Children's Home run by Paramount Children’s Services Limited in Manchester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2719474 1 Registered provider: Paramount Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is managed by a small private company. It provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 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 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2719474 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/08/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2719474 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in relation to their various starting points. They benefit from well-planned, highly individualised care that promotes their needs effectively. They enjoy warm and friendly relationships with the adults who care for them. Staff provide children with consistency and stability in their lives. A child said, ‘Staff are always in a positive mood. I get on well with the staff.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health needs of children are reliably met. Staff ensure that children have access to the health services they need to stay healthy. They support children to attend their health appointments and encourage them to lead a healthy and active lifestyle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend school regularly. One child has recently completed their GCSE’s and was rewarded with a holiday. Staff work closely with the providers of children’s education to promote their educational progress, achievements and learning. Staff consistently have high aspirations for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with their families and friends. Staff help make family time possible irrespective of the distances involved to support family time. This ensures that children sustain their important relationships with the people who matter most to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with positive activities and encourage their interests and hobbies. They keep photo albums for the children that serve as a keepsake of their special memories and moments at the home. A child said, ‘My relationships with staff are great. It’s a great place to live.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide extensive one-on-one support to children. Staff are caring and nurturing in their approach. Staff deliver therapeutically informed styles of parenting that enables children to feel safe and secure at the home.

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

Staff consistently prioritise the safety of children and ensure that children are protected from harm. They follow clear risk management plans that include effective support strategies to keep children safe. Staff have a good understanding of the needs and emerging vulnerabilities of children.

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

Staff are trained to manage behaviours that challenge safely and effectively. The use of restraint is exceptionally rare, and if used at all, it is only ever used to protect children from harm.

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

Staff act quickly when serious incidents occur. There have been two instances when staff have involved the emergency services due to concerns with self-injurious behaviours. Inspection report for children’s home: 2719474 4 However, notifications were not made to Ofsted which hinders the regulator’s ability to monitor staff’s actions in supporting and protecting children.

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

Staff receive training in child protection to ensure that they understand their safeguarding roles. They maintain effective partnerships with the police and other safeguarding agencies to promote the safety of children.

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

Clear protocols for staff action when children who go missing from home are in place. When children have gone missing from the home, staff actively look for children and work in partnership with the police to ensure children’s safe return.

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

There have been no complaints since the last inspection. The manager handles allegations transparently and professionally. They ensure that all safeguarding agencies are informed of any allegations so that the right action is taken by the right professionals to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that the home is managed efficiently and effectively and in the best interests of children. They foster a culture of positivity where staff collectively have high aspirations for children. The manager has high expectations of staff, and leads them, by example.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that they enjoy their job roles and feel well supported by the manager and responsible individual. Staff said, ‘I cannot see any flaws in the children’s care. There is open, honest and transparent communication between management and staff.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular, child focused team meetings, and reflective, practice related supervision. This helps staff to reflect on their performance and takes account of their well-being. Additionally, team meetings and supervision are also used by staff to monitor the progress and experiences of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have recently attended training on trauma and therapeutic parenting. They have access to good training opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills in meeting the specific needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home environment is maintained to a high standard for children. Children benefit from a homely, cosy and comfortable living environment. Staff meet the aims and objectives, as set out, in the home’s statement of purpose and leaders and managers have met the requirement from the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An independent person visits the home on a regular basis to review the quality of the children’s care. These visits assist leaders and managers to understand the strengths and weaknesses associated with the care provided for children. The manager tackles any shortfalls in terms of practice to secure improvement. They have completed a detailed quality of care review that considers and includes the views of children, staff, social workers and stakeholders. Inspection report for children’s home: 2719474 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to notifying Ofsted when children attend hospital due to suspected overdose or self-injurious behaviour. 26 August 2024

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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: 2719474 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Paramount Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Anthony Kyem, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2719474 7 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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Inspector

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