Children's Home run by Nurture Childcare Services Ltd in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2534829 1 Registered provider: Nurture Childcare Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who may be experiencing social and emotional difficulties .

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in August 2019 and the manager registered in September 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

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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: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2534829 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/06/2022 Full Inadequate 29/03/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 12/10/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/02/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2534829 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is settled and happy in their home. The child’s social worker said, ‘The child has settled well and is making good progress. Staff are understanding of their needs, and their risks have reduced. Staff include the child’s family in the decisions for the child.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s physical and emotional health needs are prioritised. Staff support the child to attend routine health appointments and specialist appointments. This means that the child is in good health, and positive well-being is promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is in education and is supported to succeed and continue in their chosen and core subjects. This supports the child to have aspirations for the future and supports better life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Key staff support the child to spend time with people who are important to them. The child’s mother feels that staff keep them up to date about their child’s life. This means that the child is supported to maintain their identity and relationships with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the child to personalise their home. The child was able to help decorate the home with their chosen colours and displays. However, there are parts of the home that require maintenance, such as the conservatory, and some carpets need cleaning. There are also broken cupboard doors and garden bins that need replacing.

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

Risk assessments are in place and reviewed regularly. De-escalation guidance and dynamic risk assessments provide a comprehensive level of support to staff. This means the child has been able to work through their experiences in a safe and appropriate way. This has led to a significant decrease in self-injurious behaviour.

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

Staff use positive behaviour approaches, supported by therapeutic training. This avoids the use of negative or punitive measures to manage the child’s behaviour. The child clearly benefits from receiving consistent praise and rewards for positive behaviour through incentives.

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

The child does not go missing from home. This is good progress for the child, as they would often have periods of being missing from home before moving into this home. The child has a clear and comprehensive missing-from-home plan and profile to ensure that there is a consistent and robust approach from staff should the child go missing.

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

Recruitment procedures and practices are safe and effective. All staff are checked and vetted before starting to work at the home. These checks ensure that only suitable adults are employed to work with children in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2534829 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led and managed by an ambitious and knowledgeable management team. Leaders and managers demonstrate a clear understanding of therapeutic approaches when supporting children with complex needs, and they ensure that staff implement these in their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel supported by the manager. They say that the new manager has brought a more organised and consistent approach to the home. One member of staff said that the manager has helped staff to be consistent in their support of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working with relevant professionals is a key strength of the manager and the staff team. Feedback from professionals is positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend regular training that helps them to better understand children’s needs. This helps staff to develop their skills to ensure that they implement good practice and meet children’s needs. Training is reviewed by leaders and managers regularly to ensure that it meets the changing needs of the staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Incidents are not recorded consistently. In one case, some information is not clear, such as the timing of the incident and the actions taken. This means the manager is not able to fully evaluate incidents effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of direct work is inconsistent. Direct work is not completed in line with the child’s needs and risks as identified by the manager. This means that the child is not supported to identify and manage risks safely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some of the child’s records do not include sufficient information about their experience and progress. There is a lack of detail about direct work relating to the child using vapes and inconsistent information relating to how staff support the child with self-injurious behaviour. This means that staff are not all working in a consistent way. Inspection report for children’s home: 2534829 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered person ensuring that the home is well maintained to a high standard and any damage or maintenance issues are identified and rectified in a timely manner. 6 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 6 December 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2534829 6 Specifically, this relates to ensuring that all children’s records are up to date and reviewed regularly to evidence progress and to ensure that staff are working in a consistent manner.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any records of incidents are completed in full. Records of incidents should contain a full record of the incident and any subsequent outcomes. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)  The registered person should ensure that where risks are identified, direct work is completed with the child to help them to understand and manage the risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7)

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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 for children’s home: 2534829 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nurture Childcare Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Seighford Hall, Clanford Road, Seighford, Stafford ST18 9NL

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Inspectors

James Meeks, Social Care Inspector Deborah Turner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2534829 8 regulates and inspects to 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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