Children's home run by London Borough of Barnet

Inspection report for children's home: 2677723 1 Registered provider: London Borough of Barnet

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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 local authority home provides therapeutic residential care for up to 6 children between the ages of 11 and 16 years.

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Information about this children's home

The home was registered with Ofsted in June 2022. The new manager has submitted their application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, there were 5 children living in the home.

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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: 30 October 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: 2677723 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/10/2024 Full Good 23/08/2023 Full Good 25/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2677723 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive child-centred care. They benefit from the integrated therapeutic model of care provided by the in-house therapists, who offer individual sessions to children, as well as helping to formulate a trauma-informed care plan for staff to implement. Staff have developed good relationships with the children; this helps the children to settle and make good progress from their starting points. Managers are working with staff to ensure that children's information is recorded in a sensitive manner and reflects the home's model of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the value of children maintaining family relationships. Children are sensitively supported to spend time with their families and others who are important to them. The manager and staff support children and their families to overcome any difficulties in relationships. As a result, children spend more quality time with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's health needs are met well. Children attend all their routine health appointments. Help and support from specialists are sought when necessary. Staff work closely with health professionals to ensure that children receive the appropriate support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities, both in the home and in the community. These include going to the cinema, go-karting and a summer holiday to Blackpool. Children have access to many activities in the home, including art therapy, cooking sessions and shopping, and they can use entertainment technology, a gym, a library and large outside areas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well prepared for independence, developing practical skills and receiving emotional support. Staff help children to learn how to budget, cook their own meals and how to maintain a clean environment. Two children are due to move into semi- independent living due to the progress they have made at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home's physical environment is safe for children. The home is spacious and welcoming, and children have personalised their bedrooms. However, managers have not ensured that repairs in children's bedrooms are completed promptly. This does not provide a warm and comfortable environment for children.

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

Children feel safe at the home because of the good relationships that they have with staff and the support that they receive. They can talk to staff if they feel worried or upset. One child talked about how she has learned to recognise and manage her emotions better, and feels calmer since moving into the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2677723 4 The staff understand how to raise concerns. Managers ensure that staff understand the concept of whistleblowing and the routes available to them to raise a concern. The visibility and accessibility of senior managers mean that staff know who they are and feel able to contact them if necessary. Allegations against staff are managed appropriately and safeguarding partners are notified promptly.

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

The number of missing-from-home incidents has reduced. The manager and staff work well with other professionals when children go missing from the home. Staff maintain contact with children and relevant professionals and they use individual sessions with the children on their return to help them to understand the risks. All children receive a return home interview from the placing authority, and any new information is shared with staff to ensure that all individual risks are managed well.

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

Staff understand and manage children's risks well. Children receive appropriate help and support to manage their behaviour and feelings. Staff encourage positive behaviour with positive reinforcement and praise, which some children respond to appropriately. However, managers' oversight of incidents is not sufficiently robust, which reduces the opportunity to identify any themes and shortfalls and improve staff practice. In addition, managers have not ensured that staff rosters accurately reflect the shifts that they work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager has applied to register with Ofsted and has plans to enrol on her level 5 qualification. The new manager is supported by an experienced responsible individual who knows the home very well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The culture of the home is characterised by high expectations. Leaders and managers work proactively with other professionals and build positive relationships with parents. Managers know the children very well and share children's progress with professionals and parents. This results in a shared approach to providing children with good-quality care and support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals report good communication with the home. They said that the staff are committed to supporting children and attend all significant meetings. Leaders and managers work proactively with external agencies and families and take on board feedback for service development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings and supervision sessions take place regularly. These spaces are used to discuss children's care and talk about strategies that the staff feel work best. Staff benefit from individual and group reflection sessions with the in-house therapist to help them to understand children's trauma and build resilience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff morale is high. They attend a range of relevant training, both online and face to face. Staff undertake additional targeted training to meet children's individual needs, including therapeutic training, such as mentalisation and systemic approaches. Staff say that they find the sessions beneficial and they help to develop their practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2677723 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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that there is clear evidence of management oversight on all significant incidents. Leaders and managers must ensure that all staff on shift are reflected on the staff roster in line with schedule 4, sections 2 and 3. 30 April 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home's policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful and clear recording. In particular, this refers to staff using appropriate and sensitive language when recording information about individual children. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, in order for the children's home to be a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of children, they should ensure that all repairs are completed promptly in children's bedrooms. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children's home: 2677723 6

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Information about this inspection

Inspector has 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: 2677723 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 2 Bristol Avenue, London NW9 4EW

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Inspector

Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2677723 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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