Children's Home run by Esland South Limited in Kent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC059037 1 SC059037 Registered provider: Esland South 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 privately owned children’s home provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties. There were three children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The post of registered manager has been vacant since 28 November 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

Staff are referred to as adults in this report.

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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: 17 December 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: SC059037 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/12/2024 Full Good 16/01/2024 Full Good 23/03/2023 Full Outstanding 02/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC059037 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy warm and trusting relationships with adults who know them well. Adults talk to and about children with care and respect. The relationships children have with adults enable them to feel secure and develop a sense of belonging. This helps children to make progress in a range of areas, such as increased independence and confidence with peers. One professional said, of the child they support, that they had ‘finally found a place where they are happy and are thriving with support of the adults there.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults show interest in children and are invested in their progress. They devote regular individual time. This provides children with guidance and support in relation to issues that are important to them. This helps children to feel cared for and to approach challenges in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults support children well with education and learning. They work collaboratively with education colleagues and children to promote progress and to try and negotiate obstacles to learning. Such support has recently helped one child to make a successful transition to secondary school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults value children’s views, wishes and feelings. They help children to express these and support them to gain the services of an advocate if they wish. Regular children’s meetings provide a helpful forum to hear children’s views, share information and involve them in planning for things, such as how to support a new child moving in and activities. However, communication between adults is sometimes not as good as it could be, which occasionally results in delays in acting on children’s requests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults work hard to ensure that there is good planning and support for children moving into or on from the home. Managers make child-centred decisions about such moves in partnership with others, consider the needs of the other children in the home and work creatively. This helps to ensure that children’s experiences of moving in or on from the home are as positive as possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is in good repair and furnished in a child-friendly manner. There are photos of children and evidence of their activities and achievements in the communal areas. Children are helped to personalise their bedrooms. This all helps children feel at home and gives them a sense of ownership of their environment.

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

Adults have a good understanding of children’s individual vulnerabilities and of their safeguarding duties. Systems for communicating new developments and changes to safety plans work well and there is robust management oversight of incidents of concern. This underpins a strong safeguarding culture. As a result, adults take effective action when there are concerns about children’s safety Inspection report for children’s home: SC059037 4 If children go missing from home, adults are proactive in trying to find them and work effectively with others, such as family members and police, to do so. Safety plans are reviewed in partnership with children and their networks, providing challenge to partner agencies if required. There is timely follow-up educative work with children This helps to ensure that any such episodes are managed as safely as possible and children are enabled to make safer choices.

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

When there are allegations or concerns about adults’ practice, managers take prompt action to manage any potential risks and investigate concerns. They liaise with other relevant professionals, such as the local authority designated officer, and ensure that children and adults involved are provided with support.

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

Systems for storing and managing medication are suitable and there is effective management scrutiny of these. When errors occur, they are identified promptly through oversight systems. Managers take action to support adults to improve practice and reduce the occurrence of future errors.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although there has not been a registered manager in post since the last inspection, senior managers recruited promptly to this position and the new manager has applied to register with Ofsted. There have been some delays, beyond the manager’s control, in relation to the application process.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good knowledge of children and is aspirational for them. Adults describe the manager as supportive and available, which promotes a positive culture of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults are positive about their roles, the support they get from managers and colleagues and about the impact of care on children. They understand and implement the ethos in the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults and managers understand the importance of working relationships with others in children’s lives. They work effectively with professionals and family members to support coordinated care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers support adults well. Adults receive regular individual supervision and appraisal in line with company policy. Regular meetings with the adult team and separate team around the child meetings are used creatively to attend to team dynamics and provide space for discussion and reflection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults complete a suitable programme of training to support them in their roles. This includes training in areas relevant to the needs of children living in the home. The organisation’s clinician also provides guidance and resources to bolster adults’ understanding of children’s needs so that they are well informed in the care they deliver. Inspection report for children’s home: SC059037 5

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that that there are effective information-sharing systems in place between adults, to avoid delays in children being able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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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: SC059037 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland South Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspectors

Jacob Robson, Social Care Inspector Alexia Hosker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC059037 7 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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