Children's home run by Keys Education Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: SC386505 1 SC386505 Registered provider: Keys 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 is a privately owned children’s home that provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in 2009. The registered manager has been in post since September 2014.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC386505 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/03/2024 Full Good 28/09/2022 Full Good 29/09/2021 Full Good 11/03/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC386505 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last full inspection, one child has left the home. Both children were spoken to by the inspector.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good relationships with staff. The staff speak enthusiastically about the children, and they offer a high level of nurturing care. Children say that they don’t want to leave the home, and when they do, they wish to remain in contact with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children live in a homely and nurturing environment. There are photos on display in communal areas of the children and staff enjoying activities. This helps the children to develop a strong sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress from their starting points. Children’s needs are fully understood, and staff work hard to ensure these needs are met. Staff work in partnership with relevant professionals to ensure a holistic approach is taken to meet children’s all-round needs. Staff are dedicated and persistent when advocating for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff demonstrate a strong focus on building positive relationships with children to ensure they receive the highest standard of care. Observations of staff interactions indicate that they know the children well and actively engage with them, creating a fun and nurturing environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in contact with people who are important to them. Managers and staff work in partnership with professionals to ensure that time with family is a positive experience for everyone involved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Not all children are engaged in education or learning. If children do not attend education staff continue to encourage them and plan educational activities to do at home and in the community. Staff identify things that the children are good at and are interested in, to help them to start planning for their future. Staff strongly advocate with educational partners to find suitable arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are nurturing and help children to develop trusting and meaningful relationships with them. Staff encourage the children to share their views and contribute to decisions made about their care This helps the children to build trust and know that staff will listen to them and respond to their feedback. The children feel confident in turning to staff when they have issues or are in need of help, and they can identify who they would speak to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The importance of preparing children for adulthood is fully recognised by staff. All the children are making progress in developing independence skills. Children are supported Inspection report for children’s home: SC386505 4 to work through individualised independence plans. Through this support, children develop the life skills needed to prepare them for future independent living.

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

Safeguarding incidents are rare? and when they occur are well managed by staff because staff understand the needs of the children. Children have become increasingly safe due to these relationships.

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

The manager and staff understand children’s risks, strengths and vulnerabilities. Risk assessments are clear. Staff use regular key-work sessions as an effective way of speaking with the children about risks. Staff plan these sessions well, and they help children to have a better understanding of risks and how to stay safe.

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

Staff help children to develop their own effective strategies to manage their emotions in consultation with the home’s therapist. This level of support promotes resilience in children, and they recognise the progress they have made. It also helps to significantly reduce incidents when children are in crisis.

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

Children rarely go missing from home. However, when this has happened, staff follow procedures and protocols to help locate children. Staff work with other agencies, including the police, to help children return safely. Records are detailed and accurate.

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

Staff practice is consistent, and all staff implement the same boundaries. There is a focus on positive behaviour, and children can earn additional rewards for meeting identified targets.

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

There have been no safeguarding issues or allegations in a considerable amount of time. However, the registered manager has created strong links with other professionals. Professionals have no concerns about the children’s safety.

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

The manager has completed a review of the location of the home, but has not included the most recent statistics that may impact on the children. This means the risks posed within the community have not been fully considered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate about children’s care. His enthusiastic and supportive approach has a positive impact on the staff team and the child. A positive culture and high expectations of staff lead to mutual respect, meaning the staff and manager consistently work well together as a team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads by example and models positive practice. Staff find team meetings and supervision sessions useful for reflection and learning. These learning opportunities enable the team to better understand different needs and how to support children and to further develop their skills to manage risk. Inspection report for children’s home: SC386505 5 The staff team is very stable, and some staff have worked in the home for a considerable amount of time. Staff feel highly valued and supported, and enjoy working in the home. They spoke positively about the manager, and about the children that they care for. Staff said that they enjoy coming to work. Morale within the staff team is high and staff have a positive attitude towards their work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is appropriately staffed by a team, whose members have a thorough understanding of the children’s needs. The manager has successfully established a consistent pool of bank staff who have worked with the children over an extended period, ensuring continuity of care. Agency staff are not used. However, the manager must ensure that staff rotas accurately reflect the actual hours worked by both staff and managers to maintain transparency and effective workforce planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager completes a regular quality of care review that reflects the children’s experience of living in the home. However, this review does not contain feedback from stakeholders. This means that an opportunity to gather feedback from the children and relevant people has been missed and the care they receive has not been evaluated. Inspection report for children’s home: SC386505 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 registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider must ensure that when completing a quality of care review, children’s feedback must be taken into consideration and evidence within the report. 1 July 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered provider should ensure that rotas contain the actual hours staff and managers have worked. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3).  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks, including up to date statistics, and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: SC386505 7 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: SC386505 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Education 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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Inspector

Sally Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC386505 9 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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