Children's Home run by Keys Educational Services Limited in Somerset

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1239953 1 Registered provider: Keys Educational Services Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is owned by a national provider. It provides care for up to three children. At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspection started on 16 January 2025. An inspector returned on 22 January 2025 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspectors evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1239953 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

All three children remain settled in the home. They get on well with staff and like living in there. Staff support them to be safe. However, relationships between the children are not always positive. At times, children struggle with feelings of jealousy towards each other. During some incidents, damage has been caused to the home. The impact of this on children’s experiences is not fully understood by staff, and there is a lack of action taken to address this for them.

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Findings from the inspection

Children’s participation in education continues to be mixed. The manager has challenged other professionals to begin to ensure children have the right provision in place to meet their needs. However, children’s engagement in the planned activities in place is inconsistent. Professionals are positive about the home, and the communication they receive from staff.

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Findings from the inspection

Children’s day-to-day routines are inconsistent. Staff do not sufficiently understand children’s sleep patterns. Children’s diets are generally unhealthy, with food of low nutritional quality. One child eats a daily diet of mostly processed food. Another child is only recorded to eat one meal a day on average.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff awareness of the risks of social media has improved. For two children there are regular checks of their devices in place, and support for open conversations about potential risks. One child has recently had their phone with internet access removed, due to continued concerns for their online safety. The child has not been provided with clarity about what needs to change for them to get this back.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff enjoy working in the home, and value the time they spend with the children. However, they identify that their resilience is impacted by recent incidents. Staff receive regular supervision. This offers them a space to talk about professional relationships in the home. However, there is a lack of action taken in response to the concerns raised about staff dynamics. This impacts on the cohesiveness of the team, and means staff continue to work in a fragmented way. Conversations about children do not robustly explore their current needs and risks, limiting the manager’s understanding of what is happening in the home.

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Findings from the inspection

While the manager has taken some steps to address the concerns identified at the full inspection, progress is slow, and change is not yet evident in children’s day-to- day experiences. While initiatives are implemented, such as promoting healthy eating, there is a lack of persistence to try another approach when something is unsuccessful. The manager understands there is ongoing work required to develop a unified staff team. However, timescales to achieve this lead to further delays for children. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1239953 3 Although some action has been taken towards meeting the previous requirements, they have been restated, and a new requirement has been made. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1239953 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/08/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/02/2024 Full Good 04/08/2022 Full Good 21/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1239953 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure they work with agencies to overcome any barriers that the children face in education to support them to consistently engage with the maximum education time available to them.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that all children are supported to understand and value the benefit of education.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that children are provided with informal education as an addition to formal learning and not a substitute. 28 March 2025 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1239953 6 The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of the children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health & well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in their child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote a child’s well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that all children are helped to maintain healthy sleep patterns and have a healthy and balanced diet and structured mealtimes.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that all children have regular health appointments.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that all children’s plans and logs accurately reflect their diet.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that robust plans are in place for carers to fully understand the children’s social media use and the impact on their physical and emotional well-being. 28 March 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

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; 28 February 2025 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1239953 7 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;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children receive support to understand how to be safe online.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that staff recognise the risk of harm to children from witnessing incidents in the home, and take effective action to ensure both immediate safety and long-term reduction of the risk of exposure to incidents.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure the staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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 the 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

(Regulation 13 (1) (2)(b)(c)(e)(f)(h)) 28 March 2025 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1239953 8 In particular, the registered person must ensure the staff work towards shared goals and aspirations for the home.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that there is continuity of care across the team, including in practice with each individual child and in administrative tasks.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should implement an effective monitoring system to evaluate care to safeguard and promote the children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(xi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff understand their role in promoting positive relationships between children, and that action is taken to achieve this. 28 March 2025 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1239953 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Educational Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Inspectors

Gary Turney, Social Care Inspector Clare Nixson, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 1239953 10 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

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Inspectors

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