Children's Home run by Bright Oak Care Ltd in Haringey

Inspection report for children’s home: 2862190 1 Registered provider: Bright Oak Care 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

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to 3 children with social and/or emotional difficulties. There was one child living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 7 January 2026, and the registered manager’s post has been vacant since 7 April 2026. This is the first inspection of the home.

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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: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2862190 2

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Summary of findings

The registered manager’s post has been vacant since April 2026. There is no effective oversight of the home and staff are not offered relevant training to meet the needs of the child in their care and provide consistency. Recruitment practices in the home are not robust. Restraint incidents are not accurately recorded and evaluated to review their effectiveness and to help improve staff practice. Feedback from relevant professionals is varied regarding how well the staff understand the child’s needs. Nevertheless, the child has developed good relationships with the staff. Staff support the child to make choices about activities and menu planning and listen to their suggestions about the service; they make changes as a result of this feedback. Staff are positive about working in the home and feel well supported. They describe the leadership team as approachable, visible and responsive to individual diverse needs.

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls in leadership, management and safeguarding practice are compromising the child’s progress and experiences.

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improvement to be good

The child enjoys positive and trusting relationships with staff. Staff show care, compassion and warmth towards the child. This enables the child to talk to staff about things that worry them and has helped them to settle in the home. Staff support the child to spend time with their family and others who are important to them.

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improvement to be good

The child’s wishes and feelings are respected. Staff are creative and use a range of resources to enable the child to express how they feel. The child’s views are consistently recorded and responded to. This helps the child to feel heard and to understand what action has been taken to address their concerns.

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improvement to be good

The child enjoys a range of activities that are specific to their needs and plans. The child has structured time at home as well as opportunities to have new experiences in the community. For example, staff support the child to have swimming lessons, and the child is proud of the progress they are making.

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improvement to be good

The home’s physical environment is well maintained and safe for the child. The home is warm and welcoming and has a family atmosphere. The child is supported to decorate their bedroom, and this helps them to feel settled.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child well with their health needs. Staff ensure that the child attends routine and specialist health appointments. Staff advocate for the child to receive appropriate healthcare. In addition, staff support the child with healthy eating and the child now regularly enjoys cooked meals. This has helped to improve the child’s health and wellbeing. Inspection report for children’s home: 2862190 3

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improvement to be good

Generally, the home has effective procedures in place, and there are no significant concerns regarding safeguarding. However, although not widespread, some shortfalls were identified on this inspection.

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improvement to be good

The child living in the home is subject to high levels of supervision and restriction in response to their assessed risks. This includes two-to-one staffing at the home and in the community. However, leaders and managers have not offered additional relevant training to support staff to understand the child’s needs. For example, the child was able to leave the care and supervision of staff on one occasion for 5 hours while in the community. However, this incident was managed well; staff followed the child’s missing- from-care protocol and completed an individual follow-up session with the child to help them to understand the risks.

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improvement to be good

Staff only use physical restraint when it is necessary to safeguard the child and others. There have been 3 incidents since the child moved to the home. However, incidents of restraint and the method of restraint used are not always clearly recorded. In addition, restraint records lack sufficient management oversight. This compromises the requirement for the home to hold an accurate record of all events that have an impact on children’s welfare and safety.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment processes are not robust. Leaders and managers do not consistently explore gaps in staff employment or the reasons why staff left previous employments. Some staff have inconsistent dates between records of employment in their application. In addition, leaders and managers do not show that risk assessments completed following staff recruitment checks are discussed with the staff to review the actions set.

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improvement to be good

Staff use a clear reward system to promote and encourage positive behaviour. Leaders and managers have introduced a culture of using restorative approaches in place of applying consequences. However, when consequences are used, staff do not record the child’s reflection and there is no clear management oversight to review their effectiveness.

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

The lack of a registered manager for the home has created a leadership gap, which has contributed to inconsistency in staff practice.

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

Leaders and managers do not have effective monitoring systems to review the quality of care provided to the child and to identify key themes. The quality of records is inconsistent. In addition, managers do not always respond to the shortfalls in staff recording of significant incidents. This compromises management oversight and the development of the service. Inspection report for children’s home: 2862190 4 The quality and frequency of staff supervision are variable and not in line with the home’s statement of purpose. In addition, the staff induction programme is not always monitored to ensure that all the required learning for the new staff is completed within the expected timescale. This has an impact on staff having the opportunity to talk about their practice and to have their learning and development reviewed.

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

Staff say that they feel well supported by leaders and managers. However, there have been occasions when the child has been cared for by staff who were not suitably trained in restraint practice. This practice potentially places the child and staff at risk.

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

Leaders’ and managers’ relationships with the child’s professional networks are varied. The child’s social worker provided positive feedback about the care the child is receiving and the quality of communication from staff. Overall, partnership working with professionals is appropriate. However, some professionals and a parent shared concerns about inconsistent communication from staff and were not confident that staff were fully equipped to meet the child’s complex needs.

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

Leaders and managers are aware of the impact that staff shortages are having on the child and the team, especially given the dependency on the use of agency staff. They have a plan to address this shortfall through continuous recruitment. The use of agency staff is carefully managed to ensure that staffing levels continue to meet the child’s needs for consistency. Inspection report for children’s home: 2862190 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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In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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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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help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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

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

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are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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)(i)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities when protecting children from harm, that all incidents are promptly reviewed and that any identified learning is completed to improve the staff practice. 26 June 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2862190 6 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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helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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

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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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ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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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use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that the home is led and managed in a way that is consistent with the home’s approach and ethos as outlined in the statement of purpose. This includes ensuring that staff are suitably trained and receive appropriate induction and supervision and are given opportunity to reflect on practice.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that they understand and monitor the quality of care provided to the child and take effective action to address shortfalls in practice. 26 June 2026

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The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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the registered provider— 26 June 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2862190 7 is an organisation or a partnership;

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is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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the name of the person so appointed; and

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the date on which the appointment takes effect.

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(Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) (2)(a)(b))

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In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that they appoint a manager for the home and ensure that the manager applies for registration with Ofsted.

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The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff have written references and all gaps in staff employment histories are checked during the recruitment process.

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Leaders and managers must ensure that any staff risk assessments completed following recruitment checks are reviewed with staff through supervision. 26 June 2026

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Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out— 26 June 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2862190 8 how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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a description of the measure and its duration;

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details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that, when behaviour management measures are used, they are recorded accurately and evaluated to review their effectiveness and that any identified learning is discussed with the team. Inspection report for children’s home: 2862190 9 Leaders and managers must ensure that all staff are trained in the approach used in the home to manage challenging situations.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the use of agency staff is carefully monitored and reviewed to ensure that children receive continuity of care. No more than half of the staff on duty at any one time should be from an external agency. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraphs 10.16 and 10.17)  The registered person should work in close partnership with the children’s support network. In particular, the registered person should ensure that they maintain effective communication with placing authorities and take actions to escalate concerns where they consider responses to be inadequate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 11, paragraph 2.5)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their

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Recommendations

behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2862190 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bright Oak Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1278 High Road, London N20 9HH

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Inspector

Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2862190 11 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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