Children's Home run by Abbey Green Therapeutic Children’s Services Ltd in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2613829 1 Registered provider: Abbey Green Therapeutic Children’s Services 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 owned by a private provider and cares for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a new manager in post. They have submitted their application to be registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At time of inspection, 4 children were living at the home. The inspector spoke with and spent time with all the children who contributed to the inspection.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2613829 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/06/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/08/2024 Full Good 06/06/2023 Full Good 06/04/2022 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2613829 3

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Summary of findings

Children have experienced stability and there have been no changes in the children living in the home since the last inspection. Children experience positive relationships with staff. They are supported in all areas of their lives by knowledgeable staff. Some children make unfounded allegations, but these are managed confidently and appropriately by managers. Some children have experienced incidents involving physical intervention. Staff understand how to manage this, and an analysis of events seeks to support a reduction over time. There has been a change of manager since the last inspection, and this has been positive and has led to improvement in staff wellbeing and morale. Staff are building confidence in their roles.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience warm and positive relationships with staff. This supports them to feel safe in the home and have stability. Children’s voices are central to the day-to-day running of the home. Staff and managers actively seek children’s views and adjust children’s plans so that they are personalised and reflect individual needs. The manager looks to have a positive connection with all the children. He makes individual time for them through ‘snacks and chats’ meetings each week. As a result, the manager understands the day-to-day lived experience of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers understand the importance of education. They advocate strongly for children to access education. Staff have built excellent relationships with education provisions for all the children and are praised for going above and beyond to support children’s educational needs. Staff are active participants in school life, including volunteering as ‘parent’ volunteers at school events. Children are making good progress and accessing regular education as a result.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers understand the importance of preparing children for significant transitions in their life. For one child, this includes a transition into secondary school, and for another a transition to return to the care of their mum. Managers put in place clear plans that support children to manage these transitions. Staff prepare children well in advance of these moves and seek their voice and views to support their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children can struggle with relationships with one another. Staff and managers understand this challenge and consult regularly with the therapist for ideas to support the children to improve relationships. Children are helped to voice their feelings and are encouraged to understand the impact of their actions on others. Children are praised when they engage positively with one another in joint activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have regular conversations with children. These are planned and purposeful to the needs of the child. Staff will seek additional resources to make these discussions Inspection report for children’s home: 2613829 4 accessible for the child. As a result, children have meaningful conversations that support their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming, with pictures of the children displayed on the walls. The children have ample garden space that is used to help them to regulate and play. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their tastes and interests.

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

Some children in the home are at risk of making regular, unfounded allegations against staff. These children have personalised safety management plans that are agreed with the social workers. These plans keep children and staff safe and supported. Managers have a good oversight of these incidents and are confident in the protocols in place. Leaders respond well when allegations may need further escalation, and they make referrals to external safeguarding professionals. Children are supported to speak about the incidents where appropriate. After incidents, relationship repair work is carried out sensitively between the child and staff member.

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

There has been a high number of physical such asrestraints used when children are in crisis. This is used as a last resort, and to keep children and others safe. Staff are confident in when to use restraint techniques and documentation outlines the sequence of events that lead to their use. Records do not detail what de-escalation techniques have been used, as outlined in children’s plans, to prevent escalation to a physical intervention. This does not support reflection or learning from incidents to further develop practice.

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

Managers have good oversight of physical intervention records. Children and staff are spoken with about the incident to gain further understanding. Lessons learned from incidents are shared regularly with the team to continue to reduce use of physical intervention. However, there was one occasion where managers’ oversight did not recognise a significant and prolonged physical intervention that took place in a child’s bedroom. This has delayed learning from this incident that may prevent further occurrence.

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

Senior leaders complete regular analysis of the patterns of physical intervention incidents. They look at areas they could improve and actions to take to reduce incidents. Understanding of what children are experiencing at the time is central to the report. This supports good understanding of the reasons why children might be struggling and informs actions moving forward.

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

Children all have individual risk assessments and individual crisis management plans. These are filled with personalised ways to support children when they are displaying behaviour which may challenge. Staff are knowledgeable about ways to intervene and support children in line with agreed plans.

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

Staff understand the routines and boundaries in the home. Staff work together to regularly review routines and how they can be adjusted to suit children as they change Inspection report for children’s home: 2613829 5 and develop. Staff are vigilant to when routines might be affecting any increase in incidents of dysregulated behaviours. They personalise bedtime routines that support a settled and calm environment for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager has been working in the home for several years, which has provided a smooth transition to changes in the management team. They have a clear drive and vision for the home, and this is centred around positive experiences for children. The manager has had a positive impact on the morale of staff. He has increased accountability for staff in completing tasks and supported their development. This has increased staff confidence and fulfilment in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight is detailed and completed regularly. Systems are in place that support the new manager as he gets to know the role, and this ensures that information is not lost or missed. These systems ensure joined up working, and good triangulation of information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual has been central to supporting the new manager in their role. She has provided good-quality support that has filled any gaps in knowledge the manager had. This has provided good stability in the period of changes to the management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is driven to continually improve the home and has a detailed development plan that functions as a live document. This keeps him and the whole team regularly on track to complete identified areas of improvement. The manager has clear plans for development moving forward and is supporting staff to complete required actions effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The preferred model of care is well embedded in the home. Staff understand the role that the therapist plays and engage positively with them during the team meetings. They see the benefit of this model, and information is positively shared between the therapist and the whole staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training for staff is detailed and provides a good basis for knowledge on the home’s model of care and therapeutic support. Personalised training is completed within team meetings around identified areas of need for the staff. These are hands-on sessions that helps staff learning. The staff have yet to have training or workshops around allegations and complaints. This would support the staff in developing their understanding of the reasons why these may happen and how they should respond.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that they are happy in their roles. They comment on the visible presence of managers and senior managers, which helps them feel confident in their role. They feel involved in the home and are encouraged to work collaboratively. Inspection report for children’s home: 2613829 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that behaviour management strategies, as outlined in personalised plans, are applied by staff at all times. With records highlighting how these were attempted in order to de-escalate challenging incidents. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)  The registered person should ensure that reviews of records of restraint should provide opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child, particularly during significant events, or prolonged incidents of physical intervention. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that staff are suitably trained to meet the assessed needs of all the children in the home. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)

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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: 2613829 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Abbey Green Therapeutic Children’s Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 3 Mercia Court, Bingham, Bingham, Nottingham NG13 8QX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Bethany Sutherland

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Inspector

Becki Cornes-Sinclair, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2613829 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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