Children's Home run by Centre 404 in Tower Hamlets

Inspection report for children’s home: 2644282 1 Registered provider: Centre 404 Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 10 June 2021 and is run by a registered charity. It provides short breaks for up to 4 children. A total of 28 children use the service. Four children were staying for a short break at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The provider states in its statement of purpose that the home provides care for children with autism spectrum disorder and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and/or learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2026.

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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: 2644282 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/10/2024 Full Good 27/06/2023 Full Good 28/06/2022 Full Good 22/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2644282 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy positive experiences during their stays. Children who attend for short breaks receive good-quality care, individualised to their specific needs. The empathic, caring and fun, child-led interactions observed between children and staff are a strength of this short-break home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know and act on children’s wishes and feelings, including their food choices, activities and interests. They use appropriate methods of communication to support children who are non-verbal, including pictures and signs. Staff use creative methods to support children to understand daily routines. These increase children’s confidence, understanding and autonomy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are also supported to enjoy activities in the community, including visits to the zoo, attending a summer garden party and visiting London attractions, such as the London Eye. Activities offered to children provide appropriate stimulation and align with individual targets and development goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Positive and effective communication between staff and parents, carers and external professionals ensures that the care they provide to children is bespoke and responsive to their current needs. Parents say they are confident in leaving their child for their stay and that staff are accessible and keep them informed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been some improvements to the home environment since the last inspection. This includes new furniture and colour pads on the ceilings in the open lounge and kitchen area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has recently been temporarily closed to enable maintenance work to be undertaken, including updating electrical and fire systems. Unfortunately, the work undertaken has not taken sufficient account of the impact on children’s overall experiences within the home and the environment does not feel homely. There are exposed pipes in children’s rooms that could impact on children’s health and safety, and these have also created an institutional feel to the home. The bathroom area has mould and is damp. Leaders and managers have liaised with the local authority, who own the building, regarding the work required. The redecoration of the home is in progress.

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

Staff understand individual children’s needs well. They recognise when children may become upset or distressed and respond to them appropriately. They use effective strategies to reduce the child’s anxiety and support them to feel understood and safe. However incident records do not detail fully how incidents are managed and when restraints occur. The manager’s oversight is not consistently recorded. This is a missed opportunity to promote reflection and improve interventions with children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2644282 4 Care plans are in place for the children, although they do not capture progress against the care goals for each child, and new information about children, such as emerging behaviours and risks, is not always included. This does not support staff in gaining a clear picture of children’s changing needs and how best to support them.

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

There have been a few occasions when children have gone missing from the home. Leaders and managers have taken appropriate action to ensure that children are safe in the home. This includes increasing staff ratios and sharing concerns with partner agencies to ensure that further support is provided for children when this is needed. This has led to no further missing incidents occurring.

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

Safer recruitment practices have improved since the last inspection, with all required checks now being undertaken in respect of new staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a high turnover of staff. The registered manager has ensured that most vacancies have now been filled. The use of agency staff is kept to a minimum and the same agency staff are used to ensure consistency of care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers respond quickly to allegations and complaints. They carry out thorough investigations and ensure that there is no delay. Appropriate actions are taken, which support staff in ensuring good practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been proactive in ensuring that learning reviews take place following any allegations being made against staff. Additional face to face training is provided to staff, including safeguarding training. The training promotes children’s dignity and privacy and includes developing positive behaviour and improving recording practice for daily logs. The training has led to an improvement in practice and greater sensitivity to children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision is reflective and supports staff to build their professional skills and to be attuned to the needs of children. Staff receive appropriate training to meet the needs of children, and they are supported to develop professionally. Supervision records are detailed and include management oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly, providing opportunities to support staff learning and promote good practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2644282 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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that they provide a homely environment and continue to repair and clean all areas of the home. This includes treating mould in the children’s bathroom, ensuring appropriate ventilation to prevent damp and condensation, ensuring exposed pipes in the children’s bedrooms are enclosed to prevent harm or injury to children and repairing the paving at the front of the home to ensure children’s safety. 30 May 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—

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Requirement Due date

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; 30 May 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2644282 6 demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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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)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that information shared by partner agencies is reflected in care planning documents, that evidence of children’s progress against care goals is reflected in care plans and that management oversight is evident on case records.

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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: 2644282 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Centre 404, 404 Camden Road, London N7 0SJ

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Inspector

Angela Reid, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2644282 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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