Children's Home run by Thrive Care Homes LTD in Barking and Dagenham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2812170 1 Registered provider: Thrive Care Homes Ltd

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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 privately run home provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted on 10 March 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children living at the home at the time of this inspection and one child moved out on the first day of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2812170 2

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improvement to be good

Despite some areas of positive practice, leaders have not always taken appropriate action to manage the home effectively, This has impacted on the quality of care that children receive, and their safety and welfare have been compromised at times.

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improvement to be good

When considering new admissions to the home, leaders and managers have failed to assess effectively whether staff have the skills to meet their needs. This has been a contributory factor to one child having to leave the home prematurely, causing disruption and instability to the child and to the home. Leaders and managers have not prioritised the needs of children and have failed to acknowledge or accept the impact that their decision-making has had on the children’s overall experiences and progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers have made efforts to enrol children in education. However, some children have been reluctant to engage in education or in positive routines during the day. The manager has been working closely with the children and their professional networks to encourage school attendance and engagement. Consequently, one child is returning to education.

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improvement to be good

Some children enjoy a range of activities in the home and in the community. They go out to eat with staff in local restaurants and enjoy the cinema, football, gym and shopping activities. However, for some children, staff do not consistently encourage or motivate them to participate in activities.

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improvement to be good

The home environment lacks personality and warmth. Children’s bedrooms are not maintained to an acceptable and hygienic standard. One child’s bedroom was very untidy, while another was not personalised and was bare.

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improvement to be good

A number of permanent staff have left the home as a result of their poor performance. This has led to a high reliance on bank and agency staff while new permanent staff are recruited. The staff team is now beginning to become more stable. This is helping children to develop positive relationships with the staff, whom they are beginning to trust. One child said that they ‘like the staff’ and ‘get on well with them’. As a result, children are feeling more secure in the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand that it is important for children to maintain relationships with the people who are special to them. Staff support and arrange for children to spend time with their family when it is safe for them to do so. Inspection report for children’s home: 2812170 3

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding practice in the home has not been effective, but is now improving. However, the registered manager does not demonstrate a strong or proactive response to managing risk and reducing harm for children and staff.

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improvement to be good

Children have individualised risk assessments. These help staff to understand children’s needs and vulnerabilities and provide strategies to reduce risks. However, for one child, staff did not consistently follow this guidance in relation to room searches. Staff did not increase room searches when items that could be used to self-harm were found in the child’s room. This compromises how staff safeguard children and weakens their ability to provide a consistent approach to managing risks to children in their bedrooms.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers recognise that the recording in children’s records requires improvement. Staff use a number of different formats to record safeguarding incidents. Recording often has errors and inaccuracies. This impacts on the ability of the registered manager to oversee safeguarding practice.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment checks are not robust. There is a lack of evidence to show that all staff have been safely recruited. For example, one staff file had gaps in the employment history which were not fully scrutinised and explored. Another file had a full employment history missing. During the inspection, leaders and managers agreed to address these shortfalls.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers take allegations of harm seriously when issues arise. However, they did not investigate and document effectively an allegation made by a child. Leaders and managers informed the inspector during the inspection that they had investigated the allegation. However, the investigation report was limited and lacked significant details to evidence the outcome of the investigation.

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improvement to be good

Staff follow procedures when children go missing from their care. Staff make efforts to locate children and follow children’s safety plans. Children are welcomed back into the home when they return from going missing, and they are offered the opportunity to speak to someone independently about the incident.

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improvement to be good

Staff use physical intervention as a last resort. Staff try to de-escalate incidents by using therapeutic measures before using physical intervention. When children are held by staff, this is necessary and proportionate, and children’s views and feelings are gathered after the event. The manager has good oversight of restrictive practice; this ensures that practice in this area is appropriate.

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improvement to be good

Increasingly positive relationships between staff and children enable key-work sessions to be meaningful and beneficial for children. Staff use educational tools to plan effective key-work sessions, which are targeted and address various needs and risks. This helps children to reflect on their behaviours and to consider how to make positive life choices Inspection report for children’s home: 2812170 4 to be safe. Children are also supported to reflect on how their actions impact on others. For example, after a targeted key-work session, one child recognised the impact of their actions following an incident and apologised to staff.

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

The registered manager is suitably experienced and qualified.

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

Management systems that help managers to monitor and review the quality of care are not always effective. In particular, in relation to safer recruitment, staff training, oversight of incidents and how learning from incidents is discussed in supervision. This means that the manager does not always have full oversight of incidents in the home. Recording by staff is not of a consistently good standard. Additionally, on some occasions, when the manager has scrutinised staff recordings, some important elements have been missed. This has meant that potential learning from events has not always been identified in a timely manner.

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

Staff turnover has been high and this reduced the opportunities for children to develop positive relationships with consistent adults.

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

Records of supervision are brief and lack reflection, and they show limited discussion about children and practice. This raises the risk of staff not receiving the support that they need and not identifying positive practice or concerns.

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

Team meetings take place regularly. Written records show that the running of the home and the care of the children are discussed. However, details of the discussion and any resulting reflection as a team are not documented. Actions to improve practice are rarely identified and reviewed.

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

The leaders of this home have failed to ensure that the home’s statement of purpose is kept under review. It does not reflect the changes within this home. The statement of purpose does not reflect the service offer or provide accurate detail to the reader, which could be a parent or carer.

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

Although it is recognised that the challenging times at this home have had an impact on children, feedback from professionals and family members contains elements of positivity. They see how things are improving, and how this may positively affect children’s experiences. Inspection report for children’s home: 2812170 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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that children are kept safe from any harm and risk and identify strategies to help staff to manage and reduce children’s individual risks. 25 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

the employment of any person on a temporary basis at the children’s home does not prevent children from receiving such continuity of care as is reasonable to meet their needs. (Regulation 31 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that children receive continuity of care from staff at the home. 25 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2812170 6 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that they investigate and document the outcomes of allegations effectively. 25 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must fully consider the needs of children moving into the home as well as the children already living there. They must also consider whether the staff have the skills and training to meet the needs of all children in their care. 25 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2812170 7 The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that they obtain a full employment history for each member of staff. 25 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff receive effective supervision which helps identify positive practice or practice concerns. 25 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 1(b)(c)) 25 September 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are offered a wide range of activities both inside and outside the home (where appropriate) and are encouraged to participate in those activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.5)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2812170 8 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: 2812170 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Thrive Care Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 119 Parnell Road, London E3 2JF

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Danielle Henry-Peddie

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Inspector

Sadia Akhtar, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2812170 10 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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