Children's Home run by Crusoe Care Limited 06843979 in East Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 1 SC484302 Registered provider: Crusoe Care Limited 06843979 Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to 2 children who experience social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living in the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The current registered manager has been in post since October 2014.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/07/2025 Full Outstanding 18/09/2024 Full Good 21/09/2023 Full Good 13/12/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 3

p.2

Summary of findings

Both children are making exceptional progress. They have excellent relationships with staff and enjoy positive daily experiences. The children report being very happy and settled and say they enjoy living in the home. Staff keep the children safe by maintaining positive working relationships with external professionals and having an excellent understanding of the children’s needs. Staff are creative in how they help children to feel happy and emotionally regulated. Staff and leaders advocate effectively for the children. External professionals speak positively about the relationships that staff have with children. Staff are provided with good levels of support and have access to good-quality training to develop their skills.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children receive effective and highly personalised care, which allows them to make excellent progress in all areas of their lives. The staff team nurtures children to thrive and make sustained changes in their lives. Staff focus on building positive and lasting relationships with children. Children feel valued and listened to.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff encourage the children to express their views and contribute to decisions made in the home. This helps the children to build trust and know that staff will listen to them and respond to their feedback. Children receive letters from staff that provide them with updates on requests they have made. The children feel confident in approaching staff when they have issues or need support.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children with a wide range of needs, and they tailor their support expertly to ensure that each child feels valued as an individual. Whether children are navigating the complexities of relationships or learning to manage complex and difficult emotions, staff always provide well-considered advice and age-appropriate support. Staff are creative in their approach to helping children understand complex situations. For one child, staff use puppets and toys to help explain situations. Staff have also used the puppets to help the child with brushing their teeth, going to school and personal care.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Both children are achieving in education and have excellent school attendance. One child is on track to achieve the qualifications they need for college. Another child had been struggling with peer relationships in school. Staff have worked with education professionals to ensure that the child received the most appropriate support in school. The child is now in the right class for their age and stage of development.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are receiving excellent support to prepare them for adulthood. One child is learning to manage their mobile phone safely. Staff purchased the mobile phone for the child, and the child worked towards paying for it by carrying out household tasks. This ensures that the child is learning the value of money. Another child is involved in cooking meals and baking cakes for everyone at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 4 Key work with children is of very high quality. Staff write letters directly to the children, which creates a strong sense of belonging and helps children feel valued, understood and listened to. This personalised approach strengthens positive relationships, supports emotional development, and encourages children to reflect on their experiences and progress.

p.3

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

This is a safe and stable home in which children thrive. Staff provide effective protection from harm and help children develop the skills they need to keep themselves safe. Staff know the children exceptionally well and can identify subtle changes in behaviour, enabling them to offer timely and appropriate support.

p.4

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

The stable and consistent staff team contributes to children feeling secure, settled and content in the home. Physical intervention is rarely required and has only been used on one occasion since the last inspection, reflecting the effectiveness of staff practice.

p.4

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

Incidents in the home are infrequent. Staff promote positive behaviour through consistent praise, rewards and incentives. For example, leaders have recently implemented the use of a ‘reward tree’, through which children earn daily rewards. This is a tangible and effective strategy for children. Children can easily see when their kindness is rewarded.

p.4

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

Staff are committed to meeting children’s individual needs. For example, while one child awaits assessment from health agencies, staff have proactively researched and implemented strategies to support their concentration and emotional regulation. As a result, there has been a noticeable reduction in incidents.

p.4

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

Recruitment processes are robust, ensuring that suitable staff are employed. Staff have a clear understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities, including how to identify and escalate concerns to relevant safeguarding partners. The manager and staff demonstrate good knowledge of the local area and potential risks, enabling them to take appropriate action to protect children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post for a significant period. He is supported by an equally experienced deputy manager. Plans are progressing for the deputy manager to take over as the registered manager of the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about the support they receive from leaders. Changes to supervision have meant that staff are provided with in-depth safeguarding scenarios. This helps staff to consider the actions they should take in certain situations. Supervision also focuses on staff wellbeing and development. Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 5 External professionals provide positive feedback. A social worker said, ‘I am pleased with [name of child]’s progress.’ They added, ‘[Name of child] has good, reliable, consistent relationships with their carers.’ Leaders regularly seek feedback from children and review the care they provide. However, leaders have not regularly submitted the quality of care review report to Ofsted, which inhibits the regulator from maintaining a suitable level of oversight.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders are committed to providing a safe, nurturing environment that reflects a family home. However, systems to review restrictions in the home are not consistently updated. For example, the kitchen door remains locked at night without an up-to-date risk assessment to justify this restriction. Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should carry out a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided in the home and the experiences of children living there. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)  The registered person should ensure that any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home are only made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

p.6

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: SC484302 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Crusoe Care Limited 06843979

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 25 Clinton Place, Seaford, East Sussex BN25 1NP

p.7

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Timothy McIlwaine

p.7

Inspector

Stephanie McDonald, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8