Children's home run by Restorative Social Care Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 1263673 1 Registered provider: Restorative Social Care Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by a private provider. It offers care for up to three children who may have learning disabilities and experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2025.

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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: 1263673 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/03/2024 Full Good 19/01/2023 Full Good 11/01/2022 Full Good 04/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1263673 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support from staff who offer them one-to-one care and know them well. During the inspection, the inspector saw all three children and observed that they have close relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the children to express their views. They use different approaches, meaning children can talk directly to staff or share their worries and feelings indirectly via a ‘grumble box’. These approaches help children feel heard, valued, and able to contribute to their daily care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress with their health and care needs. Staff offer children structured, sensitive and individualised care. The positive daily care routines and partnership work with emotional well-being services are helping children to reduce any anxieties relating to their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are attending school and making progress. Staff support children in overcoming obstacles to their education. Education staff said that the communication between school and the home is positive. Staff advocate for children and offer daily support that reflects their wishes, such as school transport arrangements. This support assists in reducing children’s worries and helping them achieve in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help to ensure that children have opportunities to play in the home and access activities in the community. Children enjoy spending time in the playroom playing pool and making arts and crafts. They enjoy going out on trips to London and local parks and accessing community groups, such as dance classes and Cub Scouts. Staff help children to capture these memories in personal memory books. Staff work with children’s families so that children see people who are important to them. These opportunities help children have fun and develop their social skills and identity.

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

Children feel safe and can share their views with trusted staff. Leaders, managers and staff listen to children’s views and ensure that their concerns are explored. This approach helps children develop trusting relationships with staff and feel safe.

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

Staff apply clear boundaries and spend time with children. This helps children to understand the dangers associated with exploitation and online safety. When staff use restorative consequences in response to children’s behaviours, they are proportionate, and the actions taken are explained to the children. Children benefit from the staff’s strengths-based approach. One child explained that they also enjoy rewards for their positive behaviours. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263673 4 The registered manager and staff are aware of actions that they should take to escalate any concerns regarding staff practice. The registered manager has effective links with the children’s local authority designated officers. They seek advice and take actions to address any staff practice concerns.

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

Staff understand the children’s risks and act to protect them from harm. The children’s risk assessments are detailed. Plans provide staff with clear actions to take to support children and reduce any known risks. However, gaps in records mean all safeguarding actions are not recorded in children’s risk assessments. Additionally, records are not always clear about how staff have supported children during times of crisis. This makes it difficult for leaders and managers to monitor how incidents are managed and determine whether staff understand their roles and responsibilities.

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

On occasions, staff hold children to keep them safe. Holds are used only as a last resort when all other de-escalation techniques have failed. On one occasion, a staff member who did not have the required skills used a hold on a child that was not in line with the home’s procedures. On this occasion, while no harm came to the child, the registered manager addressed the practice with the member of staff concerned. However, the registered manager has not ensured that all staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities to safely hold children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been two registered managers in post since the last inspection. The current registered manager is committed to offering children quality care. They have monitoring systems in place to assist their understanding and oversight of the home. The responsible individual carries out quality assurance tasks and works with the registered manager to improve the quality of care provided to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager understands children’s plans and knows them well. They advocate on behalf of children to ensure that their views are known and that the children have the required support to help them achieve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the registered manager. The registered manager progresses the home’s workforce development plan and supports staff so they have the skills to meet the children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and appraisals to review their development. They have regular team meetings that provide time for group reflection. This provides staff with opportunities to reflect as a team around the home’s model of care and develop their skills to meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

On one occasion, the registered manager has not notified Ofsted in a timely manner of a significant event. This has not affected children’s welfare. However, the delay prevented Ofsted from having timely independent oversight. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263673 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons 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 persons must comply within 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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; and

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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 effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(viii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that staff only use behaviour management techniques in line with the home’s policies. Staff must maintain clear records that document the actions taken to reduce and assess any harm to children. Additionally, the registered manager must ensure that children’s risk assessments and plans include all known risks and safety actions and that all actions remain under review. 11 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1263673 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they notify Ofsted, without delay, if there is a safeguarding incident. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)

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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: 1263673 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Restorative Social Care Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 69a Saddleworth Road, Halifax HX4 8AG

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Inspector

Gina Lightfoot, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1263673 8 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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