Children's home run by Birmingham Children’s Trust Community Interest Company

Inspection report for children’s home: 1273658 1 Registered provider: Birmingham Children’s Trust Community Interest Company

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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 provides care for up to 16 children who have a physical and/or learning disability and/or a sensory impairment.

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides short-break services for up to six children who have a physical and/or learning disability and/or a sensory impairment.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left their post in February 2024. A new manager has been in post since May 2024. They are not registered with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 28 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: 1273658 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/11/2023 Full Good 13/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/09/2021 Full Good 25/02/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1273658 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were five children living in the home at the time of the inspection and two children accessing the short-break service. The inspectors saw all the children and spent time with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in the home have done so for a significant period; four of the children have lived there for over three years. The children are happy and settled and have developed trusting relationships with staff. Warm, relaxed interaction between the staff and the children demonstrates that children feel comfortable in their environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress from their starting point because of the nurturing care they receive from the staff. Staff have a good understanding of the children’s needs and they support them to reach their potential. One child can now independently brush their hair and teeth and another child is now able to sit at the table and use cutlery at mealtimes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are effective in meeting children’s health needs. The children have individual health plans which provide staff with guidance on how to promote the children’s health. All children are registered with local health services and attend all appointments. Staff collaborate with specialist health professionals, which enables a coordinated approach to supporting the children’s complex health needs. This helps to maintain children’s physical and emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are in education and have good attendance. There is strong partnership working between staff and educational professionals. As a result, children engage well in school and are making progress. One teacher said: ‘[Name of child] has made a good start to the school year and is always ready to learn.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The managers and staff support children to spend time with people who are important to them. This includes promoting and facilitating positive time with family members. One child’s family member said staff look after the child well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children participate in a number of activities inside and outside the home. Activities have included trips to the theatre and the cinema and a holiday at the seaside. More recently, one child celebrated their birthday with a party with professional footballers. All children attended the party and had a fantastic time. One child’s social worker spoke positively about the new experiences their child had received.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home needs modernisation and redecoration. There are areas of the home that look tired and in need of repair. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their individual interests. However, the lack of soft furnishing detracts from a homely environment. Furthermore, some of the children’s rooms have alarms on their bedrooms walls. Although these alarms are not in use, this gives the home an unnecessarily institutionalised feel and is a reminder to children that they are looked after. Inspection report for children’s home: 1273658 4

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s risks and behaviours. As a result, children feel safe and trust staff. Staff understand their safeguarding roles and responsibilities and implement these effectively.

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

Physical interventions in the home have not been necessary. Staff are attuned to the children’s feelings and they provide effective de-escalation strategies to support children when they are feeling upset or anxious. As a result, the number of incidents in the home is low.

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

There have not been any incidents of children going missing from home since the last inspection. All the children have individual pen pictures, which detail what staff should do should children go missing.

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

Complaints in the home are rare. Children are supported to communicate using their preferred method of communication. Staff use a range communication tools, such as Makaton, communication tablets and communication buttons. Throughout the home, visual aids are in place to support children. As a result, children can express their views.

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

Staff are safely recruited. The home undertakes all the required checks on staff. This ensures that children’s safety and welfare are promoted.

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

Overall, medication arrangements in the home are effective and there are clear processes in place to ensure that children’s medication is administered safely. There has been one medication error since the last inspection. This did not impact on the child’s health and the manager took appropriate action to prevent further reoccurrence. This has included regular audits and assessment of staff competencies. However, during the inspection the inspectors identified a medication recording error in one child’s file. The manager took immediate steps to address this shortfall.

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

Overall, the manager responds appropriately to safeguarding concerns. They work alongside children’s social workers and the local authority designated officer to ensure the safety of the children. However, on occasion the manager failed to share important information with Ofsted following a significant concern. This limits the regulator’s ability to assess safeguarding practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has left the home. A new manager has been appointed and they have submitted their application to Ofsted. The manager is suitably experienced and qualified. They are child-focused and passionate about providing good care and positive experiences to children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1273658 5 The manager understands the home’s areas of strength and development. They have implemented monitoring systems to review the continuity of care provided to children. These monitoring systems are not yet embedded or effective and the manager has missed gaps in the staff recording and training. This is a missed opportunity to develop staff practice and improve the care provided to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Recording systems are not consistently effective. Managers struggle at times to locate important records. Some records about children lack detail the about the children’s everyday lives and experience of living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Overall, most staff have undertaken training that is specific to children’s needs. However, the manager has not ensured that all night staff have received additional specific training in relation to a child with epilepsy. This oversight had not been identified by the manager. During the inspection, they took action to address this shortfall and immediate training was arranged for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Supervision of staff is inconsistent and is not in line with the home’s own supervision policy. One member of staff said that they often have to request supervision. These are missed opportunities for staff to understand how they can improve on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Children are cared for by a consistent, stable staff team. Staff enjoy working in the home and feel supported by the manager and welcome the changes the new manager has brought to the home. One member of staff said they feel supported by the manager and have faith in the changes made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Feedback from external professionals is very positive. They said that staff communicate well with them about the children. Positive relationships with external agencies support the development of the children’s care plans. Inspection report for children’s home: 1273658 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 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

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.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the home being appropriately decorated and maintained. 19 February 2025

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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

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the managers and staff provided clear updates to the regulator with regard to safeguarding practices in the home. 19 February 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1273658 7 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;

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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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of quality of care provided in the home;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that all staff working in the home have the required training to meet the needs of the children they care for.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that monitoring systems are in place in order to review the continuity of care provided to children. 19 February 2025

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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

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(c)

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children records are reviewed and updated on a regular basis. 19 February 2025

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report for children’s home: 1273658 8 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: 1273658 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Birmingham Children’s Trust Community Interest Company

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Avenue Road, Aston, Birmingham B6 4DU

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Inspectors

Lydia Isaac, Social Care Inspector Kirsty Truesdale, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1273658 10 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

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Inspectors

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