Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Wakefield

Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 1 Registered provider: Care Today (Children’s Services) Ltd

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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 and managed by a private provider and provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. Three children were living in the home at the time of the inspection and all children were spoken with during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has two managers who registered with Ofsted in June 2021 and January 2024, respectively.

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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: 7 November 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: 1270568 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2023 Full Good 13/09/2022 Full Good 02/02/2022 Full Good 26/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a positive and nurturing home. They receive support from a caring staff team who are committed to helping them settle in. Staff support children to develop their self-esteem and confidence by encouraging them to participate in a range of activities including ice skating, day trips out and going for walks. These opportunities provide children with enjoyable experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s education. They help children to have consistent daily routines so that they can achieve good school attendance. Staff maintain open lines of communication with the children’s individual schools. They advocate for children to receive education that is tailored to their needs. This ensures that children achieve positive outcomes and develop aspirations for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Children are registered with local health services and staff support them to attend their appointments and maintain good health. Staff ensure that the children’s diet is balanced, and they are encouraged to be active. This helps children to learn the importance of staying healthy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children contribute to decisions made in the home. They have regular consultations with staff through meetings and focused one-to-one sessions. This means they can share their wishes and feelings openly. This helps children to feel valued and respected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to rebuild and maintain their relationships with families. Staff facilitate these arrangements in line with the children’s care plans. Staff support children to participate in developing independent living skills such as cleaning and shopping. This helps children to prepare for their futures.

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

Staff fully understand children’s risks. Staff ensure children’s behaviour management plans and risk assessments are regularly updated, including after incidents. These documents provide staff with clear guidance on the strategies to keep children safe. This means that staff know what actions to take to effectively safeguard children.

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

Children are learning how to better keep themselves safe. This is because staff engage children in focused work to address individual risks. This work includes a number of topics, such as online safety, healthy relationships and the dangers of going missing. This helps to promote children’s safety and well-being.

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

Staff know the children well and support them to learn appropriate ways to manage their own emotions. They carry out focused work with children that offers opportunities for them to explore their feelings and what promotes good behaviour. As a result, there has only been one physical intervention since the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 4 When children are absent from the home without permission, staff follow the appropriate safeguarding guidelines. Staff have a good understanding of the home’s missing-from-care procedures and fully understand the actions expected of them in these circumstances. This ensures that children are better protected from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Two registered managers have oversight of this home. They are supported by a caring staff team who are committed to providing positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is properly staffed. The majority of the staff have an appropriate qualification for their role or are working towards this qualification. The staff have all been at the home for a considerable period of time. This provides children with consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that they feel well-supported by the management team. They benefit from regular training, team meetings and reflective supervision sessions. Supervision sessions and team meetings give staff opportunities to discuss the support they need to fulfil their roles effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers have auditing tools in place to monitor the children’s progress, staff performance and the overall quality of care that children receive. Monthly visits to the home by an independent person provide external monitoring of the home. The managers use any learning from the independent person’s reports to improve practice in the home. However, the current internal monitoring of the home environment is not sufficient to ensure that all areas are clean. In addition, the system in place for the storage of some documents is not accessible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers and staff have good working relationships with other professionals such as social workers. They report that communication is efficient and the effective working relationships between the home and other professionals ensures that children are better safeguarded. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h) 4 October 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: 1270568 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care Today (Childrens Services) Ltd

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Children’s home details

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

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Children’s home details

Registered managers: Monique Bristol-Colbridge and Alex Mason

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Inspector

Evelyn Chafota, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1270568 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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