Children's Home run by Blue Elephant Childcare Limited in Devon

Inspection report for children's home: 2816187 1 Registered provider: Blue Elephant Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned and managed by an independent organisation. It provides care for up to 3 children who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

Since the last inspection, 2 children have moved into the home, and no children have moved out.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2024.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2816187 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/06/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2816187 3

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Summary of findings

Children enjoy living in their home. They feel well supported by a staff team that knows them well and understands what is important to them. Children access a range of positive and engaging activities and make progress in many areas of their lives.

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Summary of findings

Staff understand and act upon safeguarding concerns. The manager uses supervision and team meetings to address and enhance staff practice when shortfalls are identified. There has been learning from an incident where the oversight of a member of staff was not robust enough.

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Summary of findings

Staff enjoy working in the home and feel nurtured and supported by the manager. Leaders and managers have responded to recent concerns in respect of staff practice. Staff know the children well and support them to progress and reach their goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in the home receive warm, loving and supportive care from a staff team that knows and understands them. Staff show genuine care and interest in the children's wellbeing, progress and development. Children feel safe living in the home. Time was spent with all 3 children during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living in their home, and staff support them to develop positive relationships with their peers. Children spend time engaging in fun activities, and staff took them on individual holidays over the summer period, taking account of their views and wishes in relation to the destination. One expressed a desire to become a support worker in the future so that they can help others as the staff team have helped them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in the home. Education is prioritised, and where children struggle to access this, leaders and managers find creative alternatives. Staff support children with their health needs. Work undertaken for one child has resulted in them receiving an important diagnosis, which may have been missed without the due diligence of members of the team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff support children effectively to maintain important relationships with their family. The care and consideration given to developing and maintaining the children's wider support network, particularly in relation to their brothers and sisters, shows children that staff listen to them and act in their best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One parent gave positive feedback in respect of their child's experiences and the communication they receive from staff. Social workers comment on the individualised care provided to children and the positive progress they have made. Staff have strong working relationships within the professional network. All children have access to an Inspection report for children's home: 2816187 4 independent advocate, which further supports ensuring their voice is heard both inside and outside of the home.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers respond appropriately when there are concerns raised in respect of staff practice. However, the supervision provided when staff return to the home following concerns that have been investigated is not robust enough. This has resulted in one incident that may have been avoidable with clearer plans and oversight.

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improvement to be good

Staff have strong and effective relationships with children. This supports their overall understanding of potential safeguarding concerns and how to respond to them. Staff's consideration for the individual needs of one child, in their response to a specific concern, has led to an overall reduction in risk. Staff provide clear boundaries, which supports children's feelings of safety and stability.

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improvement to be good

Staff mostly respond appropriately to incidents of children going missing from the home. The actions taken by staff during some incidents are unclear. On one occasion where staff did not respond appropriately, this was identified and addressed by senior leaders. Additional concerns related to wider staff practice in respect of safeguarding have also been addressed, and actions have been taken.

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improvement to be good

Staff appropriately escalate safeguarding concerns to external agencies. They work collaboratively with multi-agency professionals to devise risk mitigation strategies with the aim of reducing risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a dedicated and reflective leader who knows the children well. The trusting relationships the manager has nurtured between the team and the children have had a positive impact on their overall progress. The manager and the team have high expectations for the children and support them to work towards their goals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager successfully advocates on behalf of the children in the home. Decisions are focused on their wishes and feelings and best interests. The manager and staff appropriately challenge professionals, and escalate concerns, when they perceive their practice to fall short of their duties towards the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is resilient and dedicated to the children. Staff enjoy working in the home and comment on the excellent support they receive from the manager. Supervisions are detailed and include important discussions following concerns, incidents or areas of additional learning for the team. Regular group supervisions and team meetings further complement this learning and focus on improving practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2816187 5 Children's views, wishes and feelings are at the centre of the decisions made in the home. Children are regularly consulted on how they wish to be cared for and supported. This includes detailed assessments to ensure that staff are appropriately meeting their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Despite challenges, the resilience and dedication of the home's manager and the wider team have, overall, resulted in good outcomes for children. Inspection report for children's home: 2816187 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

that the effectiveness of the home's child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that plans and procedures are clear and robust in how staff must keep children and themselves safe, including in respect of physical touch and contact. 1 November 2026

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Recommendations

 Clear and well-documented records must be kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home. These records should show staff actions clearly enough that leaders and managers are able to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 46, paragraph 9.31)

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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 Inspection report for children's home: 2816187 7 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: 2816187 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Blue Elephant Childcare Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Unit 30, Chivenor Business Park, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 4AY

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Inspector

Helen Cushnie, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2816187 9 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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Inspector

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