Children's Home run by Elm Lodge Residential limited in Essex

Inspection report for children's home: 2808727 1 Registered provider: Elm Lodge Residential limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in December 2024 and is operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to 3 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2025.

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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: 2808727 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/06/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2808727 3

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Summary of findings

The home is run by an experienced manager and responsible individual. Staff are provided with good opportunities for learning and development. However, there are areas that require improvement, which have led to the home’s overall grading. Children have poor routines that prevent them from engaging with education. Children do not experience positive moves out of the home. There have been occasions when the staff have not sought timely medical attention for a child. Leadership and management oversight in some areas is ineffective, and there have been delays in reviewing safe practice.

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improvement to be good

One child has moved out since the last inspection. Leaders and managers gave notice on the child’s placement as they could not keep both children safe together. The child remained in the home for several days after notice was served. There was no transition work completed with the child during this time.

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home. The inspector spoke with the child during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not helped the child to build a healthy routine. The child is often awake throughout the night and cannot take part in activities the next day as they are tired.

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improvement to be good

Staff have advocated for the child to support them with their education. They are waiting for home tuition sessions to start. Staff are supporting the child to complete education worksheets while waiting for home tuition to start.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to explore their gender and identity. The child said they would speak with staff members if they had any concerns. The child said they felt listened to. The child benefits from bespoke, in-depth conversations with staff. This helps to support the child’s safety and wellbeing.

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improvement to be good

The home is spacious and has a good-sized garden. Maintenance work is completed in a timely manner to ensure the environment is well maintained. The child’s bedroom is tailored to their taste.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to spend time with family. One parent said that there is good communication with staff, and they feel that staff do their best to support their child. Professionals said that the staff are working with the child in a trauma-informed way and supporting them to make progress. Inspection report for children's home: 2808727 4

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments are bespoke and kept up to date. These provide staff with guidance around what to do. However, on occasion, staff have not followed risk assessments.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always show the right level of curiosity to understand what is happening for children. There were occasions where children were not adequately supervised overnight. Staff have not had open conversations with children to help them manage their relationships.

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improvement to be good

On 2 occasions, there was a delay in getting medical support for children when it was needed. These occasions both followed incidents that could have caused harm to children. Medical attention was eventually sought, and the children received the support they needed.

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improvement to be good

Physical restraint is used only when required. However, reports have not been clearly written. Several incidents have not been reviewed by managers. This limits safeguards for children and does not help staff to positively develop their practice.

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improvement to be good

Staff know what to do when children go missing from home. Missing-from-home protocols for children are clear and reflect their individual needs. Staff follow children, report them missing and update risk assessments. Staff keep professionals and family members updated when children go missing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home is run by an experienced manager, who is committed to their role and to improving outcomes for children. They are aware of the shortfalls and have a plan in place to improve practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

On occasion, managers have not notified the regulator when serious incidents have occurred. This limits the regulator in having effective oversight of the service. Managers have also not added timely reviews to all incident records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers and staff receive regular and effective supervision sessions. These provide the staff with space to raise any concerns and reflect on their practice. However, not all staff have had their yearly practice appraisal. This means learning and development needs within the team may be missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Team meetings regularly take place. They consider any presenting concerns and provide a space for the team members to share their views. The manager uses team meetings to support the staff’s learning and development. Inspection report for children's home: 2808727 5 Staff provided positive feedback about their role and said that they feel supported by the management team. Staff feel confident in expressing any concerns to management. Inspection report for children's home: 2808727 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, 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv)(vi)(b)) 11 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(e)) 11 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2808727 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that support is provided to each child leaving the home in the period immediately before their departure. The registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that each child’s transition is planned and help each child to prepare for leaving both practically and emotionally. In the event children must leave the home, they should receive follow-up contact to provide them with emotional closure. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.19)  The registered person should ensure that staff encourage children to take a proactive role in looking after their day-to-day health and well-being. In particular, support children to develop routines to improve their wellbeing and enable them to take part in meaningful activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure they have oversight of all incidents. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. As part of the performance management process, poor performance should be addressed by a timely plan to bring about improvement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: 2808727 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Elm Lodge Residential limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 47 Elm Road, Shoeburyness, Southend-on-Sea SS3 9PD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Matthew Nyarambi

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Inspector

Abby Lynch, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2808727 9 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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