Children's home run by The Forge Nuneaton Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2703844 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.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is one of four homes on the same site.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2024. She is experienced and appropriately qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection four children were living in the home, three children were present during the inspection and 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 good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 24 October 2023

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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: 2703844 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/10/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2703844 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a welcoming, homely and well-decorated home. Their artwork and photos of children, their adventures and achievements are displayed throughout the home. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and comfortably furnished. This helps children to settle in the home and develop a sense of self-worth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in all areas of their development. Even those who have only been in the home for a short time are progressing in confidence and self-esteem. This is because staff go out of their way to welcome them into the home and spend time getting to know them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children moving in or out of the home benefit from transitions that are well managed and supported by adults. For example, prior to moving in, staff encourage children to visit the home to see what it is like and to meet the adults. Children are provided with fun and child friendly, all about me profiles of the adults and children in the community prior to moving in, as an aid to ease any anxiety they may have about the move. When children move out of the home, adults support children to meet their new care givers and become familiar in their new home. Adults also stay connected with these children to reduce feelings of isolation and provide essential support. This supports children to reduce their anxieties and settle into their new homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The adults value and place high importance on children’s education. As a result, children do well in their education. Three children are in full-time, mainstream education and they all have excellent attendance. One child is currently on a part time timetable, and is being supported to increase the number of hours they attend in line with their needs. All children have made significant progress in their education from their starting points. Adults advocate for children’s education and work closely with educational professionals to ensure that the best possible outcomes are achieved academically for children. This support helps children to grow in confidence and self-esteem. It also provides them with a better opportunity to reach their full potential and increases their life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy good health. Adults understand the children’s individual health needs. Adults support children to attend all health appointments and have good daily routines. Adults have been supported by the organisation’s therapist, who provided regular consultation and advice on how to support children. The therapeutic team also complete direct work with children, including life-story work, to help them understand their life journey. This further promotes children’s health and emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop independence skills at a pace that suits their needs and abilities. They have developed skills, such as being able to complete laundry tasks, budgeting for and preparing meals and they have learned valuable information about tenancy and utility bills. These opportunities enable the children to take on appropriate levels of responsibility to develop life skills for the future. One child is currently Inspection report for children’s home: 2703844 4 transitioning out of the home. The manager has been an avid advocate for this child to ensure their move is planned well and causes no unnecessary stress or anxiety to the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers do not have all children’s most up to date plans from the local authority. They have not taken sufficient action to escalate requests to ensure that a child’s most up to date plans are provided. Without these documents care planning arrangements for children can contribute to the children’s needs not being fully understood by staff and managers.

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

Adults have positive regard for the safety and well-being of children. They know the children extremely well. Adults have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe. They ensure that there are clear, consistent boundaries in place. Adults and children adhere to these. The children say they know why these boundaries are in place, and that these help to keep them safe.

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

Adults and children have positive and caring relationships with each other. Adults listen to children’s views. Children know how to make a complaint, and any complaints are taken seriously. As a result, children feel listened to and valued.

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

There has been a high number of allegations during this inspection period, particularly for one child living in the home, but these have reduced from their starting points. Managers respond quickly when there are allegations or concerns about adult practice. They ensure that the local authority designated officer is always informed, and all concerns are investigated. This helps children to be confident to raise any concerns, as they know adults will take them seriously. It also helps them to feel safe and secure in their environment.

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

Most children do not go missing. When children do go missing adults take prompt and appropriate action. Searches conducted by staff and persistent attempts to make contact show children they are cared about. Proactive collaboration with parents, local authorities and police supports children to return home safely. Adults support children to know about the risks of going missing and how to keep themselves safe. Multi-agency meetings are held when required to support children to keep safe and reduce missing- from-home incidents.

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

Adults respond with sensitivity and compassion when children harm themselves. This means that children know that they will get help if they need it. The team’s approach to supporting children who harm themselves is nurturing. Adults are comfortable talking to the children and gently challenge them to consider the effect of their risk-taking behaviour. Adults talk openly with children and listen to them effectively about why they harm themselves. Adults help them to work through their emotions and to talk more openly about their worries. They work in partnership to support children with their emotional health. Safety plans and risk assessments are kept up to date. Child and adolescent mental health service, in-house therapists and children have supported in Inspection report for children’s home: 2703844 5 writing these. 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

Adults have the information and guidance they need to understand and support the specific vulnerabilities and risks for each child. This awareness is embedded in the adults’ day-to-day work, which effectively reduces and minimises the risks for children. Adults are skilled in using diversion and de-escalation strategies based on the home’s therapeutic approach. The strategies outlined in the children’s plans are implemented effectively in practice. Adults work extensively with children to understand their behaviours, risks and triggers. This has supported the children to become safer. As a result, incidents have reduced.

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

Incidents of restraint have significantly reduced from children’s starting points. Adults physically intervene when children become unsettled and show behaviours that place themselves or others at risk of harm. Adults understand the reasons behind unwanted behaviour and provide good support to children afterwards. This helps children to move on from the incident. Adults to reflect on their practice and explore the triggers for the incidents, including how they could respond differently in the future. The manager provides scrutiny of all incidents and measures of control to ensure that their use is fair and proportionate. Good management oversight and prompt action to address issues means that children are treated fairly and stay safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an extremely dedicated and conscientious manager. She is supported by an enthusiastic deputy manager and a supportive responsible individual. Together, they have built an excellent leadership team, and all have high aspirations for the children in their care. The manager shows great ambition for the home and where it aims to be. This ethos is shared with the adults and children, resulting in high-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate about the service and advocating children’s views. They have an exceptional knowledge of the children’s starting points and what they have accomplished since living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This has been a turbulent period for the home and managers have struggled to ensure that children receive consistent care. Since the last inspection 19 adults have left the company and there has been 26 new starters in post. In addition, there has been a heavy reliance on agency staff. Despite this, some core adults have remained and have shown great resilience and commitment to children. They have persevered through challenging periods and not given up. Managers have worked with the company human resources department to recruit new adults, and several adults have recently joined the team. As a result, this has significantly reduced the reliance on agency staff working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is new and relatively inexperienced. Four staff hold a relevant qualification, three are enrolled and five staff are currently working through their Inspection report for children’s home: 2703844 6 probationary period. Core staff receive consistent support through regular good quality supervision sessions that educate and challenge them. New staff receive an induction that is effective with 70 hours of shadow shifts working with children in different scenarios. Despite the recent difficulties, staff say managers are supportive, they work well together as a team, they enjoy working in the home and that moral is good.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established strong connections with partner agencies. External professionals are unanimously positive about the communication with the team and about the care provided for children. One social worker said, ‘They are a different child since living here, really settled, happy and now trying to navigate their way through the next steps. They have been supportive in their journey. I can’t fault them; they have been brilliant.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers maintain continuous oversight of the home, using a range of review and monitoring systems. These systems are effective and provide a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. This means that managers can quickly address issues and plan developments and improvements across the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers do not have a system that ensures that agency staff receive regular supervision sessions in line with the company policy. This compromises managers ability to track their progress and to fully support agency staff in all areas. Inspection report for children’s home: 2703844 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 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 including agency staff receive practise-related supervision in line with the company policy. 06 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person must challenge (under regulation 5(c)) any placing authority who asks them to accept a child in the absence of a complete and current relevant plan, as the expectation that a placement of a child without the necessary information would go ahead (in circumstances other than an emergency) is inadequate in relation to their role. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.5)

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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: 2703844 8

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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 Karen Gillingwater, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2703844 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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