Children's Home run by Oak House Children's Home Limited in Essex

Inspection report for children's home: 2671486 1 Registered provider: Oak House Children's Home Limited

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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 offers care for up to 4 children who experience social, emotional and learning difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The registered manager left in March 2026.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2671486 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/04/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/04/2024 Full Good 28/06/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 31/01/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2671486 3

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Summary of findings

Since the last inspection, the home has made slow, measured progress. The new manager has started to introduce changes, but these are at an early stage. Children's daily experiences vary depending on the staff supporting them. Shortfalls in daily recording make it difficult to fully understand the children's experiences. The shortfalls identified in help and protection and the leadership and management of the home have affected the children's overall experiences. This has resulted in an overall judgement of requires improvement.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home and 2 children have moved out. No children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. During the inspection, the inspector was able to speak with the child who recently moved out.

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improvement to be good

Moves into and out of the home are generally well planned and supported by staff. However, a high turnover of staff and management has limited the consistency of care. This means that children have not always experienced the same adults throughout these moves.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to spend time with the people who are important to them. This allows children to maintain a sense of belonging. However, staff do not keep families regularly informed about the day-to-day experiences. This limits the families' understanding of the children's progress and reduces opportunities for them to be part of the planning and decision-making.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to have fun, and they plan activities around the children's interests. This includes escape rooms, crabbing and shopping trips. This helps children to take part in activities that they enjoy. However, the lack of recording activities makes it difficult to fully understand the children's lived experiences and their progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children to explore their identity and respect their gender preferences. This includes a child being supported to attend a residential weekend organised by people in the LGBT community. This helped the child to feel more confident to express their identity.

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improvement to be good

Children attended and participated in the in-house education provision. The child who recently moved out was supported to make excellent progress and is now ready to go back into mainstream education. Positive working relationships between the school and the home have improved, becoming more inclusive and collaborative. Inspection report for children's home: 2671486 4

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improvement to be good

The home has experienced a challenging period with a lack of consistency in leadership and management. This has meant that effective links with professionals have not been sustained to help build positive working relationships. Professionals say that although managers attended meetings regularly, the turnover of managers added to inconsistency of planning and oversight for children.

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improvement to be good

Safety plans are up to date, regularly reviewed and identify emerging risks. They set out what action staff should take to support children. However, it is not evident that all staff have read and understood the most recent changes.

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improvement to be good

Children who lived at the home had not been able to identify a trusting adult in the home to share their concerns with and feel listened to. However, one child who used to live at the home built a trusting relationship with a member of the in-house education provision, who was able to listen to them and respond appropriately.

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improvement to be good

The child who recently moved out experienced a calm and settled time. There were very few incidents or safety concerns for the child. The child has not been missing from care. Staff were able to use de-escalation techniques with the chid and did not need to use physical intervention. They supported the child to make positive choices.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the risks that the internet may pose to children and carry out regular checks on children's mobile devices. Staff speak to children about potential risks in their online worlds.

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

There has been instability in the leadership and management of the home. The newly appointed manager has submitted her application to Ofsted. The new manager led the inspection. Leaders and managers have not yet established a consistent, positive culture in the home.

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

Recordings are not consistently child focused or led by the child's views, and some contain child-blaming language. Children's folders have not been archived in line with regulatory requirements. Children's records are not stored securely or in an organised manner, which means that information about children's experiences and progress is not reliably available. This affects how the children's history and support needs are understood.

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

The statement of purpose has not been updated or shared with Ofsted, reflecting the current workforce, their experience and qualifications the staffing structure and the experience and qualifications of staff. This limits Ofsted's understanding of the home's operation. Inspection report for children's home: 2671486 5 The newly appointed manager has successfully begun to establish a new and cohesive staff team. This has been achieved through a careful interviewing and strengthened induction programme, access to training and regular, reflective learning opportunities, all of which contribute to embedding learning into practice.

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

There is an extensive training package in place for staff. Leaders and managers have identified future training intended to support staff in meeting the child's individual needs. However, leaders and managers have not ensured that staff obtain the relevant qualification within the specified timeframes.

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

Supervision and team meetings were not offered regularly in line with the statement of purpose and records were not completed. Since the new manager started, supervision has improved and staff say they are now receiving regular supervision and support. This support includes monthly clinical supervision and weekly training and development sessions offered by the manager. A clinical therapeutic lead brings further expertise to these meetings and provides additional support. As a result, these approaches are starting to contribute to more informed practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2671486 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(3)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff obtain a relevant qualification within the specified timeframes.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 July 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2671486 7 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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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h)) 31 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure children's views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

engage with them; and 28 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2671486 8 take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children's care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child's views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child's best interests when making decisions about the child's care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child's views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

securely in the children's home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there; and in a secure place after the child has ceased to be accommodated in the home. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(c)(d)) 28 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2671486 9

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the staffing structure and the experience and qualifications of staff are included in the statement of purpose. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 14, paragraph 3.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that a record of supervision is kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home's policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2671486 10

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Oak House Children's Home Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: A B C Care Solutions, 249 Cranbrook Road, Ilford IG1 4TG

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Inspector

Sallie Bloomfield, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2671486 11 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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