Children's Home run by Cherry Trees Care Ltd in Suffolk

Inspection report for children’s home: 2761271 1 Registered provider: Cherry Trees Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This private home is registered to care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties and learning disabilities.

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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: 2761271 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/06/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2761271 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home. No children have moved in or out of the home since the last inspection. Both children were seen during the inspection and one child was spoken with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to feel secure, and children appear comfortable with staff. This has helped children to form stable and trusting relationships. Children were seen laughing and joking with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good awareness of children’s individual support needs. As a result, children have made progress from their starting points. Professionals provided unanimously positive feedback about the quality and consistency of care, the excellent communication from staff and the positive progress children are making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff communicate with children effectively. Staff are creative in how they gather children’s wishes and feelings. This has led to positive changes in routines and experiences for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities. One child who struggles with changes to their routine has recently enjoyed a very successful camping trip. Children have gone abroad on their first holiday. They have been ice skating and have enjoyed celebratory meals. Children value the activities on offer, and as a result, their social skills have vastly improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff create and capture high-quality records of special memories and achievements for children. This helps children to reflect on important events and accomplishments over time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is good communication between education providers and staff. This has helped children to access opportunities to further their education. One child’s engagement is very positive, and they have made considerable progress. Another child has struggled with their engagement in education. Staff continue to advocate for the child and to seek support for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is generally well presented, with lots of space for children to enjoy. Staff take a thoughtful approach to how the home is furnished and decorated in keeping with children’s wishes. This has helped to create a calm and warm environment in places. However, there had been damage to a window, which had not been repaired. Action was taken during the inspection to ensure the area did not present an ongoing risk to children. Some of the carpets are heavily stained and this detracts from what is otherwise a homely environment. Inspection report for children’s home: 2761271 4

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

The children have complex needs and vulnerabilities. Staff use well-thought-out, person-centred approaches to help children manage their personal safety. Professionals said that staff identify and help manage children’s individual needs well. Staff understand risk and how to help children stay safer.

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

Children benefit from a nurturing environment. Staff use incentives and consequences to encourage positive behaviour. These are personalised and help children to work towards goals that are important to them. 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

There have been several incidents of children going missing from the home. Staff manage these incidents well. Staff search for children, and they are curious as to where children have been. They talk to children to understand why they left. Staff speak with professionals to ensure ongoing support for children.

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

Sometimes staff physically hold children to help keep them and others safe. Records are detailed and include the views of the child and the staff involved. Staff are reflective and try to understand the causes and adapt routines for children to help avoid further incidents. The manager’s oversight confirms that action taken by staff is proportionate and necessary to protect the child and those around them. Incidents have continued to reduce in number as children have learned healthier and safer ways of communicating their needs.

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

Staff work closely with external health agencies to ensure that children’s health needs are met. These practitioners contribute to children’s risk management plans, and the children are involved in identifying strategies that help them. This has helped children develop new skills in managing their emotional well-being and developing healthy routines.

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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 when staff practice has fallen short of expectations. This includes carrying out investigations to identify wider learning. This is shared with the staff team to improve practice.

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

On occasion, children have struggled to manage their relationships, resulting in physical aggression toward each other. Staff use immediate measures to help defuse situations. However, staff have not always spoken with children after the incident to help them understand more appropriate and safer ways of communicating their feelings. This has meant that opportunities to increase children’s sense of personal responsibility toward others may have been missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She is child focused and dedicated to improving children’s life opportunities. She ensures that children receive good-quality Inspection report for children’s home: 2761271 5 care. The management team speaks about children with pride and enthusiasm. Leaders and managers have a detailed knowledge and good understanding of the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that managers are approachable and supportive. Staff morale is good. As a result, children benefit from a consistent staff team that provides a sense of security and stability. This consistency has helped staff to support children to make continued progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is experienced and resilient. Staff are supported by the managers and benefit from reflective supervision sessions. They are trained to meet the needs of the children they care for. Ongoing learning has led to a better understanding of children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s review of the quality of care is thorough. She seeks and values feedback from children and other stakeholders. This means that the care children receive continues to develop. The manager demonstrates a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Strategies to help manage risk for children are not always regularly reviewed by leaders and managers to ensure they are appropriate and proportionate. Some risk assessments detailing how staff help children include information that is not relevant and other areas of risk have not been thoroughly recorded. However, these areas of oversight have not had an impact on children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2761271 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff help children to develop understanding and empathy towards each other. Poor behaviour should be challenged and discussed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.11)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. In particular, ensure that children’s risk assessments include all and only relevant detail and are reviewed regularly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff make certain that the home’s environment is maintained. In particular, that the carpets are clean and stain free and that damage is repaired quickly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2761271 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cherry Trees Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/O DPC, Stone House, 55 Stone Road Business Park, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST4 6SR

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Inspector

Lexi Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2761271 8 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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Inspector

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