Children's Home run by Inspire Care (UK) Limited in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: 2729941 1 Registered provider: Inspire Care (UK) Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to two children who have experienced trauma and encounter associated difficulties with their emotional well-being.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in December 2023. The registered manager left her post in April 2024. A new manager has been appointed and has submitted her application to Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first inspection since it was registered.

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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

Date of last inspection: Not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2729941 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child lives at the home. The child benefits from living in a warm and relaxed home. The child likes living in the home. They have been supported to develop positive relationships with staff, who care about them. This has helped the child to feel safe, and they have begun to explore some of their lived experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff understand the potential barriers to learning. The child finds the traditional style of schooling difficult as a result of their complex needs. Managers and staff have recognised this and are trying different ways to engage the child in educational activities. The manager is advocating for the child to ensure that any educational provision identified will meet their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have promoted the child’s health by registering them with primary health providers, such as a doctor, dentist and optician. Staff also benefit from the support of the home’s therapeutic practitioner to reflect on and develop their understanding of the child’s experience of trauma and loss. They use this knowledge to help them see things from the child’s perspective and to support the child’s emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to attend and enjoy a range of activities in line with their interests. The child has experienced a number of fun and exciting activities for the first time. The child is part of a basketball team, and enjoys regular activities such as swimming and trampolining.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff at the home recognise the importance of family relationships. Staff facilitate and support family time in line with local authority plans. A family member said, ‘I can’t thank them enough,’ and ‘The staff are brilliant.’ External professionals echoed the positive impact that living at this home has had on the child’s behaviour and experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s journey at the home is captured through a positive messages memory book. This focuses on the child’s strengths and accomplishments each day. This supports the child to feel valued and contributes to a positive sense of self.

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

The child benefits from clear and consistent routines and boundaries and positive relationships with staff. Staff provide nurture and care when the child is distressed and understand the best ways to support them. As a result, the child enjoys a safe and consistent environment.

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

Missing-from-home incidents are rare. Managers and staff respond quickly and proactively when the child does go missing from the home. Staff follow protocols, Inspection report for children’s home: 2729941 3 including searching the local area. Staff work well with other professionals, such as social workers and the police, to ensure that the child returns home safely.

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

When staff have had to use physical intervention to keep the child safe, this is proportionate and appropriate. Staff respond with a nurturing and reflective approach to ensure that relationships are repaired quickly. The quality of records following physical intervention incidents is variable, and this is an area identified for development.

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

The child has an individual behaviour support plan that guides staff on how best to manage their behaviour. It also helps the staff to understand how to keep the child safe. However, these plans do not include all known risks and associated strategies.

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

Staff keep children safe from online risks. For example, they have internet restrictions in place and closely supervise children. However, staff do not proactively educate children to keep safe online. This does not prepare children with the knowledge and understanding to make their own safe choices when using the internet as they develop and grow.

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good

A new manager is in post and is developing her understanding of the strengths of the home and areas for development. Staff are positive about the changes and say they feel supported. To improve management oversight, a new deputy manager has been appointed to support the registered manager.

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good

There have been some changes to the staff team, with some staff joining from elsewhere within the organisation. As a result, children have not always received care from a stable staff team. There is now a core staff team in place, and this is contributing to increased consistency for the child.

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good

Although staff report that they feel supported, they have not always received supervision as outlined in the home’s supervision policy. This does not ensure that staff have an opportunity to discuss any concerns they may have, nor does it provide the manager with an opportunity to reflect on practice and development issues with them. Additionally, despite being involved in the day-to-day management of the home, the responsible individual does not receive practice-related supervision. This is a missed opportunity to promote the continuing professional development of managers and staff.

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good

Staff have access to a wide range of online training to ensure that mandatory training is kept up to date. However, managers were not proactive in ensuring that staff had essential training specific to the needs of the child before they moved into the home. Although this training has now been completed, this was a missed opportunity to Inspection report for children’s home: 2729941 4 ensure that the staff team had the skills and understanding to support the child’s complex needs from the start.

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good

Managers have not notified Ofsted of all significant incidents involving children without delay. Although there was no negative impact on the children, this prevents the regulator from having effective and timely oversight of the actions staff take to keep children safe.

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good

Monitoring systems are not yet being used consistently and effectively. Although management oversight is evident on a number of records, there is a lack of evaluation to identify any patterns and trends and the impact of care on children’s progress. Equally, it is not clear how the responsible individual records her monitoring of the service, and these shortfalls have the potential to limit the development of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2729941 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h)) 20 June 2024

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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 (4)(b)) 20 June 2024

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Recommendations

 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. This specifically relates to ensuring staff have the appropriate skills and training to meet the needs of children before they move into the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2729941 6  The registered person should help children understand how to protect themselves, particularly in relation to online safety. (‘Guide to the Children’s

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Recommendations

Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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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: 2729941 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspire Care (UK) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Keystone Chartered Accountants, 263 Nottingham Road, Nottingham NG7 7DA

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Inspector

Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2729941 8 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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