Children's home run by Shalamar Children Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2720837 1 Registered provider: Shalamar Children 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 home is run by a private provider and provides care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties. Five children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2023.

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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 outstanding

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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: 2720837 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/07/2024 Full Good 30/08/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2720837 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, five children were living at the home. All children spoke to the inspector. Since the last inspection, three children have moved in, and two children have moved out.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have all made progress from their individual starting points. One child has learned to ride a bike and another child has swimming lessons.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have created a warm, welcoming home. The staff talk about children with care and compassion. Several of the children said they would rate the home as 9 out of 10. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their taste and what is important to them. These factors contribute to family-style living for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is well supported. Previously, several of the children had not been accessing education. They are all now in full-time education and attending regularly. Staff are committed to supporting children’s learning and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. Staff support them to attend health appointments. One child had previously struggled to attend health appointments but has seen a dentist and worked with a consultant to manage a long-term health condition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are given opportunities to enjoy their childhoods and gain valuable memories. Staff go to great lengths to ensure that special occasions are celebrated with children, such as Halloween and Christmas. For one child who struggled to attend the school prom, managers and staff created their own prom experience for all the children to enjoy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy an extensive range of exciting and enjoyable activities. These include holidays to seaside resorts, theme parks, horse riding, an activity and fitness centre, and trampolining. Staff encourage children to try new experiences as well as engage in activities they enjoy, which helps children to make progress with their social and emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to become increasingly independent and develop new skills, depending on their age and understanding. Staff support children to carry out tasks around the houses. This helps them to develop their independence skills and prepares them for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to see their family members and maintain friendships. Children have their friends visit the home, attend celebrations and have sleepovers. For some children, this has enabled them to reconnect with their families and spend increased time together. Inspection report for children’s home: 2720837 4 Children’s moves in and out of the home are managed sensitively. Moves are carefully planned and centred around their needs. When children leave the home, staff and managers involve them in planning for their move. Children enjoy leaving meals and parties to mark them moving on. Staff continue to stay in touch with the children long after they have moved on.

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

Staff are trained in understanding effective safeguarding practice. They are clear about their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding the children.

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

Staff understand children’s needs. Staff use this knowledge to support positive behaviour using distraction and de-escalation. Children receive praise and rewards to reinforce positive behaviour. This helps children to build secure relationships and feel supported by the staff. The staff impose consequences to support children to understand unacceptable behaviours. However, these are not always appropriately and effectively reviewed to demonstrate their effectiveness, rationale and proportionality.

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

The staff encourage children to think about their safety. Staff provide informal learning opportunities through reflective conversations. Staff cover important and emerging topics to increase children’s knowledge about how to keep themselves safe.

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

Children feel safer with staff. Before moving to the home, one child regularly ran away. This has stopped. For others, these incidents have significantly reduced, demonstrating that they feel safer. The child’s parent and social worker attribute this change to the nurturing relationships the child has with the staff. When children do go missing from the home, staff understand the process to follow and take action to help return children home quickly.

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

On occasion, physical intervention has been used by staff. This has been proportionate and used as a last resort. Children are spoken to after physical intervention. Leaders and managers scrutinise records of the incidents to identify discrepancies and potential opportunities for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is managed by a highly experienced and committed registered manager. The manager has high aspirations for children. The manager and staff know the children well and use their views to help develop the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff say that the management team is supportive and approachable. The open door policy enables staff to feel valued and listened to. As a result, children benefit from consistent care from a stable and motivated staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Professionals are positive about the home. A consistent message from professionals is that they are very happy with the care children receive. Professionals highlighted good Inspection report for children’s home: 2720837 5 communication with the staff and strong relationships between the staff and children. Professionals describe the manager as a ‘positive advocate’ for children living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff have regular team meetings that provide opportunities for reflection and sharing ideas. A good level of staff attendance and engagement supports a team approach and effective communication.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Supervision sessions are detailed and cover relevant topics and explore scenarios to help staff learn. Staff said that they felt extremely well supported by the home’s manager. The manager encourages discussions about safeguarding, whistle-blowing and children’s progress. When staff are not meeting the manager’s practice standards, there is clear challenge in supervision to address any practice issues. Inspection report for children’s home: 2720837 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. The registered person should ensure that these consequences are kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: 2720837 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Shalamar Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 63a, Thames Industrial Estate, Princess Margaret Road, East Tilbury, Essex RM18 8RH

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Inspector

Naomi Starbuck, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2720837 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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