Children's Home run by Inspire Childcare Ltd in Slough

Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 1 Registered provider: Inspire Childcare Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to four children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties. There were three children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in July 2024, and the registered manager has been in post since then. This is the first inspection of the home since registration.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care from staff who understand their needs well. Staff talk to and about children with warmth and respect and there is a sense of fun in day-to-day interactions. This helps children to feel cared for and build relationships that support them to make progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are valued. Staff seek children’s wishes and feelings in everyday discussions, one-to-one sessions and regular children’s meetings. Children are involved in an age-appropriate way in decisions and plans. This helps children to feel heard and to have a sense of agency.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff devote regular one-to-one time to children to provide support with things they may need help with, such as managing emotions and relationships and taking part in groups. This helps children to feel heard and better able to approach challenges in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work with children to encourage and support their independence skills, such as travel and budgeting. They communicate well with children and professionals to manage this support. However, one child who is 17 does not yet have a leaving care personal adviser. There has not been timely challenge to the local authority about this to ensure that the child has access to all the support available to prepare for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively promote education and learning. They work constructively with education professionals to promote engagement in education and to support alternative arrangements if needed. One child who was not in education when they moved to the home has been supported to start attending college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s important relationships are promoted. Staff support children’s time with family members, in line with their care plans, and work hard to manage communication with family members positively. This supports children’s sense of identity and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have left the home due to increasing concerns about their safety. Managers and staff worked hard to support the children before these decisions were made and appropriately sought the input of specialist services. For one child, there was prompt liaison with partner agencies to try and address concerns and to make the ending of their placement as positive as possible. For the other child, there is less evidence of timely discussions with the placing authority to consider additional support and to provide the child with a positive ending.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is safe, clean, warm and appropriately furnished. There has been some damage caused since the home opened. Managers understand the importance of maintaining the home environment and have ensured repairs are carried out promptly. Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 3

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

There is a strong safeguarding ethos in the home. Managers and staff share information and work effectively with partner agencies, such as the local authority designated officer and police, to share information and manage potential risks. This helps children to be safe and feel safe.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s individual vulnerabilities. When children are at risk, they take appropriate action. Staff are guided by plans that are regularly updated and reviewed with partner agencies. After concerning incidents, staff talk to children about what has happened to help them to understand risks and make safer choices. There is timely management oversight of serious incidents which helps inform changes to children’s plans. This shows that children’s safety is a priority.

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

When children go missing from home, staff are proactive in trying to find them and work effectively with others to locate them as quickly as possible. There is good management oversight, staff have follow-up discussions with children and return home interviews are always requested. This is helping to reduce incidents of going missing for one child and to minimise risks if they do go missing from home.

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

Staff are guided to understand that behaviour is communication, and this informs helpful responses. If children show behaviours of distress, staff work hard to try and understand what is wrong and to de-escalate situations. If situations do escalate, staff remain calm and supportive throughout and talk to children about it afterwards to reflect and learn. This approach is helping children to manage difficult feelings more positively.

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

Managers carry out a range of checks and assessments of health and safety issues and consider risks in the locality. This helps to minimise risks to the children in and around the home.

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

Managers have robust systems for recruitment checks before new staff start to work at the home. This helps to protect children from adults who might be unsafe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager. She has a good knowledge of the service’s strengths and areas for development and is enthusiastic about children and their progress. The manager is open and reflective. This makes her a good role model for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about their roles and the support that they receive. They describe the manager and team leaders as supportive and available. Staff model and describe a positive culture of care for children and themselves. They receive regular supervisions and appraisals, in line with company policy. This helps children to receive support from resilient staff. Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 4 Staff complete a range of relevant training. Managers have effective systems in place to monitor this and staff’s progress in completing qualifications. Team meetings are used constructively to support staff to reflect, learn and consider different approaches to meeting children’s needs. This is strengthened by input from an external consultancy, who reported positively about staff engagement in the process. This all helps children to receive care from well-informed staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff participate actively in planning with the placing authority and keep their own records of discussions and agreed actions to guide planning. However, up-to- date copies of all relevant documents are not held in the home, so there is a risk of children’s plans not being fully informed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers understand the importance of having a stable staff team and have made good progress in establishing this. The home is adequately staffed, with support when needed from familiar staff from the provider’s sister home, and there is no use of agency workers. This helps children to receive care from familiar adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and managers understand the importance of working relationships with other professionals involved in the care of children. Social care professionals provided positive feedback about the communication and relationships with staff as well as staff’s understanding of children. This helps children to receive coordinated care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monthly visits are carried out by an independent person and the manager responds constructively to any recommendations made. The independent person talks to children and staff to inform their findings. However, the reports are not informed by external feedback, which weakens the quality of the scrutiny provided, and they are not always shared with the regulator in a timely fashion. Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, challenge the placing authority to provide a leaving care personal adviser for relevant children. 26 March 2025

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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 child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs. 26 March 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 6 (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that timely discussions are held with the placing authority if there are concerns that support in place for a child is insufficient to meet their needs, and ensure that every effort is made to provide children with positive endings when they leave the home.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the independent person makes a rigorous assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. This should include obtaining the views of relevant external parties, in particular, the relatives of children, where appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that up-to-date copies of children’s relevant plans and reviews are held so that they can fully inform the care children receive in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 11.1)

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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: 2787666 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspire Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ

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Inspector

Jacob Robson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 8 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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