)(e)(f)(h))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, as set out in regulations 31–33, they maintain good employment practice. They should ensure that leaders and managers assess and monitor methods of communication between staff and children when staff are not working in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that they keep the statement of purpose under review and that it aligns with staff’s knowledge. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5)  The registered person should ensure that they proactively engage with other relevant people to explore specialist care to further support children’s emotional health. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.7)  The registered person should ensure that children are provided with the appropriate

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Recommendations

furnishings to live comfortably. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.19)

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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: 2787006 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kelwel Care Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 Jubilee House, The Drive, Great Warley, Brentwood, Essex CM13 3FR

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Inspector

Lexi Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2787006 9 to 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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