Children's Home run by Bryn Melyn Care Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1276010 1 Registered provider: Keys Child Care 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

The home provides long-term care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

One child has moved out and one child has moved in since the last inspection in September 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a temporary manager, who is providing maternity cover, and has been in place since October 2024. He is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 5 September 2023

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1276010 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/09/2023 Full Good 07/11/2022 Full Good 06/12/2021 Full Good 10/03/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1276010 3

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improvement to be good

The inspector spent time individually with each child, and they talked about what it is like to live in the home. The children like their bedrooms, and that they are personalised to their own tastes. They stated that they feel safe and happy, but that staff responses to them, particularly in relation to behaviour, were not always consistent. This has had an impact on their relationships with certain members of the care team.

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improvement to be good

Staff provide care to children which is not always personalised to each individual child’s needs. When ideas to support children are not successful, staff do not consider alternative options. This has resulted in some children’s progress being limited. Staff do work to build relationships with children and spend time getting to know them and their interests.

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improvement to be good

One parent reported good communication from the home, and that they feel their child is safe and happy. Professionals have not raised any significant concerns about the care provided for the children in the home, although one noted that the support around education could be greatly improved.

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improvement to be good

The experience and progress of children in the home is inconsistent. Some children have made good progress and are achieving, others are not, particularly in respect of developing independence and education.

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improvement to be good

Staff gather children’s views and listen to them, and this feedback is fed back into practice. Staff do not consider the children’s long-term aspirations and goals, and their focus is on practical daily tasks.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not yet adequately preparing children for the future in terms of moving out of the home, and despite one child being due to move to supported accommodation soon, there has been minimal work done with them to prepare for this. There has also been little professional challenge or curiosity from the manager around whether this is an appropriate move for them.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to see family, and staff prioritise this in respect of facilitating visits, even when these may be some distance away. There is not enough consideration from staff around the emotional impact of family time on children.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the risks and vulnerabilities in relation to the children and are able to identify the correct processes and procedures in raising safeguarding concerns. There are safeguards in place for children, for example, in respect of mobile phone and social Inspection report for children’s home: 1276010 4 media use. However, staff do not have a consistent understanding of contextual safeguarding, and there has been minimal work done with children to reduce specific risks around child sexual exploitation and child criminal exploitation. This means that children leave the home without risks having been fully explored.

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improvement to be good

Staff respond appropriately when children go missing, and mostly follow each child’s missing from home plan. When it was identified that one member of staff had not followed this, it was dealt with appropriately by the previous manager. This incident did not lead to the child experiencing harm.

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improvement to be good

Staff and the manager share information with the relevant agencies when children raise concerns about staff practice. The provider follows appropriate protocols and undertake effective investigations into concerns raised by children. Children are not always informed of the outcome of investigations.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not respond to behaviour in a consistent manner, and lack confidence in how to manage situations, which is confusing for the children. This has been identified by the manager and work has begun to attempt to improve consistency of care.

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improvement to be good

Staff maintain the downstairs rooms to a good standard, although some areas are more ‘child friendly’ than others. The manager has strategies in place to provide oversight of the physical conditions in the home, but this is not always effective. This has resulted in children living in an environment which is of an inconsistent standard. Staff failed to support one child with the conditions of their bedroom, and this led to it becoming unclean and a poor environment for the child the reside in. This was rectified during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers are not ambitious enough for children and too often rely on rigid plans which are not based on the individual needs of each child. This has resulted in significant oversight in terms of one child who has not been supported effectively to access an education provision, which has limited their overall progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has a lack of insight into how the daily progress of children will impact on their future life experiences. The manager is new in their role and has had a lack of support from the senior leadership team to support their development

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have developed a more robust induction programme following learning from observing previous members of the team who joined the home and then left. The manager has ensured yearly appraisals are in place and have a plan to introduce further personal development plans to continue to identify staff training needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has been able to identify some of the areas of development for the home, and some of these have been acted on, but others have not and remain weaknesses. The manager does not always take decisive action. Inspection report for children’s home: 1276010 5 The relationship that the home has with professionals and external providers does support some areas of development for some of the children. However, leaders and managers do not actively challenge the response of external services when they are ineffective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers consider children’s views in respect of daily activities, and they have been involved in some recent cosmetic changes within the home environment and in personalising their bedrooms.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There have been significant staff changes since the previous inspection, and several new workers have joined the team. While there is a plan to continue to work towards a consistent workforce, challenges in recruitment and retention has led to the use of agency staff. The children commented that they are not always clear who will be in their home and when. The current manager has been in post with day-to-day oversight of the home since October. There was a delay in them submitting their application to Ofsted to register, and this was only completed during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers take action in response to requirements. However, they do not do enough to ensure that they are fully and consistently met. For example, a requirement under regulation 13 has been raised at the last three inspections. This raises concerns about the effectiveness of the overall leadership and management of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 1276010 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

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

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the conditions of the home are consistently maintained to a good standard, and that staff understand the importance of this and how the conditions of the home impact on children’s overall well-being and basic care needs. 1 March 2025

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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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a) (2)(f)) 1 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1276010 7 In particular, the registered manager should ensure that the quality of care provided for the children is of a high standard and supports them to attain and achieve.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (3)(a) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the statement of purpose reflects the care being provided to the children in the home. 1 March 2025

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Recommendations

 Staff and the registered person should act as champions for their children, expecting nothing less than a good parent would. This includes using professional curiosity and challenging the child’s placing authority if they feel that plans for children are not in their best interests. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8)

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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: 1276010 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Key’s Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, United Kingdom B63 4AH

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Dadrian Powell (on maternity leave). Covering manager, Garry Wooliscroft.

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Inspector

Helen Cushnie, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1276010 9 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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