Children's home run by T-Junction Children’s Services

Inspection report for children’s home: 1252023 1 Registered provider: T-Junction Children’s Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. It offers care for up to 3 children who have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living in the home and contributed to the inspection.

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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: 29 January 2025

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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: 1252023 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/01/2025 Full Good 14/06/2023 Full Good 31/01/2023 Full Good 25/10/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 1252023 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make significant progress when measured against their individual starting points. Staff understand children’s individual needs well and promote consistent care. Staff help children to develop trusting, positive relationships with adults.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure children take part in fantastic opportunities that broaden their experiences and make memories. Staff promote children’s participation in new activities and experiences, including opportunities that children have not previously had, such as holidays abroad.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate an excellent understanding of children’s individual communication needs. Staff effectively support children to use communication tools individual to their needs and communication styles. This has helped children become more confident in expressing their wishes, views and feelings and are increasingly able to participate in decisions about their lives and daily routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop independence skills appropriate to their age and stage of development. Staff carefully plan transitions for children who are preparing to move on from the home into independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s moves out of the home are thoughtful and personalised, ensuring that children feel supported and prepared for the next stage of their lives. Staff use approaches individual to children’s communication needs to help them understand and prepare for changes in their care arrangements. This ensures that children are included in planning and feel reassured during periods of transition. Staff maintain strong relationships with children when they move on from the home and go the extra mile to ensure children continue to be supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure children access education and are supported to make good progress. Staff work effectively with education providers to ensure that children attend and engage in learning. For one child, this has supported their successful transition into mainstream education after several years of specialist education. Where children are not accessing full time education, staff provide structured routines and educational activities within the home and community to maintain learning and stability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure conversations with children are child led and encourage them to explore and express their feelings. These discussions are meaningful and are adapted to each child’s communication style, helping children to feel heard, valued and understood.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities. Staff respond to children’s behaviours consistently and in line with their individual support Inspection report for children’s home: 1252023 4 plans. Children’s care and support plans reflect their individual needs and known risks however some plans lack detail around specific strategies that are most effective for individual children.

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

Staff support children to take risks in a safe and planned way. This helps children build confidence and develop essential life skills while ensuring that potential risks are carefully managed. Staff demonstrate a balanced approach between protecting children and encouraging their personal growth.

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

Staff help children understand their emotions and how these can influence their behaviour. Staff demonstrate confidence in using de-escalation techniques in response to children’s behaviours. Staff take time to talk with children following incidents and help them reflect on their feelings and choices. Staff empower children to use positive behaviour strategies, enabling children to learn safer ways to manage strong emotions and challenging situations.

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

The manager carefully considers children moving into the home and ensures that admissions are planned and child centred. However, the assessment to consider the needs and risks of children living together does not consider the known risks in detail.

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

Door alarms are in use in the home on children’s bedroom doors. There are currently no review mechanisms in place for monitoring if they are still required or what the rationale for continuing their use is.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report positive, consistent support from leaders and managers. The manager is visible within the home and provides staff with guidance and reassurance when managing children’s complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal care planning meetings take place regularly and provide an effective forum for staff to share information and coordinate care and support for children. This approach ensures that children’s complex needs are considered carefully and that there is a consistent plan in place to support them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that supervision and team meetings are helpful and provide valuable opportunities to reflect on practice. These forums enable staff to discuss children’s progress, consider different approaches to support, and share learning as a team. Records of staff supervisions are not sufficiently detailed to demonstrate the depth of discussion and reflective practice that staff share takes place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a range of training opportunities individual to children’s needs. As a result, staff share having improved knowledge and skills to meet children’s complex, individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers focus on improving staff’s confidence in using communication tools relevant to the children’s individual needs. This has strengthened staff’s ability to Inspection report for children’s home: 1252023 5 understand and respond to children’s communication needs, enabling children to express themselves more effectively and be better understood.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works collaboratively with partner agencies to ensure that children receive coordinated support. The manager is a strong advocate for children and is prepared to challenge other professionals when necessary to ensure children receive the right services and support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Independent monitoring reports reflect limited triangulation of information, insufficient direct consultation with children, and a lack of consistent feedback from stakeholders. Inspection report for children’s home: 1252023 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. In particular, ensure there is a system in place to assess and review the appropriateness of bedroom door alarms. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They are

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Recommendations

responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. In particular, ensure there is good oversight of all records relating to children to confirm the correct level of detail is recorded. In particular, ensure the quality of monitoring under regulation 44 allows for continued development of good practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: 1252023 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: T-Junction Children’s Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 27 The Pastures, Narborough, Leicester LE19 3DS

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Inspector

Chloe Harvey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1252023 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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Inspector

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