Children's Home run by Freshstart Care Solutions in Bromley

Inspection report for children’s home: 2745168 1 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Registered provider: Freshstart Care Solutions

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home cares for 2 children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted on 25 April 2024. The manager is suitably qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

There were 2 children living in the home at the time of this 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2745168 2 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/10/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2745168 3 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place children’s wellbeing at the centre of their practice and consistently ensure that their day ‑ to ‑ day needs are met. The staff’s dedication and open approach enable children to develop a nurturing and trusting relationship with the adults who care for them. Staff speak positively about the children and make every effort to get to know them well. As a result, children benefit from a strong sense of belonging in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff advocate strongly for children’s educational needs and take proactive steps to ensure that children engage in learning. They have worked with the virtual school to arrange for a tutor to visit the home to provide additional support with children’s learning. One social worker commented that staff demonstrated ‘patience, persistence and understanding, balancing encouragement with emotional sensitivity’ when supporting a child to re-engage with education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A clinical psychotherapist provides therapeutic support to both staff and children. They also offer insight and training on trauma-informed practice. This clinical lead commented that staff ‘show a clear awareness of the impact of trauma on children’s behaviour and emotional wellbeing’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Support plans and key-work sessions focus on helping children learn life skills such as how to cook and how to manage their money. This helps children to develop essential life skills in readiness for their adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive care and support when they are moving out of the home. For example, one child had a well-planned move into one of the provider’s supported accommodation premises. This enabled the child to experience continuity in their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment provides children with a calm, safe and stable base. There is a strong emphasis on creating a family atmosphere. Children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms. However, staff do not always ensure that children have opportunities to participate in activities they are interested in.

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

Managers and staff work hard to keep children safe from harm. Several members of staff commented about the importance of safeguarding children and why this is paramount. Children spoken to during the inspection commented that they are safe and can identify an adult they can go to if they were worried.

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

There is a stable, long-term staff team in the home, whose members provide consistency for children. Staff are knowledgeable about potential risks that children can face. Risk assessments are clear and detailed. Regular key-work and one-to-one sessions help children to have opportunities to talk about any worries and to be supported in Inspection report for children’s home: 2745168 4 OFSTED USE ONLY

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

recognising risks and understanding their vulnerabilities. Staff work closely with other professionals to keep children safe and serious incidents are rare. Social workers spoken to commented on the good communication with staff, who provide regular updates on children’s progress.

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

Children do go missing from the home. Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of the protocols that must be followed to safeguard children in these situations. Grab packs are up to date, and staff adhere to the local area missing-from-home procedures. Staff prioritise building trusting relationships with children and engage them in discussions about personal safety, which helps to reduce the frequency of children going missing again.

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

Staff receive training in a range of relevant areas, including trauma-informed practice, child sexual exploitation, active listening and de ‑ escalation techniques. Safeguarding training is robust, and staff show a sound understanding of their responsibilities for reporting concerns and applying the home’s whistleblowing procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a clear vision for the home. The registered manager demonstrates a genuine commitment to the children in his care. The registered manager has focused on building up a team of staff who are child centred in their approach to providing care and committed to meeting the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers promote professional development of their staff team. Supervision takes place regularly and focuses on staff well-being and the progress of children. Staff are appropriately challenged if needed and supported to make improvements. One member of staff said, ‘Supervision has helped me to build my confidence.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Annual appraisals set clear goals and objectives for the coming year. However, appraisals do not include feedback from the children and other professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are aware of the strengths of the service and areas for improvement. They ensure that recommendations from the independent visitor are actioned.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take a reflective approach that helps to support learning. However, recorded information that is for children is not written in a child-centred ways and does not reflect the work staff are doing with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual and registered manager are related. Not enough consideration has been given to the conflict of interest this creates and to the need for independent supervision of the registered manager to support effective reflective practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2745168 5 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Recommendations

 The registered person should seek to identify and provide appropriate opportunities for children to develop themselves in accordance with their wishes and feelings and as part of the home’s plan for their care. Each child’s talents and interests should be understood and nurtured, with children selecting activities based on their personal preferences and abilities, so far as is reasonable. Staff should also support children to try activities that are ‘new’ for them, where appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff performance appraisals are completed within agreed timescales and consider the views of children and professionals who have worked with the staff member. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the

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Recommendations

manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. Specifically, for the registered manager to receive supervision from an outside consultant. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. 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,

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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: 2745168 6 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Freshstart Care Solutions

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Orchard House, 114–118 Cherry Orchard Road, Croydon CR0 6BA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Greg Ugorji-Everest

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Dillon Ugorji-Everest

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Inspector

Julie Cresswell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2745168 7 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Inspector

regulates and inspects to 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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