Children's home run by Break Charity

Inspection report for children’s home: SC060034 1 SC060034 Registered provider: Break Charity Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a registered charity and provides short breaks for up to 6 children at any one time. The children who use the service have learning disabilities and may also have associated physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2020.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC060034 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/03/2025 Full Outstanding 13/02/2024 Full Outstanding 04/01/2023 Full Good 20/07/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC060034 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

While there are elements of outstanding practice and progress for children, shortfalls in help and protect have contributed to an overall judgment of good.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been 7 children who have begun to access short breaks and 3 children who ceased short breaks since the last inspection. One child left the service due to turning 18.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers, prior to the children accessing short breaks, complete robust assessments of the staff’s ability to the children’s needs. This assessment includes meeting the child in their education placement and seeking feedback from parents and other involved professionals. Children’s short breaks are well planned for each stay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by skilled staff who know them well. Managers value staff’s views, experience and knowledge of children. They use this to plan children’s care. Managers consider the group dynamics when planning stays for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager ensures that children’s plans and risk assessments are detailed and child focused. The manager also ensures that children’s abilities and personalities are reflected in the home’s written records. These are kept up to date, clear and consistent. Thought is given to how to involve children in the decisions made about their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to enjoy their short breaks and make good progress. Children’s individual targets are considered in all elements of their care planning. Staff celebrate the children’s achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers are proactive rather than reactive, and this filters down to the staff. Staff carefully plan shifts in daily meetings. This ensures that the expectations of who is supporting which child and who is responsible for things such as first aid and fire safety during the shift are clear. This contributes to consistent and good-quality care. Children’s individual targets are discussed in daily meetings, with thought given as to how children are going to be supported that day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with opportunities to try new things, meet new people and engage in the community. They have enjoyed a wide range of experiences that would likely not have been possible outside of the support provided by the short break service. Children have enjoyed trips to theme parks, seasonal activities, soft play, parks, the cinema and swimming.

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

Careful assessment and care planning mean that the home is a settled, calm and positive environment for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC060034 4 Staff manage difficult situations well. There have been no physical restraints since the last inspection. The manager ensures forward thinking to prevent restraints being needed. There is individual guidance for staff in relation to each child should a restraint be needed. This considers how best to talk to children and gain their views after any restraint.

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

There are some restrictions on children’s freedom and access to areas of the home, such as locked external doors and supervised access to the kitchen. The manager ensures that these restrictions are necessary to keep children safe and are as least restrictive as possible. All restrictions are agreed in writing by the relevant professionals and regularly reviewed.

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

On one occasion, a child was able to obtain and ingest cleaning products. Staff appropriately sought medical attention, and the child did not suffer any significant ill effects. An investigation was undertaken and staff were open to lessons learned. However, despite this being a serious incident when an accumulation of events led to the child being able to access potentially harmful substances, no notification was made to Ofsted.

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

There has been one allegation made since the last inspection. Leaders and managers took immediate and decisive action to ensure the safety of children. However, they did not consult with, or inform, the relevant safeguarding agencies. Leaders and managers completed an internal investigation without the direction of the local authority designated officer. This is not in line with local or national safeguarding guidance. The failure to notify Ofsted and relevant safeguarding professionals of significant incidents and safeguarding concerns undermines their ability to undertake their core statutory and safeguarding responsibilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team benefits from stable management arrangements. The suitably experienced registered manager works closely with the deputy manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers maintain appropriate oversight of all incidents and the day-to-day running of the home. They have a good grip on the home and know the young people and staff team well. They complete monthly audits and regularly review whether children’s targets remain measurable and achievable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff use regular surveys to gain the views and feedback from parents and professionals. Managers and staff use this feedback to continually improve the service. Staff have introduced quarterly newsletters to the parents and professionals to keep them informed of the trips that have been happening, to reiterate the complaints procedure and to share pictures and information about the staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC060034 5 Feedback from parents and professionals is consistently extremely positive. One professional said that the home is a ‘gold standard’. One parent said that in the 13 years their child had been using the service, staff had been ‘nothing but amazing’. Other parents and professionals were equally positive about the home and the care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One member of staff who has been employed for 10 months has not yet completed any safeguarding training. Not all staff have training in relation to safeguarding disabled children. This means there is potential for not all staff to fully understand the additional vulnerabilities of disabled children and, as staff, their roles and responsibilities to safeguard the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC060034 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 which—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the home is located. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)) 15 April 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should quickly notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. In particular, the manager should ensure that all staff complete training relating to the safeguarding of disabled children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) Inspection report for children’s home: SC060034 7

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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: SC060034 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Schofield House, Spar Road, Norwich NR6 6BX

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Inspectors

Andrea Bounden, Social Care Inspector Gemma McNevin, His Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC060034 9 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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