Children's home run by Maple Leaf Care Limited in Trafford

Inspection report for children’s home: SC366343 1 SC366343 Registered provider: Maple Leaf Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private company and provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is managed by an experienced and qualified manager who has been registered since October 2015.

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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 outstanding

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 9 February 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC366343 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/02/2022 Full Outstanding 16/01/2020 Full Outstanding 23/10/2018 Full Outstanding 22/11/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC366343 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care is given by a manager and staff who are child-focused, passionate and committed to providing children with a warm, safe and homely place to live.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a spacious and welcoming home environment. Children’s bedrooms are decorated to reflect their individual tastes and are personalised with family photos. The home is set in spacious grounds where children play, engage in sports and grow fruit and vegetables.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are offered a high level of care from an experienced, well-trained group of staff who know them well. Staff focus on building meaningful relationships with children. Excellent levels of communication and persistence from staff help children to understand that they are cared for, thought about and that they matter.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff offer children a high level of support to try and help them progress from their starting points. When children engage and access this support, measurable changes are made. However, some children display high levels of risk-taking behaviours and staff are not always able to actively engage them in the support on offer. For these children, their progress has been limited.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported well to understand their identity. Individualised life-story work has enabled some children to better understand their history and family dynamics. Children are also creatively supported to understand their emerging and developing identities. Bespoke work around gender identity and sexuality has enabled one child to progress in relation to their own sense of self and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make children aware that their views count and seek to capture these through regular children’s meetings and key-work sessions. Staff share children’s views with external agencies and advocate well on children’s behalf. Children are provided with an external independent advocate when required. This has resulted in one child changing their social worker.

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

Staff provide children with a safe and secure home environment. Children report that they enjoy living at the home, feel safe and are able to speak to staff about their worries and concerns. When asked about their experiences of living at the home, one child said, ‘I think it is good. They look after me, care about me and I feel safe here.’

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

Risk management plans are detailed and clearly outline each child’s risks and vulnerabilities. Staff have improved these plans since the last inspection, and they now detail clear strategies and protocols that must be followed when concerns arise. As a result, children receive a consistent approach from staff to be safer. Inspection report for children’s home: SC366343 4 When children go missing from care, they receive a swift and well-coordinated response from staff. Excellent working relationships with the police ensure that children are reported missing from care promptly and information is shared to help locate them and bring them home. One police officer said, ‘We are in regular contact with staff, and this home is by far the best at sharing information. Staff often do a lot of the investigation work for us, which helps us find children sooner.’

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

Multi-agency working is well embedded in staff practice. In-house records of multi- agency meetings are detailed and up to date. However, some children do not have all their required statutory case records. This means that some children may not understand their plans or agree with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is managed by a very experienced registered manager whose commitment to the children, staff team and continued development of the home is inspiring. The manager has been in post for several years and provides stable leadership, the quality of which is consistently high. As a result, staff retention levels are excellent, and children receive consistent, high-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager receives a high level of support from the responsible individual and through improved independent external monitoring visits. Together, these help ensure that practice in the home in constantly developing and that improvements are made in the best interests of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers provide each member of staff with excellent support, guidance and encouragement. Staff members receive regular, high-quality supervision and report that they feel extremely well supported by the registered manager. One member of staff said, ‘Management offers support and guidance to all staff to maintain well-being and offer solutions to any issues that may arise in the future, either professionally or personally. In my opinion [name of home] is an amazing place to work.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and highly effective staff team have well-established and excellent working relationships with local services in the community. This enables children to receive high-quality care from a range of services in a timely manner. When children do not receive a prompt response from services, the manager actively challenges this on the children’s behalf. Inspection report for children’s home: SC366343 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 registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that statutory records for each child are available for children to read and that children understand their plans. 22 September 2022

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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: SC366343 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Maple Leaf Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 16a Regent Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 1RP

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Inspectors

Rob Neild, Social Care Inspector Paul Scott, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC366343 7 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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