Children's Home run by First 4 Children Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 1 Registered provider: First 4 Children Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home has been registered with Ofsted since 10 March 2023. This home provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 10 March 2023 and the responsible individual became suitable on 3 August 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 requires improvement to be 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: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: As a result of the last full inspection, a notice to restrict accommodation and three compliance notices were raised. A monitoring visit that was carried out on 12 October 2023 found that these compliance notices were met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/08/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children continue to live at the home. Children receive good-quality care and said that they enjoy living at the home because staff keep them safe and care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The care planning arrangements for children have been improved. All professionals report that children are making progress. They say that a strength of the registered manager and staff team is their ability to actively involve children in their care. As a result, children are thriving from the support that they receive from staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide variety of activities and child-centred play with staff. These promote their overall development. Pictures of children enjoying these activities are displayed throughout the house. Children feel a sense of belonging to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in their education. Staff are successful in supporting children to do well in their education. This is a result of the registered manager and staff building strong relationships with the children’s school. One teacher said that the child’s engagement in lessons, learning, and behaviour at school have improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children trust staff and enjoy spending time with them. Children feel valued, cared for and listened to. Furthermore, children derive huge benefit from the affection and warmth of the staff who look after them. For example, the inspector observed staff providing attentive support for one child who was unwell. These positive relationships ensure that children flourish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff regularly talk to children about how well they are doing. This regular positive feedback gives children a greater awareness of their achievements. This helps children to develop their positive self-image. Children’s emotional welfare has improved because of this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health has improved. This is a result of staff having a good understanding of children’s health needs, to help them to enjoy a healthy lifestyle, diet, and physical well-being. As a result, children have a better awareness of their health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Partnership working is strong. One professional said that the registered manager is open, transparent and solution-focused in her approach. This means that children receive the support they need, and their care plans remain in their best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to keep in touch with people who are important to them. The registered manager and staff demonstrate a good understanding of the children’s relationship with their family and friends. This has helped children to enjoy a positive experience when they meet their friends and family. Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 4

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

Staff are responsive and skilful at identifying any changes in children’s behaviours. This has resulted in staff working quickly to implement distraction and de-escalation techniques. Staff are successful in looking beyond a child’s presenting behaviour, and instead focus on what is upsetting the child. As a result, since the last full inspection, there have been no physical interventions or missing-from-care incidents.

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

The registered manager and staff are creative in their approach to the behaviour and risk management of children. For example, staff use visual aids to help children to tell staff how they are feeling, when they are unable to express themselves. As a result, significant incidents are minimal in number.

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

Staff place a strong emphasis on children’s successes and positive behaviours. Children are rewarded with lots of attention and gratitude when they have been well behaved. This helps children to develop their self-esteem and confidence.

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

Staff are successful in supporting children to keep themselves safe. Staff are positive role models to the children, and help them to gain an awareness of personal safety. This has resulted in one child having the confidence to walk to school independently, without staff assistance. This empowers children to make better choices, with staff support.

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

Children’s risk, behaviour and care plans do not always capture the guidance shared by the therapist and any learning gained by the staff team in the day-to-day care of children. However, this has not impacted on the quality of care that children receive.

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good

The registered manager is child centred and an effective leader to her staff team. She is supported by an equally committed responsible individual. They both ensure that children live in a home that is managed in their best interest.

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good

Since the last inspection, two new staff members have been recruited. Leaders and managers do not consistently explore all relevant information shared in employment references, alongside the gaps in employment. In addition, leaders and managers do not always ensure that the recruitment agency has explored all pertinent information. This means that some staff have not undergone suitable safer recruitment and vetting checks to care for vulnerable children. Managers took swift action to remedy this shortfall during the inspection.

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good

Staff do not receive supervision and probationary reviews in accordance with the organisation’s internal policy and workforce development plan. This means that staff do not receive supervision that encourages reflection and provides support to carry out their roles and responsibilities adequately. Staff probationary review records contain duplicate information relating to other staff members. This demonstrates Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 5 that the leaders and managers do not have effective oversight of staff practice. Despite this, all staff speak positively of the management team.

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good

The registered manager’s oversight of the quality of care provided to children has improved. The registered manager takes rapid action when addressing shortfalls.

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good

Staff have recently completed global development delay training. This training has improved staff knowledge and insight into one child’s individual needs.

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good

As a result of this inspection, the notice to restrict accommodation is no longer enforced. Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 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, 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

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the requirement that the registered manager must ensure that all staff have undergone safer recruitment and vetting checks. 31 January 2024

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each permanent appointment of an employee is subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(b) (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the requirement that the registered manager must ensure that staff receive supervision, and that their probationary period is reviewed in accordance to the organisation’s internal policy. 31 January 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s care, behaviour and risk plans reflect the guidance shared by the therapist, and learning captured by staff and any other professionals. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14 4). Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 7

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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: 2711236 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: First 4 Children Ltd

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: William Mulvaney

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Inspector

Sam Dulay-Kainth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 9 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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