Children's home run by Paramount Children’s Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 1 Registered provider: Paramount Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and managed. The home is registered to care for up to three children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties. The home was registered by Ofsted in October 2021. Three children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since January 2023.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/08/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in relation to their individual starting points. They benefit from well-planned care that promotes their needs effectively and contributes to change and improvement in their lives. An independent reviewing officer said, ‘[Name of child] has spoken really positively about the home and has been able to build good relationships with staff.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a caring, supportive and nurturing environment which enables them to feel safe and secure. Children enjoy good relationships with staff and sustain their positive attachments. Children have consistency and stability in their lives. A child said, ‘It feels homely, like I’m at home with my family. The staff are nice people.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care plans are well-written documents that staff use to meet the needs of children effectively. However, plans contain lots of information which makes them lengthy documents. New plans are in the process of being developed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children do well educationally. One child attends school regularly and their attendance and engagement is positive. However, staff’s attempts to promote education for other children have been unsuccessful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from effective support to promote their positive health. Children are registered with a doctor, dentist and optician and have access to the health services they need to stay healthy. Medical consent is in place, so staff are clear about the health decisions that are delegated to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to see their friends and families. As a result, children sustain their close relationships with the people who are most important to them. A social worker said, ‘They support regular contact with family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with exciting activities. The home also boasts an impressive in- house movie room, with reclining theatre seats, for children and staff to enjoy movie nights together. Additionally, the home has a designated games room for children’s use. Staff and children enjoy spending good-quality together. One child said they had been to a theme park, a water park, trampolining and to the gym.

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

Children are kept safe and their safety is consistently at the centre of staff’s practice. The use of effective risk management plans and safe working practices promote the safety and well-being of children.

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

Behaviour management strategies are applied effectively and there have been no restraints since the last inspection. Staff manage the behaviours of children safely Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 4 and effectively. However, the use of consequences for managing unacceptable behaviour is not routinely reviewed by the manager to ensure that consequences used are effective and fair.

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

Staff employed to care for children are selected and vetted carefully to protect children from unsuitable people.

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

Staff are trained in child protection so that they know how to report suspected abuse and protect children from significant harm.

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

The frequency of missing-from-care episodes has reduced for most children. Staff actively look for children when they are absent or go missing, and work closely with the police to secure their safe return.

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

Children benefit from a homely, cosy, comfortable and good-quality living environment. However, there is minor damage to a child’s bedroom which requires decorative repair.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager post has been vacant since January 2023. The deputy manager has been promoted to manager and has applied for registration. They ensure that the home is managed efficiently and effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff meet the aims and objectives set out in the home’s statement of purpose. A diverse and well-trained staff team is employed to meet the specific needs of children. Staff benefit from regular team meetings and practice-related supervision. Staff meet with the home’s therapist to reflect on their practice and review the progress and experiences of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Significant incidents are shared with appropriate authorities to ensure that the right action is taken by the right professionals. Managers and staff maintain highly effective partnerships with professionals to support children and protect them from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is visited each month by an independent person who prepares a written report. These visits help the manager to understand the home’s strengths and weaknesses. The manager makes good use of the external monitoring activities to tackle any shortfalls and to secure continuing improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has met the requirement and all but one of the recommendations from the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 24 July 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that school leavers are engaged in education, training or employment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14)  The registered person should ensure that care plans contain sufficient information about children that is current and relevant and that helps staff to meet their specific needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.2)  The registered person should ensure that minor property damage to children’s bedrooms is repaired quickly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 6

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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: 2646248 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Paramount Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 89 Briony Avenue, Hale, Altrincham WA15 8PZ

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Inspectors

Anthony Kyem, Social Care Inspector Sarah Huntbatch, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2646248 8 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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