Children's Home run by Virtue Therapeutic Care and Education (East Sussex) Limited in East Sussex

Inspection report for children's home: 2675807 1 Registered provider: Virtue Therapeutic Care and Education (East Sussex) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is privately run and provides care for up to 8 children who experience social and emotional difficulties. There are currently 3 children living at the home.

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Information about this children's home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 7 May 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: 2675807 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/07/2025 Full Good 13/08/2024 Full Good 19/07/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2675807 3

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Summary of findings

Children are safeguarded effectively by staff who know them well. Incidents are rare because staff have built trusting relationships with children. Children are provided with opportunities to enhance their life skills, and this is helping them to prepare for adulthood. A recently appointed manager is supported by a committed deputy manager. Together, they provide support to staff, ensuring that they are equipped to deliver high- quality care to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from trusting relationships with staff who know them well. Children speak highly about the activities they take part in with staff, including boxing and playing music.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to engage in education. For one child who engages in education online, staff provide support to maintain routine and engagement. This ensures that the child makes progress in their learning. For another child who has struggled to attend formal education, staff are creative in providing educational activities such as playing chess, reading music and visiting museums.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children get ready for adulthood. One child has been accepted into the Army. Staff supported the child with the application process, interview preparation and developing the skills needed to be successful. Staff are supporting another child to prepare and budget for their first trip abroad. This is helping them to develop independence and financial management skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to share their views and wishes about the care that they receive. Staff help children to share their views through 'snack and chat' opportunities. This helps children to feel listened to. Children's thoughts and requests are discussed during staff team meetings, which allows staff to provide children with prompt feedback.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children's mental health by ensuring that they attend health appointments. For one child who has experienced mental health difficulties, staff have provided consistent care and stability. As a result, the child's mental health has improved, and they no longer require a waking night staff presence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain healthy relationships outside of the home. Staff have built effective partnerships with children's families and wider networks. This means that children spend safe and meaningful time with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment is warm and homely. It is clean and tidy, well furnished and decorated to a high standard. The home has clearly benefited from refurbishment and Inspection report for children's home: 2675807 4 development. Children's bedrooms are personalised to their own taste, and there are communal spaces for children to socialise and play together. However, the door to the games room is locked for a large portion of the day. This limits children's access to shared spaces within the home and discourages staff from using alternative strategies to help children make balanced decisions about their routines and time spent using electronic devices.

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

Restraint is rarely used in this home, as staff use a range of strategies to help children to express themselves in safer ways. However, when restraint is used, it is necessary, proportionate to the risk and minimally intrusive. Following the use of any restraint, staff help children to reflect on what happened. Leaders help staff to reflect and learn from their practice.

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

Staff follow the agreed safety plans when children go missing from home. They look for the child in the local area and the places that they may go to. Staff try to contact the child and their friends and report the incident to the police. When children return home, staff are welcoming and curious about the reasons why they left.

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

Staff help children to think about the likely consequences of their actions in the wider world. As a result, children are supported to develop socially acceptable behaviours and safe ways to express their emotions.

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

Leaders have recently made changes to improve online safety by installing new Wi-Fi and parental controls. Staff supervision of children's internet use is strong, and children are supported to learn about the risks of using the internet.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is supported by a knowledgeable deputy. Together, they provide staff with reflective supervision and support. Supervision is regular, with a focus on staff wellbeing and development. Staff say that they enjoy working in the home and feel supported by their colleagues and managers. They say that the environment is homely and that children benefit from positive relationships and genuine care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings provide staff with the opportunity to explore children's individual needs, progress, the barriers to progress and how staff can support them to achieve positive outcomes. Leaders and managers are introducing practice workshops for staff to attend with their specialist therapeutic service. It is hoped that this will further develop staff's understanding of children's needs and how to respond to them effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff engage in regular online and face-to-face training, which helps them to develop their practice and care for children well. Two staff members are out of timescales to complete their National Vocational Qualification Diploma. However, leaders have a clear Inspection report for children's home: 2675807 5 plan in place to ensure that these will be completed imminently. As part of this plan, the organisation has recently appointed a training and qualifications professional.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment checks are in place. The registered manager has oversight of all checks so that they can determine that staff are suitable to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals is positive. One social worker said that '[the child] has matured a lot since moving to [name of home]', and, 'The staff are brilliant.' Inspection report for children's home: 2675807 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children can access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child's needs. (Guide to the Children s Homes Regulations including the quality standards, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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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: 2675807 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Virtue Therapeutic Care and Education (East Sussex) Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Moran House Suites 7-8, 449-451 High Road, Wilesden, London NW10 2JJ

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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Duduzile Robbins

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Inspector

Stephanie McDonald, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2675807 8 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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Inspector

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