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

Inspection report children's home: 2606062 1 Registered provider: Paramount Children’s Services 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 privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities. Three children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2022.

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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: 9 November 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2606062 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/11/2023 Full Outstanding 18/01/2023 Full Outstanding 05/01/2022 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: 2606062 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in relation to their individual starting points. They enjoy living at the home where they are kept safe and feel safe. Staff provide children with continuity of care to ensure that they have stability and consistency in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from positive relationships with the committed and caring adults who support them. A social worker said, ‘ [Name of child] has done really well with a few bumps along the road. Staff are very accommodating and supportive.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with highly individualised, well-planned care that promotes their needs effectively. Children benefit from effective, high-quality support from staff. A child said, ‘I like going out with [ name of staff]. She’s really nice and she is always there for me.’ A social worker said, ‘[Name of child] has good support around her and has good relationships with the staff.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children benefit from a physically safe, comfortable and homely living environment. Health and safety matters are addressed effectively by staff. Children’s bedrooms are furnished, individually personalised and nicely decorated in accordance with the needs and wishes of children. However, one child’s bedroom was found to be very untidy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend regular time with their friends and families. As a result, children sustain their familiar relationships with the people who are most important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the children’s education and support their regular school attendance and learning. Staff form close and effective partnerships with the providers of children’s education to help children overcome any barriers or obstacles to their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health needs of children are met effectively. Staff ensure that children attend their health and medical appointments. Staff work closely with health partners to meet the specific physical and emotional health needs of the children. This includes sourcing specialist support, when required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with enjoyable activities to develop their interests and hobbies. Children enjoy city breaks, theme parks, bowling, cinema, baking, jewellery making and arts and crafts with staff.

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

Staff prioritise the children’s safety and well-being. They have a good understanding of their specific needs and emerging vulnerabilities. There have been no complaints raised Inspection report children's home: 2606062 4 by children since the last inspection. Children know how to make a complaint and their rights are promoted effectively.

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

There has been one occasion when a child’s overnight family time was not planned safely by staff. This placed the child and a staff member at risk of harm. Gender differences, the risks of lone working and known historical concerns were not taken into full consideration. Therefore, this activity was not risk assessed effectively.

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

Since the last inspection, there has been one allegation. This resulted in a staff member being suspended and the manager notifying the local authority designated officer, (LADO) and all other safeguarding agencies. This ensured there was a quick and well- coordinated response from all partner agencies. The allegation was investigated but led to no further action.

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

Unsafe behaviours such as missing from home episodes and self-injurious behaviours have reduced significantly for children. Staff actively search for children if they are absent or are missing from home. They work closely with the police to locate children quickly to secure their safe return.

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

Staff are trained in de-escalation and this enables them to manage heightened behaviours safely. There have been no restraints since the last inspection. Staff promote positive behaviour and ensure the use of negative consequences are kept to a minimum.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced and suitably qualified registered manager who has high expectations of staff and leads them by example. The manager maintains a strong and visible presence in the children’s lives. The manager is well supported by a responsive responsible individual.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel valued, well supported and led. Staff morale is good, and this contributes to a friendly, warm and positive environment for the children. The manager stimulates the staff’s enthusiasm and channels their efforts effectively. They provide staff with a clear sense of purpose and direction. A staff member said, ‘The manager expresses praise for the staff and also gives critical feedback to enhance our work ethics.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from appropriate training opportunities to enable them to have the right skills and knowledge to care for children safely. However, not all staff have had additional training on attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) to enable them to meet the specific and emerging children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular team meetings and receive practice-related supervision. The manager uses these forums to evaluate staff’s performance and efficiency in promoting the positive experiences and progress of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An independent person visits the home to assess the safety, standards and quality of the children’s care. These visits assist leaders and managers to understand the strengths and Inspection report children's home: 2606062 5 weaknesses associated with the care provided for children. The manager makes effective use of the ’ monitoring activities to secure improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from having a stable, consistent and diverse staff team employed to support them. Adults employed are recruited and vetted carefully to protect children from unsuitable individuals. Inspection report children's home: 2606062 6

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to ensuring that any arrangements for lone working are rigorously assessed to protect children and staff from harm. 9 December 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff receive relevant training to meet the specific needs of children. This relates specifically to training on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should establish routines that allow for children’s bedrooms to be tidied and cleaned regularly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20) Inspection report children's home: 2606062 7

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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 children's home: 2606062 8

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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 children's home: 2606062 9 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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