Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 1 SC068664

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Registered provider: The Partnership Of Care Today

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider owns and runs this home.

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Information about this children’s home

It offers care for up to five children who may experience emotional and social difficulties and who may have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living at the home and they were spoken with during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2020.

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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: 20 September 2023

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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: SC068664 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/09/2023 Full Good 22/02/2023 Full Good 15/03/2022 Full Good 19/11/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment of the home is warm and welcoming. Children build and establish trusting relationships with staff, who have been constant and stable figures in their lives. Children have made progress relative to their complex needs, presenting behaviours, and starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children are attending school, but their engagement in learning is changeable. Staff offer additional tutoring support to children to provide structure to their day. The manager attends monthly education meetings to resolve these issues, but they have not sourced further support through the virtual school service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children confide in staff and share any worries or concerns. This helps the children to develop skills to manage their feelings and behaviour more appropriately. Children feel listened to and are consulted in their everyday care. This gives them a sense of belonging and trust in staff. Children have opportunities to engage in a range of activities that they enjoy both in the home and in the local community. Children go out together with staff to restaurants and on day trips to places of interest. Children enjoy holidays together that promote new experiences for all of them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have been successful in facilitating and supporting children to have time with their families and siblings. This has helped to nurture and promote better-quality relationships. Two children have successfully moved out of the home. Those children receive ongoing outreach support to nurture and guide them to make the right choices and maintain positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are thriving on the firm but fair routines and boundaries in place. The consistency and individualised approach in the care of the children help them to feel secure and safe. Children’s engagement with specialist services is encouraged by staff, and this helps children to overcome past traumas.

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

The children’s individual needs are understood by staff and manager, who recognise how they are expressed in children’s behaviour. The staff team is motivated. They are confident in their ability and approach to keeping children safe and secure.

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

Children do go missing from the home. There is effective planning and strategies to manage and minimise the associated risks. Leaders and managers are quick to take action to unpick any practice issues or learning. This ensures a timely and multi-agency response to children who go missing from the home.

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

Staff help children to develop a strong sense of safety, and balance their need for independence and free time with appropriate levels of supervision. Individualised and well-documented care planning and risk assessments ensure that children’s risks and vulnerabilities are clearly understood by staff.

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

Close working relationships with professionals and families are a strength of the home. In preparation for one child’s move out of the home, the staff were involved in regular care planning meetings. These meetings reviewed and assessed the child’s plan to return to the care Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 4 of their family. Following the child’s move, staff provided outreach work and welfare checks to check on their safety and well-being.

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

Children’s emotional distress and behavioural responses are managed well through staff’s consistent approach. The times that staff need to physically hold children are extremely infrequent. Staff understand the diverse needs of each child and use a range of strategies to keep children safer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager confidently leads the home and embeds a culture of positivity. She has hopes and aspirations for the children in her care, and promotes learning opportunities for staff. Leaders and managers are proactive in ensuring a model of good practice from the staff team, which is individualised to the needs of the child. The home is led effectively by the manager. She has a hands-on approach that provides her with a clear understanding of what the staff team does well. The manager evaluates staff practice through regular and reflective supervisions and team meetings, and this embeds consistency in the care for children. The manager identifies areas of improvement and utilises her staff team to make those changes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have opportunities for continuous learning through a combination of face-to-face and online training. The manager will use the time when children are at school to deliver bite-size, one-to- one training to staff. Staff say that they feel supported by the manager and take pleasure in the progress that children are making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff communicate with each other well through daily handovers. Children’s records, care plans and key-working sessions are child centred and provide insight into the children’s lives. Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 5

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are in full-time education. Their aim should be to support children’s full-time attendance at school, unless the child’s relevant plan indicates that this is not in their best interests. In particular, the staff should further consult with education professionals to establish a short-, medium- and longer-term plan to increase the education participation for the child who has a limited education timetable. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 28, paragraph 5.14)

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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: SC068664 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6LR

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Inspector

Cath Sikakana, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 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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