Children's home run by SES Avocet Limited

Inspection report for children's home: SC063259 1 SC063259 Registered provider: SES Avocet 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

The privately owned home offers a therapeutic model of care. The home provides long- term placements for up to 8 children with difficulties managing their emotions and who may have experienced neglect or emotional abuse. There is a registered school on site that is also run by the organisation. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children's home

Eight children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2024.

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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: 18 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: SC063259 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/12/2024 Full Good 12/12/2023 Full Outstanding 29/11/2022 Full Outstanding 01/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC063259 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children have made exceptional progress and benefit from nurturing and consistent care. Since the last inspection, no children have moved in or out of the home and all the children participated in the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a wide range of experiences and opportunities, which allow them to create special memories. Staff support children to attend residential trips and travel abroad for holidays and gaming competitions. One child was supported by staff to attend a significant family event in another country. Another child attended a music festival, when they were previously unable to spend time in the community without anxiety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's culture and identities are respected by staff. One child was supported to develop and explore their Muslim faith by participating in Ramadan and Qur'an lessons. Children's religious needs are sensitively met by caring staff, which helps children to build a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build inclusive relationships with family members and take a collaborative approach so that children can spend time with their families. Staff have supported one parent to rebuild a relationship with their child. This parent commented, 'It has been a life- changing thing for us.'

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well and engage with their individual interests. The children living in the home have established bonds with each other and enjoy both individual and shared activities. Children participate in an array of community clubs and are encouraged to purse their hobbies. Children have also undertaken work experience in areas of interest to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend health appointments. Staff offer nurture and support to ensure that children's emotional needs are met. Staff encourage children to explore their anxieties and worries with professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good relationships with staff and have adults who they can talk to. One parent commented, 'They [child] have an amazing relationship with the adults. [The home] really understands [my child's] needs.'

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback is consistently positive from parents and professionals. Parents have unanimously stated that their children are 'loved'. Professionals say that all children have made significant progress in their emotional development and social relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are some records that use language that is not child friendly. This language does not follow the therapeutic ethos at the home and is not helpful for children who may choose to view their records in the future. Inspection report for children's home: SC063259 4

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

Risk assessments are child centred and detailed, giving staff the knowledge and skills to be able to confidently respond to potential concerns.

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

Staff respond to incidences of self-harm appropriately. Children receive reassurance and support, and timely medical treatment is sought when required. For one child, this has resulted in a notable reduction in self-harm.

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

Staff seek children's views and help them to think about their behaviour and how it could be different. When consequences are used, they are relatable and directly correlate to the behaviour to help children learn. There is a strong restorative philosophy at the home. Children are learning new skills to help them talk about their feelings and behaviour.

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

There are times when staff physically hold children to protect them and others from harm. While most practice is good, there have been a small number of occasions when managers have not rigorously assessed the use of physical holds to clearly determine their necessity or proportionality. Staff are not always confident at using alternative strategies to help children at times of distress and have not been consistently consulted following the use of physical holds. Leaders and managers have not reliably identified the staff development needs in this area of practice or considered how to reduce the risk of recurrence.

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

There have been some occasions when children have made allegations about staff. These occurrences are well managed. Managers share information appropriately with professionals and the local authority designated officer. Children's concerns are explored and children are consulted during this process. However, on a small number of occasions, staff have not used a strong sense of professional curiosity when investigating comments made by children. This does not help leaders and managers to confidently ensure that children's concerns are thoroughly and consistently explored.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by a registered manager who holds the relevant qualification. They are supported by a range of deputies who support positive outcomes and have high aspirations for children. Many staff have worked at the home for several years and there is good stability within the team. This means that children receive care from staff who are familiar and know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff access a range of training to help them to understand children's needs and how best to support them. Training is delivered that is specific to children's individual needs. This helps staff to offer informed care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Multi-agency working is regular and effective, ensuring that children's needs and risks are thoroughly explored and future planning is unfailingly prioritised. One professional Inspection report for children's home: SC063259 5 said that 'the communication is really good and really open'. While another described staff and managers as 'really proactive'.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. They explore children's needs at team meetings and undertake consultations with a therapist. However, the quality of supervision is variable, and records do not demonstrate that staff are given adequate opportunity to reflect on their practice or the needs of the children. This is a missed opportunity for managers to support staff development and explore children's progress or worries. This was raised at the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers review children's records and have monitoring tools in place. However, managers' quality assurance of records, including those relating to physical interventions, does not always provide sufficient scrutiny to ensure best practice or strengthen decision-making about staff conduct and practice learning. Inspection report for children's home: SC063259 6

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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 registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children's home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b)(c) (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)) 30 April 2026

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Requirement Due date

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— 30 April 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC063259 7 understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that all restrictive measures are reviewed and recorded effectively so that learning is obtained and appropriate actions can be taken. This includes the review of the necessity and proportionality of any measure.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that management monitoring and oversight are sufficiently robust to determine the learning from practice. This includes ensuring that children's feedback is considered with sufficient professional curiosity.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure there are systems in place so that all staff receive supervision of their practice that allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff record information about individual children in a non-stigmatising way. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children's home: SC063259 8

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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: SC063259 9

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Children's home details

Provision sub-type: Residential Special School

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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Victoria Collings

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Inspectors

Naomi Starbuck, Social Care Inspector Gemma McNevin, His Majesty's Inspector Rebecca Hannell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC063259 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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