Children's Home run by SEVA CHILDCARE LTD in Barnet

Inspection report for children’s home: 2675155 1 Registered provider: SEVA CHILDCARE 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 owned home provides care for up to five children who may have learning disabilities or experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in July 2022. The manager registered in September 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2675155 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/07/2024 Full Good 05/12/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2675155 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children form nurturing and positive relationships with staff. Consistent and reliable care helps them feel safe and secure in the home. Staff understand each child’s needs deeply, enabling children to build trusting attachments. These relationships support the excellent progress children make across all areas of development. One parent expressed gratitude, saying, ‘I wouldn’t imagine [child] being anywhere else; they are really good, and I am grateful.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children confidently express their wishes and feelings. Staff consistently create an environment where children feel listened to, respected, and understood. This approach encourages children to share their views openly, including when they are worried or upset. As a result, incidents of children becoming extremely upset and damaging things have significantly decreased. Children’s voices are central to care planning and daily life, giving them genuine influence over decisions that affect them. This has enabled the children to have a cat they all care for and take turns to look after, which further supports their sense of responsibility and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make exceptional educational progress. Staff hold high aspirations for every child and work closely with education providers to support consistent attendance and achievement. Leaders identified that a school originally proposed for a child was unlikely to meet their needs and therefore funded attendance at an independent school. They also provide additional tutoring alongside daily educational support from staff. As a result, children’s reading, writing, and maths skills have improved significantly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children enjoy a wide range of activities that enrich their lives. Holidays, leisure opportunities, and shared experiences foster a strong sense of belonging and create lasting, positive memories. Plans are carefully tailored to each child’s needs, including an upcoming holiday designed to support a child in strengthening their cultural identity and heritage. One child enthusiastically shared a video of their milestone birthday celebration, recalling how beautiful the day was. Another child spoke warmly of their first Christmas at the home, saying, ‘[Registered manager] goes all out for Christmas. We get a bit too many presents.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children develop age-appropriate independent skills through consistent opportunities to learn practical life skills, including self-care, cooking, and managing money. This structured approach prepares children well for adulthood and builds their confidence to take on increasing responsibilities as they grow.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are supported to maintain and develop positive family and friendship networks. Staff promote safe and meaningful time with family members, and recognise the importance of these relationships for children’s well-being. Children are also encouraged to invite friends into the home, including for overnight stays. This enriches their Inspection report for children’s home: 2675155 4 experiences, supports their social development, and allows them to enjoy childhood experiences like other children.

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

Safeguarding practice in the home is good. Staff understand children’s individual vulnerabilities and implement effective strategies to keep them safe.

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

Risks are carefully assessed and regularly reviewed, with clear plans providing staff with effective guidance to protect children. Managers maintain strong working relationships with safeguarding partners, ensuring concerns are shared promptly and managed appropriately.

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

Incidents are handled with care and sensitivity. Staff respond calmly and consistently, using de-escalation techniques that minimise disruption and help children manage their emotions. Comprehensive reviews of incidents identify learning points and improve practice. This reflective approach keeps children’s experiences central to safeguarding responses and ensures patterns of behaviour are understood and addressed. Staff meetings support ongoing reflection and skill development to help children calmly express their wishes and feelings.

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

Staff help children develop age-appropriate understanding of risk and personal safety. Through everyday opportunities, key-work sessions, and tailored resources, they explore topics such as online safety, peer relationships, and wider societal risks. This equips children with the knowledge and confidence to make safer choices and manage potentially unsafe situations.

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

Incidents of children going missing from home have reduced significantly, reflecting strong relationships between staff and children and effective safeguarding strategies. Children are happy to return home from school and are learning to take responsibility to come home on time when out with friends.

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

Managers ensure that staff working in the home are suitably skilled and safe, supporting an environment where children can flourish. However, employment checks do not consistently explore staff’s full employment history, and references are not always requested from the most recent employers. Additionally, records do not clearly show who managers spoke with or when to verify references.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is led by a highly skilled and experienced registered manager who provides vision and strong direction. Leaders set consistently high standards and are ambitious for children to achieve the best possible outcomes. They know the children exceptionally well and ensure that the culture of the home is firmly centred on meeting children’s needs, promoting their progress, and supporting their well-being. One social worker, who is extremely happy with the quality of care provided to the child, said that the only improvement would be to have more homes like this one. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675155 5 Leaders and managers have excellent oversight of the quality of care provided to children. They make effective use of monitoring systems to evaluate progress, identify shortfalls, and drive continuous improvement. Feedback from children, families, staff, and external professionals is actively used to inform development. This ensures that

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

practice within the home remains responsive, reflective, and consistently of the highest quality.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff benefit from effective training, supervision, and professional development opportunities. They feel well supported by leaders and managers, which enables them to provide exceptional standards of care. Staff work with enthusiasm, commitment, and resilience. One member of staff said that it is a lovely home and feels like a big family. This is reflected in the positive experiences and outcomes for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Partnership working is at the core of children’s achievements. Leaders and managers maintain excellent relationships with schools, health services, placing authorities, and children’s social workers. A child’s social worker said, ‘The management team is very supportive, always thinking outside the box and showing creativity in terms of supporting [child].’ This ensures a well-coordinated and consistent approach to meeting children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675155 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice, as set out in regulations 31 to 33. This includes exploring full employment history, ensuring that references are requested from most recent employers, and that there is evidence of who managers spoke to and when references were verified. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: 2675155 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ

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Inspector

Thobekile Bandama, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2675155 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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