Children's home run by Inspire Care (UK) Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 1280478 1 Registered provider: Inspire Care (UK) Limited

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

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.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home has a registered manager who is suitably experienced and qualified.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

p.1

outstanding

Date of last inspection: 20 September 2023

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1280478 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/09/2023 Full Good 25/01/2022 Interim Not judged Inspection report for children's home: 1280478 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home. One child experienced a well-planned transition. Her move was managed at a pace to suit both her and the child already living in the home. The manager fully considered each child’s needs and the potential impact on both children. The two children get on well and have developed a very positive relationship that they treasure.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children benefit from living in an environment that mirrors a family home. Staff model and teach children the values of kindness and respect. The manager and staff have put in huge effort to ensure that each room in the home is child-focused and, in places, the decor reflects each child’s personality. Children’s artwork is displayed throughout the home and both children have had a lot of involvement in decisions about how the home is decorated. As a result, children feel a strong sense of purpose and belonging.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have their emotional, health and education needs met to a high standard. Both children are making excellent progress. This is in large part due to the manager prioritising children’s educational needs and advocating for them when there is a need to further challenge other agencies. Given that neither child was accessing education before living at the home, their success is considerable. They are now attending education regularly and catching up academically with their peers. As a result, their longer-term prospects have significantly improved.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff use therapeutic and creative learning approaches with children to help them understand difficult concepts. This is done in an interactive way, so the children engage and remain interested in the subject matter. Topics are revisited to help embed children’s learning. This helps the children to process difficult experiences they have had and to develop their self-esteem and sense of self-worth.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff, leaders and managers go above and beyond to enhance and develop children’s family relationships. This includes facilitating family time for children whose families live far from the home, and reconnecting children with family members they had lost touch with. This has supported one child to understand more about her identity, family history and cultural heritage.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children enjoy a wide range of social and community-based activities which reflect their interests. They engage in many extra-curricular activities that they enjoy, which helps them to thrive while having fun. The manager and staff have booked a holiday abroad for the children, which is something new for both children. This has been meticulously planned and staff have gone above and beyond to prepare children for this new and exciting experience. Inspection report for children's home: 1280478 4 Difference is celebrated. Children are encouraged to participate in cultural events and celebrations, which they enjoy with a diverse staff team.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff have created beautiful memory books for the children. They narrate the child’s time in the home with pictures, stories and mementos. This provides them with a lasting memory of their journey, including the places they have visited, the adventures they have had and the people they have shared their time with.

p.4

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

A trauma-informed approach underpins the general ethos of care in the home. The manager uses research to inform behaviour-management approaches. She is a keen advocate for positive reinforcement. Therefore, consequences are not used in the home.

p.4

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

Staff support children to feel safe. They are able to identify subtle cues in children’s behaviours, which enable them to provide appropriate and highly individualised support to children. The registered manager and staff provide children with a consistent daily routine. Children enjoy the stability that this gives them. Staff provide emotional warmth and understanding and children feel protected and secure.

p.4

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

On occasions, staff have needed to restrain children to keep them safe. This is only done as a last resort. The manager has excellent oversight of these incidents and ensures that reflective practice informs lessons learned. Children’s feelings and views remain central to this process. This ensures that children’s views are heard and they have confidence in staff to keep them safe.

p.4

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

Staff complete risk management plans for each child. This enables staff to identify and understand risks to children’s welfare. Staff review risk management plans regularly and discuss them in team meetings. This helps staff to maintain consistency when protecting children from harm.

p.4

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

Research-informed practice has enabled staff to put together a learning resource that they use with children to inform them about keeping safe, including personal boundaries, friendships, safe adults and peer pressure. They use this resource creatively and in interactive sessions that occur naturally in the home.

p.4

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

The manager has worked hard to upskill her team to ensure that they understand their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children. On the whole, this has had a positive impact on children’s safety and progress. However, on two occasions, staff did not act quickly enough to prevent one child’s behaviour escalating, and the police needed to be called to assist. Although the child did not come to harm, the two situations could have been avoided. The manager’s response has been robust, thorough and reflective and a learning experience for the staff involved. Overall, staff manage incidents and support children well. When incidents happen, staff are highly reflective and self-critical. They continually think about their safeguarding practice and how this can be improved. Inspection report for children's home: 1280478 5

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A dedicated, experienced and inspirational manager leads a committed and motivated team. She has high expectations of staff to provide excellent care to children. The manager and staff work well together to provide outstanding care. They do this because they are continually seeking ways to improve the children’s experiences.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff feel valued and well supported. Staff speak highly of the manager. Her enthusiasm is replicated by her staff team. One member of staff said, ‘The manager is at the heart of everything and her passion for the job and love for the [children] is an inspiration for anyone working here.’ Another member of staff said that the manager is ‘caring, supportive and a fountain of knowledge. She cares for the children with absolute commitment and supports the adults to carry this ethos to work every day.’

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has an excellent understanding of staff’s individual strengths and skills. All staff receive regular supervision, are well trained and current in their practice. The training provided is focused on the needs of the children and is kept under regular review to ensure that it meets any emerging needs. The manager and staff lead practice-related sessions in team meetings. These are centred around promoting a deeper understanding of children’s experiences and work well in upskilling staff.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager makes effective use of internal and external monitoring systems to bring about continual improvement in the quality of care provided to children. She is clear that there is always something new to learn, or an innovative approach to understand, that improves the outcomes of children in her care.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and her staff team are exceptional advocates for children. The manager does not accept practice or decisions that may compromise children’s progress. She does this because she knows it is important for children’s voices to be heard. Their views, wishes and feelings remain central to the care and support they receive. The children recently took a lead role in organising a team meeting to discuss changes to be made to the home. This is an excellent example of child-led practice.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Feedback from professionals is extremely positive. This is a credit to the leadership and management of this home. Comments from a range of professionals include, ‘I have found the staff to be exemplary. They genuinely have [the child’s] best interests at heart’, and staff are ‘really good at celebrating diversity and inclusion… which not only helps educate the children but also actively promotes inclusivity in the home’. Inspection report for children's home: 1280478 6

p.5

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: 1280478 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspire Care (UK) Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

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

p.7

Inspector

Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1280478 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