Children's Home run by Suffolk County Council in Suffolk

Inspection report children's home: SC037256 1 SC037256 Registered provider: Suffolk County Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children's home

This local authority home provides care for up to 7 children with complex needs who require specialist support. Six children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2020.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC037256 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/06/2025 Full Good 20/09/2023 Full Good 11/04/2022 Full Good 13/10/2021 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC037256 3

p.2

Summary of findings

Children receive good care and support from staff who know them well. Staff value children’s views and build trusting relationships with them. Staff support children to maintain and build relationships with family and friends who are important to them. Children enjoy a range of activities and positive experiences. Incidents are generally well managed. Leaders have strengthened management oversight and use effective systems to enable improvement. Staff enjoy their jobs and are well supported with regular team meetings and reflective sessions.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 2 children have moved into the home and one child has moved on. At the time of the inspection, 6 children were living at the home. Children are happy and settled. Some children have lived at the home for a significant period. This has helped them to have experienced stability and consistency.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff carefully planned and supported a child to move on. They worked closely with the child to prepare them. Staff continue to visit the child and provide support. This demonstrates the trusting relationship staff develop with children. It also provides child with continuing support after moving out.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers complete matching assessments before children move in. These assessments provide detailed information about the children’s presenting needs and how these could impact the other children. However, they do not identify how the risks could be managed or reduced. This limits their usefulness in supporting safe and effective matching decisions.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place importance on children’s views. They regularly seek children’s views on an individual basis. Staff encourage children to reflect on what they are proud of and identify anything they would like to change. Children and professionals said staff listen to children’s views and follow through on what they say they will do. This helps children feel heard and valued.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain family relationships. One child who had not seen a parent for some time was supported to rebuild this relationship. The child has also been supported with spending time with their other parent. Staff advocate for children to develop these relationships. This supports children’s emotional wellbeing and sense of identity.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is a high priority for staff. Not all children currently access full-time education. Staff work closely with virtual schools to address this. Staff use education resources and worksheets to reinforce importance of education and help children develop positive Inspection report children's home: SC037256 4 routines around learning. This helps children recognise the value of education and support their preparation for future learning and employment.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a comfortable and well decorated environment. Staff support children to personalise their bedrooms. Children create mood boards with staff to reflect their individual interests and preferences. However, staff routinely lock the kitchen and games room at night. Staff have not assessed whether this restriction is necessary or proportionate. This limits children’s access to shared spaces and reduces the homely feel of the environment.

p.4

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

Risk assessments and behaviour management plans are detailed and clearly written. They enable staff to understand each child's needs and presenting risks. These are working documents which are regularly reviewed and updated following incidents. This helps children receive consistent responses.

p.4

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

There have been a high number of missing incidents. Staff follow the correct protocols when children go missing. They take appropriate action to locate children and support their safe return. Staff speak with children when they return and offer support. They use these discussions to help understand the reasons for children going missing and identify if further support is needed.

p.4

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

Staff use physical intervention as a last resort to keep children and others safe. Staff provide children with opportunities to debrief following an intervention and reflect on their own practice. However, on one occasion when physical intervention was used this was not documented. This reduced management oversight and ability to identify any learning.

p.4

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

Staff regularly have one-to-one discussion with children. They plan these discussions around children’s individual needs. Children engage openly with staff. This helps children understand risk and make safer decisions. For example, one child recognised the impact a particular situation was having on them and said they wanted to make changes. Staff supported the child to share their views and seek appropriate professional advice.

p.4

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

Children have opportunities to take part in a range of activities and enjoy positive experiences. Children have enjoyed holidays and trips with staff. Staff capture these experiences and create photo books for the children to keep. This supports children to build positive memories and give them something meaningful to look back on.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is dedicated and ambitious for children. She is supported by a committed deputy manager and a senior leadership team. Leaders and managers know the children well and speak about them with love and care. Inspection report children's home: SC037256 5 Leaders have overseen improvements at the home. The manager has effective systems to monitor incidents, actions and tasks. Management oversight is evident across most incidents and helps them to identify areas for further improvement.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak positively about their roles and know the children well. Leaders support staff to develop their skills and progress in their roles. They invest in their staff though training and development opportunities. This helps staff build their confidence and provide a stable and skilled workforce for children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend regular team meetings to share information and discuss children’s progress. Staff now use these meetings to discuss children’s chronologies. They consider significant events in children’s lives and how these may influence the children’s presentation and behaviour. This helps staff develop a better understanding of children’s needs and respond to them more effectively.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team and staff team benefit from clinical reflective sessions. These provide space for them to explore the impact of their work and reflect on specific incidents.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals and families has been positive. They recognise the progress children have made and speak positively of the support staff provide. Inspection report children's home: SC037256 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure records of restraint are kept and the records enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that, just as in a family home, children are able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child's needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child's access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of

p.6

Recommendations

the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child's welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child's needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child's assessed needs as recorded in the child's relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 56, paragraph 11.5)

p.6

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 children's home: SC037256 7

p.6

Children's home details

Registered provider address: Suffolk County Council, Endeavour House, Russell Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 2BX

p.7

Inspector

Harkerat Lidhar, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC037256 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8