Children's home run by The Forge Nuneaton Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2673408 1 Registered provider: The Forge Nuneaton 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 home is owned by a private provider and is registered to provide care for up to six children who have experienced trauma. The home is one of four homes on the same site.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home. All children were present during the inspection, and one child spoke with the inspectors.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2673408 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/04/2023 Full Good 04/01/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2673408 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a beautiful, high-quality home that is well presented, homely and welcoming. The views of the children were considered in choosing decor for the home. Furthermore, children are able to personalise their own bedrooms, and in doing so, are able to express their individuality. This supports children in developing a sense of belonging to the home, which, in turn, helps children to feel at home and settled.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like living in the home. One child told the inspector, ‘The best thing about the home is the lovely people who look after me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with the adults, who know them well. As a result of these positive relationships, children are open with the adults and seek support when they are worried and upset. Adults treat children with respect and talk to them with positive regard and offer encouragement and appropriate emotional warmth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health needs of children are promoted. All health appointments are up to date and children, should they need to, are able to access specialist services where required. The adults have a good understanding of meeting health needs. Children are supported in discussing their emotional, social and psychological well-being. This is underpinned by regular and detailed focal sessions and life-story work. Adults draw on the knowledge and expertise of external professionals and the organisation’s therapy team. This means that children are cared for by the adults in the home, who are supported by therapeutic input where required. This is reflected in the progress that children are making with regards to their emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children living in the home have made progress in their education from their starting points. Two children are actively engaged in education and are making good progress. There are clear plans to support children with their academic progress, and children are encouraged to attend their education and to achieve. The adults have built a culture of opportunity in the home, where children are encouraged to make plans for their futures and realise these ambitions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The adults are persistent with a child who is not currently attending any educational provision, in motivating them to want to learn and finding ways to engage them. Managers have been proactive in advocating for this child, to ensure that local authority plans are accurate. As a result, they have worked in partnership with schools and the placing authority to find this child a suitable provision that reflects their learning needs. One education professional told the inspector, ‘They are one of the best settings I have worked with. They are proactive in finding solutions. They have a great understanding of [child’s name’s] barriers to learning and have taken the necessary steps to advocate for them to ensure that further need assessments are completed.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2673408 4 Emphasis is given to helping children to express their thoughts and feelings about their care. Children actively participate in decisions about their care and have their say. One

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

social worker said, ‘My child is now extremely confident in voicing any concerns or anything they wish to share. They have really built them up to raise their voice and to explore and understand these with them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers ensure that adults are skilled and equipped to meet all children’s needs. This enables the adults to prepare and support children well, so that their moves into the home are smooth and successful. Although two children’s placements ended when notice was served, this was due to an escalation in unsafe behaviours, which impacted on the other children living in the home. Managers supported the children throughout the transition process. Following this, managers have reflected on these unplanned endings, completing lessons learned, exploring what went wrong and how they could improve practice to avoid this happening in the future.

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

Adults physically intervene when children become unsettled and show behaviours which place themselves or others at risk of harm. Adult’s wide-ranging behaviour strategies are cohesive and successful in de-escalating situations. Adults have an empathetic approach irrespective of behaviours that may present as a challenge to them. This helps children to develop trust in the adults and their ability to keep them safe. Managers provide scrutiny of all incidents and measures of control to ensure that their use is fair and proportionate. As a result, children are treated fairly and stay safe.

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

The team’s approach to supporting children who harm themselves is nurturing and caring. Adults are comfortable talking to the children and gently challenge them to consider the effect of their risk-taking behaviour. The team helps them to work through their emotions and to talk more openly about their worries. The team works in partnership to support children with their emotional health. Children who harm themselves are provided with alternative strategies to keep themselves safe. In addition, children have been supported to complete training around managing anger, emotions and getting relevant emotional support.

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

Complaints are well managed. Children know how to complain and feel listened to by the adults. Managers ensure that there is effective oversight, and detailed discussions are held with all involved to reflect on the concern. The children are kept informed through discussions and child friendly response letters. As a result, children feel secure and assured in their relationships with the adults.

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

Bullying or challenges with peer relationships in the home and community have reduced. Managers regularly review the risk of bullying between children and put measures in place to reduce these risks. Adults proactively follow children’s plans to address concerns. They have also utilised a creative approach and strategies to promote safe and healthy relationships between the children in the home. Adults also use shared interests and hobbies to promote and maintain a positive relationship between children in the home. This positive work enhances children’s knowledge of risk and allows them to take Inspection report for children’s home: 2673408 5 the lead in their learning. Because of this, children are educated about the risks that they may face.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager’s post has been vacant since March 2024. The previous deputy manager was appointed as manager and submitted her application to register. However, she has since left the company. The current deputy manager, senior manager of a sister home and the responsible individual have supported the oversight of the home in the interim. This has ensured effective oversight and consistency for the team and children. Together, they role model a nurturing and therapeutic approach to children’s care. They have good knowledge of children and are fully involved in children’s lives. As members of a leadership team, they are now clear about the progress children are making and have high aspirations for what they can achieve. A new manager has now been appointed and is due to start imminently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There have been significant challenges for the managers and the team since the last inspection. The interim manager has been supported well by senior managers throughout these changes. There has been a high staff turnover since the last inspection, with 20 employees leaving the company and 23 new employees joining. In addition, a high number of agency staff have worked in the home. This does not ensure good, consistent, continuity of care for the children and has the potential to compromise the quality of care provided. Managers have recognised the shortfalls in the home, taken prompt action and timescales for improvement have been identified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Although there are sufficient staff to safely provide care for the existing children in the home, a high percentage of staff are unqualified and hold no previous experience in residential childcare. Although several of the new staff are unqualified, some have succeeded academically in other subjects and bring maturity and confidence to their work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

All adults have received training that is pertinent to children’s needs. The adult’s responses to incidents are innovative. Adults are flexible and always eager to develop their understanding of the children’s emerging needs. Although there have been periods of unsettlement, adults remain committed to the children and have shown great resilience and perseverance, when some providers may have served notice on a placement. External professionals have provided unanimous positive feedback and said that the manager and adults go over and above for the children. Manager’s and adults’ dedication has contributed to good progress for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff morale has been mixed over this inspection period, and at times adults have not always felt supported or listened to. They say that they now feel supported by the managers, they recognise the huge impact they have made in a short period of time and now thoroughly enjoy working in the home. However, adults have not always received formal supervision on a regular basis. Consequently, adults do not have an opportunity to discuss issues regarding childcare practice, to help them understand and meet each child’s needs effectively. Inspection report for children’s home: 2673408 6 The responsible individual is keen to make improvements. She has been a significant protective factor for the home. She is consistently reflecting on practice and looking at lessons learned to improve the quality of care and experiences children receive. However, there have been some gaps in the manager’s oversight of the home. Although

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

systems are in place to oversee the home, these are not always consistently implemented in practice, to identify any learning to improve the quality of care for children. For example, manager’s audits have not been completed since September 2024, and there have been numerous repeated actions raised on the monthly independent person reports. This fundamentally limits the opportunity for leaders and managers to learn and take action to improve the quality of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2673408 7

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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 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that the manager has effective oversight of the home and makes continuous improvements to improve the quality of care for children. 4 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that all staff receive practice- related supervision in line with the company policy. 4 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2673408 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: 2673408 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Forge Nuneaton Limited

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Rebecca Grimshaw

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Inspectors

Marianne Grandfield, Social Care Inspector Chrisoula Contoyianni, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2673408 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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