Children's Home run by The Amicus Community (Arundel) Ltd in West Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 1 Registered provider: The Amicus Community (Arundel) Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is part of an independent children’s therapeutic community, which is accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. It provides care for up to 5 children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2024.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/07/2025 Full Good 07/11/2024 Full Good 26/09/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 3

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Summary of findings

Children have positive relationships with staff and are making progress. However, shortfalls in leadership and management have also had an impact on how well children are helped and protected and this has led to an overall judgement of ‘requires improvement to be good’. Practice is not consistently child ‑ centred. Communication is sometimes unclear or overly institutional, and staff do not always capture children’s views or feedback when allegations are made. Safeguarding systems are not well linked, limiting effective oversight. Some consequences are disproportionate, and the use of therapeutic language that is not child ‑ friendly is mirrored by children.

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improvement to be good

When supporting children, staff use therapeutic language that is not child friendly. As a result, children are copying the same language in conversations. This can make everyday communication feel less natural for children and may contribute to them becoming institutionalised rather than developing age appropriate, familiar ways of speaking.

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improvement to be good

Children have positive relationships with staff. They enjoy spending time with the staff who care for them. Staff know the children well and respond to them with patience and encouragement, helping them feel understood and supported. As a result, children are happy, engaged and feel comfortable with staff.

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improvement to be good

Children attend the organisation’s school and have good attendance. When they struggle, staff put tailored support in place that meets their needs. This is well coordinated with school staff to ensure that it is effective. For example, one child listens to music on the walk to school to help them stay calm. This joined-up approach helps children engage positively in education.

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improvement to be good

Children are making progress from their starting points. One child has developed trusting relationships with staff while another that recently moved to the home is starting to engage with the support being offered.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a safe, clean and welcoming home. Bedrooms are tidy and nicely decorated, and children’s artwork and photos are displayed in communal areas. This helps create a homely environment, where children feel comfortable. Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 4 Children take part in a range of activities that they enjoy, including football training, cooking, swimming and roller skating. This helps children to build confidence, develop skills and have fun.

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improvement to be good

Children are well supported, when they move into the home and when they leave. Clear plans are in place to guide these moves and make the process easier for children. This helps children feel prepared and supported during important changes in their lives.

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improvement to be good

When children make allegations about staff, managers share information with the relevant safeguarding agencies, however, follow up discussions with children do not always take place. As a result, children’s experiences and worries are not always fully understood and responded to in order to inform practice and to let children know how their concerns have been addressed.

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improvement to be good

Systems for managing and overseeing safeguarding incidents are not well linked. They do not reliably capture internal investigations or initial fact-finding because oversight is spread across several managers. As a result, safeguarding concerns are not always tracked, reviewed and responded to in a coordinated and effective way.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers consult with the local authority designated officer and make referrals, when there are concerns about staff practice. This ensures that safeguarding concerns are shared promptly with the appropriate external professionals. However, protocols do not clearly set out what immediate steps the manager may or may not take to establish the facts and provide prompt support to children and staff.

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improvement to be good

Consequences are used to help children reflect on their behaviour, and staff support them to think about what happened. However, some consequences are not proportionate or linked to the behaviour. For example, children eating breakfast in their bedroom. This approach risks children experiencing institutional responses rather than fair, child-centred support.

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improvement to be good

Physical restraints are well managed with good oversight. Leaders and managers analyse the use, frequency and length of physical restraints over time. They identify what works and key trigger times and events for children. As a result, the use of physical restraints is reducing. Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 5

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good

The registered manager does not have day-to-day oversight of the home. The home is led by a home manager. Leaders are supporting the home manager to make an application to register with Ofsted.

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good

Since the last inspection, the home manager has not consistently received regular supervision. Supervision sessions are not routinely documented and notes are not shared with the manager. This removes a level of accountability in relation to managing development and performance.

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good

Staff appraisals have not been completed and are now out of date. As a result, staff have not received timely feedback and leaders’ oversight of performance and development needs is limited.

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good

Children’s records are not written in child-focused language. Consequently, if children were to read their records in the future, they may not understand the language used to document their time in the home.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision and feel supported by the home manager. However, they reflected on staff turnover and the pressures of this on the team. Leaders and managers are taking all reasonable steps to recruit new staff to maintain stability for children.

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good

The home manager has day-to-day oversight by working closely with staff and being actively involved in children’s routines. They identify training needs quickly, give staff protected time to learn and use supervision well to set targets and build staff confidence. This supports a positive culture and helps staff to provide consistent care.

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good

Feedback from professionals and parents is mixed. Some professionals stated that communication was positive and that children were well supported. However, some professionals and a parent raised concerns about communication and the use of institutional language. A parent said, ‘I wish they would not use jargon. When they use jargon, I find it hard.’ As a result, the inconsistency in communication affects parents’ and professionals’ ability to fully understand how children are being supported. Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 6

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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, 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that supervision of managers should take place consistently and be recorded in a timely manner. Supervision notes should be shared with supervisees and confirm that they are in agreement with the notes agreed actions.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make sure that children’s records are written in caring, language that reflects each child’s individual needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make sure that language that staff use when caring and supporting children is child-focused to not institutionalise children. 31 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 7 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when children make allegations about staff the outcome is fed back to them.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that safeguarding systems are effective and roles and responsibilities are clear.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, when children raise concerns, ensure these are addressed promptly and that children understand how their concerns have been addressed. 31 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child.

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Requirement Due date

The following measures may not be used to discipline any child—

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Requirement Due date

any restriction, other than one imposed by a court or in accordance with regulation 22 (contact and access to communications), on—

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should ensure that consequences are proportionate and implemented in line with the behaviour. 31 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— 31 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 8 have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year.

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Recommendations

 The registered persons should have a key role in seeking to develop the home’s effective working relationships with each child’s placing authority and with parents. These working relationships will also be key to success in delivering the care planning standard (regulation 14). This includes communicating regularly with parents in a language that is clear so that they remain fully informed about their children’s needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3)

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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: 2696602 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Amicus Community (Arundel) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Coach House, Arundel Road, Fontwell, Arundel BN18 0SX

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Inspectors

Chido Mangava, Social Care Inspector Lee Kirwin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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