Children's Home run by Bright Futures Care Limited in Halton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 1 Registered provider: Bright Futures Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to care for up to five children who may have learning disabilities or sensory impairments, as well as social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2023. There were five children living in this home at the time of inspection. The inspector interacted with four of the children.

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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

Date of last inspection: 12 September 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/09/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living at the home are making excellent progress due to the care and attention provided by the staff team. Children are supported to develop their self-care skills and communication. Their improved communication skills have led to their frustrations reducing as they are now more able to share their wishes and feelings. This helps children to feel heard and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a nurturing environment to grow and develop, demonstrating a genuine passion for the children they care for. The team advocates for children’s best interests and celebrates children’s progress and achievements. As a result, children are able to develop trusting relationships with the adults who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a spacious, safe and warm home that is full of bright colours and varied toys for children to play with. The home is clean and tidy, and managers request for repairs to be made when areas are damaged. However, some repairs are not completed in a timely manner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s health needs are met. They take children to all necessary appointments and advocate on their behalf when more support is needed. Staff help children to make healthy choices and take them out to new places to help them stay active and enjoy new experiences. Children are encouraged to explore their interests and try new things.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children in school and help them to practice their learning at home when they are unable to attend. Education professionals say that staff communicate well with them and ensure that children’s changing needs are met. One head teacher said, ‘They always seem to have her interests at heart’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s time with their families, often driving long distances to ensure that children can see the people who are important to them. One parent said, ‘It is perfect there, staff are amazing. Everyone there just loves [name of child]’. This helps children to maintain relationships with family members and to understand their family identity.

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

Children appear happy and relaxed in the home and with their carers. Children are regularly asked for their views and are supported to share how they feel living in the home. All the children have lived in the home for a long time and appear to feel safe and settled. This helps children to achieve a sense of permanence.

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

Staff respond well to children, using play and humour to help children transition between activities. When children become distressed, staff are skilled at helping them to feel safe Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 4 again. Staff only hold children to keep them safe as a last resort. While some holds are recorded appropriately, when staff guide a child away, this is not recorded as it should be. This does not enable the manager to effectively oversee all interventions.

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

Staff are provided with the information they need to care for the children well. Support plans include clear strategies for staff to follow that are based on each individual child’s personality and needs. Due to high levels of supervision, children do not go missing from this home.

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

One child makes allegations against staff when distressed. Staff write down in detail what happened and what has been said, and information is shared with the appropriate professionals. The child’s placing authority social worker said, ‘The manager emails me to let me know what’s happening and gives us a breakdown every month of what’s been going on. They keep us fully informed.’ This collaborative working with external professionals helps to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced and qualified for the role. Staff feel valued and supported by the management team, with one member of staff saying, ‘We are really lucky, the manager will do anything he can to help us’. Equally, when staff are not meeting the expectations of the role, the manager is able to challenge and support them to make improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers support the staff team to set goals for themselves and put development plans in place to help them achieve those goals. Staff are provided with ongoing training specific to children’s needs. This enables children to be cared for by a skilled and knowledgeable team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel able to share ideas and contribute to children’s plans. They find supervision sessions and team meetings helpful to reflect on children’s needs and think about what they could do differently. One member of staff said, ‘Everyone is always giving input and ideas, we are listened to’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers makes good use of internal and external monitoring systems to assess the quality of care provided to the children. The manager reviews incidents and children’s progress to maintain good oversight and promote children’s safety and wellbeing. However, managers have missed opportunities to further consider patterns and context around incidents to identify any learning for the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff have a good understanding of children’s needs and interests and enjoy working in the home. One member of staff said, ‘I never thought I’d love a job as much as I do, but we all love it here. We love seeing the kids happy’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 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, 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

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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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

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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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 27 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 6 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)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all physical interventions are recorded as an intervention and include all required documentation.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is well-maintained throughout and that any repairs are completed in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 33 paragraph 7.3)  The registered person should ensure that they thoroughly evaluate incidents and progress to identify patterns and consider staff practice to identify any learning for the team. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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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: 2652976 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bright Futures Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Asher House, Barsbank Lane, Lymm WA13 0ED

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Inspector

Aislinn Cooper, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2652976 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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