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

Inspection report children's home: 2646248 1 Registered provider: Paramount Children’s Services Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

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. Three children were living in the home at the time of this inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2024.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

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

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/05/2023 Full Good 18/08/2022 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2646248 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with well planned, good quality care that promotes their needs effectively. Children enjoy good quality relationships with staff and sustain their positive attachments. Staff ensure that children have stability and consistency in their lives. Children said, ‘It’s safe, exciting and fun…Staff are always smiley and nice.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the health needs of children effectively. They ensure that children have access to the services they need to stay healthy. They support children to attend their health appointments and encourage them to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. Medical consent is obtained to ensure that staff are familiar with their delegated health responsibilities.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with social workers and other key professionals to provide children with the best possible help and all-round support. Staff promote family time to ensure that children sustain their close relationships with the people that are most important to them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with the providers of children’s education to promote their regular school attendance, educational achievements and learning. One child has recently been supported to attend a new school. They are happy at school and are learning and making good progress in education. However, other children are not attending school regularly despite good support and encouragement from staff. An eligible care leaver is being supported by staff to look for employment.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with lots of opportunities to be active. Children enjoy holidays, roller skating, gymnastics, theme parks and going on nature walks with staff. A child said, ‘It’s been the best home I have ever been in. I like this home the most. The best things are the activities and staff.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff involve children in decisions and make a real effort to act on their reasonable requests. As a result, children feel valued and listened to.

p.3

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

Staff promote the safety of children effectively and have a good understanding of their individual needs and vulnerabilities. The use of clear risk management plans and safe working practices keeps children safe and protects them from harm. Children are kept safe and feel safe living at the home.

p.3

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

Staff are trained in child protection to help them recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse. Staff are always vigilant to the possibility of children experiencing harm. Inspection report children's home: 2646248 4 Significant incidents are reported to the appropriate authorities and staff maintain highly effective partnerships with the police and other safeguarding agencies to promote the safety of children.

p.3

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

Children know how to voice their concerns if they are unhappy. There have been no complaints or allegations and no concerns were raised by children during this inspection.

p.4

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

Children are protected if they are absent or go missing from the home. Staff keep in contact with children and actively look for them if they are missing from the home. Staff work closely with the police to locate children quickly and secure their safe return. Return home interviews take place whenever there is a missing from home episode.

p.4

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

The use of restraint is always a last resort that is only ever used to protect children from harm. There has been one restraint since the last inspection. Staff praise, reward and reinforce positive behaviour. They ensure that the use of consequences is kept to an absolute minimum.

p.4

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

Children are provided with a comfortable, cosy and homely living environment. Their bedrooms are nicely decorated, furnished and suitably personalised.

p.4

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

Staff manage health and safety matters effectively to promote a safe environment for children, visitors and staff.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager was registered with Ofsted in March 2024. They are suitably experienced and well qualified. The manager demonstrates strong and effective leadership in terms of the day-to-day operations of the team.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads staff by example, ensuring that they are well supported, managed and led. The manager is a visible and active presence in the lives of children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular practice related supervision and relevant training that enables them to meet the specific needs of children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly and this enables the manager to address the needs of children, channels staff’s efforts, and provide staff with a clear sense of purpose and direction. Team meetings are child focused meetings that routinely review the progress and experiences of children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults employed to care for children safely, are vetted and recruited carefully to protect children from unsuitable people.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Sufficient staff are employed to provide children with stability and consistency in their lives. Agency staff are not used and existing staff or staff from other homes in the company, are used to cover any gaps in the rota. Inspection report children's home: 2646248 5 The home is visited each month by an independent person to review the standard and quality of children’s care. These visits help the manager to understand the strengths and weaknesses associated with staff practices. The manager makes effective use of monitoring activities to tackle known weaknesses to secure continuing improvement in the care provided for children. Inspection report children's home: 2646248 6

p.4

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.

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff consistently pursue the children’s improved educational attendance, access to training or employment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14)

p.6

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 children's home: 2646248 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Paramount Children’s Services Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

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

p.7

Inspector

Anthony Kyem, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2646248 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8