Children's Home run by Zen Care and Education Limited in Wigan

Inspection report for children’s home: 2775403 1 Registered provider: Zen Care and Education 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 owned and managed by a small private provider. The home provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, the home was providing care for two children.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in May 2024. This was the first inspection 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: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2775403 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good quality care from an experienced and child-centred staff team. Staff prioritise building positive relationships with children, which means that children are well cared for and supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the home’s registration, two children have moved on and two children have very recently moved in. Staff work hard to support children to adapt to their new environment. For one child who has moved a significant distance from their hometown, staff ensured that the child was aware of local amenities and locations of interest. When children have moved on in an unplanned way, staff have maintained contact with the children and supported a positive ending.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is well promoted in the home. The registered manager is a strong advocate for children when barriers to education are identified. When children have been unable to access a school setting, the registered manager has accessed one-to-one tutoring. As a result, one child is engaging with a bespoke education package to meet their needs until an appropriate school is identified.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children require additional support regarding their emotional health, staff are consistent in their approach. Staff seek out advice and guidance from both external therapeutic professionals and the in-house clinician. This approach ensures that children received therapeutically informed care to support their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children maintaining their relationships with their families and friends. Staff are committed to supporting one child to see their family, who reside a significant distance from the home. This means that children maintain important relationships and develop their networks for the future.

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

Staff have the skills and knowledge to keep children safe. They are aware of the individual risks faced by children and have identified actions of support to reduce these known risks.

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

When children have been reported as missing, staff have followed children’s individual plans to help locate them and return them to the home safely. The registered manager regularly reviews risk assessments, ensuring that the actions are appropriate to meet the changing needs of children. The registered manager recognised that missing-from-home incidents were increasing for one child, despite the support systems in place. The manager worked with several agencies to identify alternative strategies to attempt to keep the children safe. However, it was agreed that the child would move on from the home. Throughout this period of time, staff continued to support the child to ensure that their safety and well-being were prioritised, as well as during the transition timeframe. Inspection report for children’s home: 2775403 3 Significant incidents are well recorded and show a consistent staff response. Children

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

engage in regular direct work sessions with staff that support their understanding and education around risks to reduce the impact of any future incidents. When concerns were identified about fire safety for one child, staff helped the child to understand the risks at which they were placing themselves and others.

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

Staff promote natural consequences to support children’s development and encourage praise for positive behaviours. Consequences are used only when necessary and in line with each child’s behaviour management plan.

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

Allegations made by children have been appropriately investigated by the registered manager with multi-agency consultation as required. Children are kept informed of the process, which means they feel confident their views are heard and listened to. New children to the home understand the complaints process and how to access these.

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

Staff are skilled in de-escalating incidents. However, there have been occasions when children have been held by staff as a last resort to promote their safety. Children’s views are sought following any incidents involving the use of physical restraint. However, these individual debriefs are not consistently conducted by a person who was not involved in the hold. This does not provide children with the opportunity to share any concerns with an independent person. In addition, although the effectiveness of the decision to hold a child has been regularly evaluated, on one occasion this was by a member of staff who was not appropriately qualified or experienced. The registered manager did not provide any additional oversight, which is a missed opportunity to review this measure and staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a registered manager, who is supported by a dedicated and experienced staff team. Staff are overwhelmingly positive about working in the home. They enjoy coming to work and report that they are strong as a staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a range of good-quality training, which ensures that they are skilled to care for children. The registered manager and deputy manager work with staff during reflective supervision sessions and team meetings to help them understand what is working well for the children. Areas for staff development are quickly identified by managers and support offered as required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to therapeutic support from the in-house clinician. Staff say that this has benefited them in identifying alternative approaches and strategies to support the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff have developed strong multi-agency relationships which are effective in promoting children’s needs. Staff advocate strongly for children within professional discussion, ensuring that the children’s views are shared and understood. Feedback from professionals is very positive and identifies that staff in the home are supportive and promote the children’s needs. One education professional said Inspection report for children’s home: 2775403 4 that staff at the home are ‘informative, supportive and willing to be flexible in every way around the needs of the child’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2775403 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

(within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that records of restraint are reviewed with scrutiny by an approved person who is appropriately qualified and experienced.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that following the use of restraint, children are spoken to by an independent person not involved in the hold, taking into consideration their views and feelings about the measure used. 13 March 2025

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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: 2775403 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Zen Care and Education LTD

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Trafford House, Chester Road, Old Trafford M32 0RS

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Inspector

Carrie Mayes, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2775403 7 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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