Children's home run by Inspire Children’s Services Limited in St. Helens

Inspection report for children’s home: SC411825 1 SC411825 Registered provider: Inspire Childrens Services Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to care for two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2024.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There are two children currently living in the home.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 5 February 2024

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC411825 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/02/2024 Full Good 23/08/2022 Full Good 09/12/2021 Full Good 23/09/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC411825 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children move into the home in a well-planned way. The manager is thorough in his planning for new children to move in. As a result, children develop positive relationships with each other. Staff spend time getting to know children when they move in. This helps children to develop positive relationships with the staff team.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to live independently. Staff recognise children’s vulnerabilities and support needs for moving on to living independently. Staff work hard to identify provisions that can meet all the child’s needs. As a result, children experience positive moves on from the home. Staff maintain relationships with children who have left the home and staff continue to provide support. For one child, this has helped them settle into their new home. Professionals involved with the child spoke highly of the ongoing support from staff to both the child and the staff that are now supporting him.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children continue to attend their individual education provisions when they move into the home. This means that children maintain existing friendships and support networks. Staff work with school professionals to put in place strategies and plans to improve attendance when children are reluctant to attend. Staff support children to engage in educational activities and tasks in the home when they do not attend school. Staff know the children’s interests well and create educational activities in line with these. This has helped one child to engage in learning when not in school.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s physical and emotional health needs are met. Staff are proactive in addressing any new or emerging health concerns. Staff provide opportunities for children to access support for their emotional health. They recognise children’s difficulties in accessing support from external services and support children to engage with professionals that they know. For one child this means that they continue to access the support of the school counsellor who knows them well.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of children’s relationships with family members and friends. They respect children’s wishes on who they do and do not spend time with. The manager advocates for children to re-establish relationships and spend time with family members who they have not seen for periods of time. Children’s friends and family are welcomed into the home to spend time with them. Staff facilitate arrangements for children to enjoy activities in the community with their siblings.

p.3

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

Staff know the children’s risks and vulnerabilities well. The manager undertakes thorough consultations with professionals before children move in. This means that staff have a good understanding of children’s needs when they move into the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC411825 4 Staff consult children in the development of their plans. This means that staff support children in line with their preferences. Children’s plans provide staff with clear guidance to follow. However, records do not include all known risks for children. This means that staff do not have access to identified strategies to follow for all the children’s behaviours. This does not impact negatively on staff practice.

p.3

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

Incidents of children being missing from the home are rare. Staff recognise children’s emotional needs that can lead children to go missing. On one occasion this meant that staff prevented the child from going missing.

p.4

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

Staff are empathic in their approach to supporting the children. However, staff responses to de-escalating incidents of challenging behaviour are not always effective. Opportunities to prevent the child from causing damage to the home have been missed. As a result, the child’s behaviour has escalated during some incidents.

p.4

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

Staff speak with children following incidents. Staff spend time with children to discuss new or emerging concerns. Staff support children to reflect on their behaviour and to develop their understanding of the impact this has on others. Staff encourage children to demonstrate empathy to others. However, staff do not always use nurturing or supportive language in children’s records.

p.4

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

Staff promote positive behaviour through consistent routines and boundaries. Staff use a restorative approach to manage incidents of challenging behaviour in the home. Staff review consequences to monitor their effectiveness. Alternative strategies are implemented when existing strategies are not effective.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced registered manager. He is also registered to manage another home within the organisation. He manages his time well between the two homes with the support of a competent deputy manager.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are cared for by a stable and consistent staff team who know the children well. Staff are supported in their roles and enjoy working in the home. Arrangements are made for staff to move with children who move from other homes in the organisation. This means that children receive consistent care from staff who know them and who have developed positive relationships with them.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervision and reflective team meetings. Guest speakers are invited to deliver workshops to the team on specific topics relevant for the children’s needs. Staff complete analysis tools which provide them with opportunities to reflect on the team’s and their own individual strengths and weaknesses. This helps staff to reflect on their practice and identify areas for development.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers oversight of the home is good. He recognises patterns and trends in children’s behaviour. When there is an escalation in children’s behaviours, the manager Inspection report for children’s home: SC411825 5 completes detailed evaluations. This helps him to identify triggers for behaviour and to implement any additional support.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is visited by an independent visitor monthly. The manager values the feedback following these visits and uses this to improve practice in the home. Internal quality of care reviews is detailed and identifies areas of development. However, reports do not reflect that the manager has obtained feedback on the care being provided and that this has been used to further develop practice in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC411825 6

p.5

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, 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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

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;

p.6

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. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that children’s records include all known risks and vulnerabilities, and that there are strategies in place for staff to follow. 16 April 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(2)(a)(xi))

p.6

Requirement Due date

Specifically, that leaders and managers ensure that the language used in children’s records is child centred, and 16 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC411825 7 nurturing and that staff follow children’s plans to de-escalate incidents of challenging behaviour.

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring within regulation 45 reports to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.24)

p.7

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: SC411825 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspire Childrens Services Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Inspire Childrens Services, Unit 3, Craig Court, Standish Street, St. Helens WA10 1GJ

p.8

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michael Bradshaw

p.8

Inspector

Claire Hobbs, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC411825 9 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9