Children's Home run by Imagine Mentoring and Support Limited in Gloucestershire

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2724045 1 Registered provider: Imagine Mentoring and Support (IMS)

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private provider and offers care for up to three children who have experienced social and emotional difficulties. Two children live in this home, but both were out during the visit.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since the home opened in August 2023.

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This monitoring visit

During the full inspection on 4 and 5 February 2025, Ofsted identified serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care and protection of the children living in the home. The judgement was inadequate, and Ofsted issued a compliance notice under regulation 12. The purpose of this monitoring visit was to review the actions that have been taken by the provider to improve the care and protection of children and to assess the progress that has been made towards meeting the compliance notice.

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This monitoring visit

Since the full inspection, one child has been supported to move out of the home. Staff offered the child continued support before, during and after the move. Barriers to the care planning process were encountered by external professionals, which impacted on the child’s experience of moving out. However, staff worked hard to mediate these shortfalls for the child as much as possible.

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This monitoring visit

Staff have been offered important opportunities to help them to develop their skills and knowledge and benefit from having personal development plans. Staff are now more curious about what children are doing and who they are spending their time with when they are away from the home. Staff are working with the external support networks around the children to improve the quality of their care. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2724045 2 There remain significant concerns about children’s substance misuse and children being the victim of criminal exploitation. Since this monitoring visit, concerns have continued to escalate. Concerns have been shared with the relevant professionals, although external support has not always been forthcoming. Leaders and managers have developed a safety plan and continue to advocate for the children.

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This monitoring visit

Fire safety arrangements have been reviewed with the relevant external professionals, and children are being helped to understand the risks of smoking in the home. Despite this, there have been two further incidents of children smoking in their bedrooms. Staff are closely monitoring this risk and are now taking more robust and immediate action to safeguard children.

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This monitoring visit

Recruitment to fill staff vacancies is ongoing, and leaders and managers have stated that another child will not move into the home until a full staff team is in place. Leaders and managers have reviewed the home’s recruitment processes to ensure more robust oversight. Leaders and managers have also reflected on how they assess the home as being suitable to meet children’s needs before they move in.

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This monitoring visit

Children’s plans have been updated, with input from the home’s psychology service. Safety plans and procedures have also been updated following consultation with the police and other agencies. These plans now provide staff with a clear overview of risk and how to mediate it more effectively. Staff are following these plans more consistently.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have taken action to improve the quality of the environment. Essential maintenance tasks have been completed, and children have been involved in decorating their home. The home no longer smells of cannabis. The improvements that have been made to the environment help to engender feelings of care, nurture and belongingness.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have responded positively to the feedback that was provided during the last inspection. Although the report from the inspection had not been published at the time of this monitoring visit, leaders and managers have been proactive in addressing the vulnerabilities that were raised. Leaders and managers have identified learning from the inspection process and are working with external services more collaboratively to improve the quality of care that is provided to children.

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This monitoring visit

The compliance notice has been met. The requirements from the previous inspection have been restated, as they have not been thoroughly tested. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2724045 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/02/2025 Full Inadequate 27/02/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2724045 4

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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 with the given timescales.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. 30 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2724045 5 (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge to identify, understand and respond to mediate risk to children effectively. The registered person should review children’s plans to ensure that the actions to safeguard children are current, practical and easily followed. Staff must be supported to understand the actions that they must take to help to keep children safe. Staff must follow the agreed procedures when children are exposed to risk, including when children misuse substances, are missing from the home and/or are out in the community.

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Requirement Due date

Staff must have a sound understanding of contextual safeguarding and help children to keep themselves safe when they are out of the home.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must review the home’s admissions procedures to ensure that they include a robust assessment of whether staff can meet children’s needs individually and alongside those who already live in the home.

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Requirement Due date

Finally, leaders and managers must review the skills of the team to identify where staff need additional support to enable them to meet children’s needs and help them to keep safe effectively.

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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

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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for 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 30 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2724045 6 child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must use monitoring and review systems to evaluate the quality of care that is being provided to children. Leaders and managers must use this assessment to improve the care that is being provided to ensure that children’s needs are met. Secondly, monitoring and review systems must be used to ensure that written records are accurate and reflective of the support that staff provide. Thirdly, leaders and managers must use monitoring systems to robustly review the recruitment checks that are completed for staff. Leaders and managers must use these reviews to identify any discrepancies in recruitment records so that they are resolved before staff start working with children.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers should also ensure that there are sufficient numbers of suitably skilled and experienced staff to look after children effectively.

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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.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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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; 30 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2724045 7 communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vii)(viii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must help staff to build positive relationships with children. Any consequences that are issued to children following behaviours that staff find unacceptable should be well thought out and restorative in nature. The use of consequences should not damage staff’s relationships with children, as children should be helped to reflect on their behaviour and understand the purpose of the consequence. As positive relationships between staff and children grow, staff should use their connections with children to provide helpful advice and guidance to them to help them to make healthier and safer choices.

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Requirement Due date

When children’s relationships with other people become strained or are of concern, staff must help children to recognise these harmful relationships and withdraw and/or make plans to help mediate the risk of harm.

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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; and

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff— 31 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2724045 8 understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice;

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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. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iv)(vii)(ix)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are provided with healthy routines and boundaries that support them to engage in the structure of the home and develop a sense of belonging.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that the home is a nice environment for children to spend time in. This specifically relates to preventing children from smoking in the home.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; 30 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2724045 9 support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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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 to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to 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

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(viii)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff support children to attend suitable educational provisions. When children are not able to attend school, staff must support children to participate in structured learning opportunities so that they are helped to develop their confidence and the skills that they will need to reintegrate into the classroom environment in the future.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2724045 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Imagine Mentoring and Support (IMS)

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 1, City Works, Alfred Street, Gloucester, Gloucestershire GL1 4DF

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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2724045 11 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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