Children's home run by Shropshire Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 1 Registered provider: Shropshire Council

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides care for two children who have social and/or emotional difficulties or learning disabilities.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The previous registered manager left in November 2024. A new manager was appointed in January 2025 and has submitted his application to be registered with Ofsted.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in the home at the time of the inspection. One child spoke to the inspector.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/03/2024 Full Outstanding 06/02/2023 Full Outstanding 11/01/2022 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children living in this home make exceptional progress from their starting points and have positive day-to-day experiences. They receive care from extremely committed staff who are child centred. Staff value the open and honest relationships they build with children. They seek to understand children’s needs through research-based practice, and this helps them deliver high-quality individualised care. The quality of the relationships between staff and children and the support provided significantly enhances children’s life chances and provides them with a wide variety of opportunities. One child said that they like living in the home, like all the staff and feel listened to.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Managers ensure that children moving on from the home have extremely positive endings. Managers work closely with external professionals and children to implement detailed plans. These plans are staggered over a period of time to allow children to regularly visit their new home and develop relationships with the new adults caring for them. Children’s time in the home is also celebrated with a meal that involves all staff, and staff remain in contact with children after they have left. This exceptional level of support helps to reduce any anxiety for children at a potentially difficult time and supports them to have a positive move.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children benefit from exceptionally well-planned moves into the home. The manager meets children in advance to help alleviate any concerns they may have and ensures there is a child-centred plan in place. Children regularly visit and spend time with staff before moving in and staff spend time working with them to help build relationships. This approach allows children to quickly settle and provides a platform for them to make positive and sustained progress.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff have excellent relationships and communication with staff from children’s schools. This contributes to children having high levels of attendance and making progress at school. Staff have worked with education staff to help and support them to better understand children’s needs. This approach has helped one child to maintain perfect attendance and make sustained academic progress. The child is now also beginning to show significant progress with their social development.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are helped to learn about different topics through staff carrying out reflective and purposeful work with them. Staff and professionals work collaboratively to help children to be open and talk about their experiences. Children are regularly encouraged to express their feelings and wishes through a variety of methods such as informal conversations, monthly newsletters, one-to-one sessions and debriefs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children to spend time with family. They recognise the importance of these relationships and work alongside children, professionals and family members to ensure children have positive experiences with their families. Staff are also proactive in addressing any issues when they arise. For example, when a child recently voiced some Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 4 concerns around their family time, managers re-evaluated the plan in line with the child’s wishes. This ensured that family visits could continue but also allowed the child to feel safe and secure.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff continuously encourage children’s hobbies, interests and talents. They arrange for them to attend local clubs. One child attends weekly horse-riding lessons and another child goes swimming, and both play for local football teams. Children also enjoy numerous activities with staff. Staff capture these moments in photos which are placed around the home and in children’s journals. In addition, staff encourage and support children to make a positive contribution to the local community. One child has recently held a charity bake sale to raise money for a local organisation.

p.4

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

Staff have an excellent understanding of risks to children and support children in line with their individual needs. This ensures that children feel safe and are kept safe. Children’s plans are detailed, well recorded and regularly reviewed. Plans have clear guidance and strategies to help keep children safe, which are followed by staff. Additionally, staff provide consistent daily routines and boundaries which give children certainty in their care. Furthermore, children are involved in and contribute towards their own plans.

p.4

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

Episodes of children going missing from home are rare. When a child who previously lived in the home was missing, appropriate action was taken by staff. Staff consistently searched for the child and worked with police to ensure they were found safe. When the child returned, staff welcomed them back in a positive way, offered them reassurance and showed curiosity. Return home interviews were also provided by someone independent, to ensure the child’s voice was heard and to consider the circumstances around the incidents.

p.4

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

Children rarely make allegations. On the one occasion when a child did make an allegation, appropriate and robust action was taken. Managers ensured information was promptly shared with safeguarding agencies. When the child was spoken to, they retracted the allegation. Managers also ensured the child and staff had opportunities to repair any potential damage to their relationships, using a restorative approach.

p.4

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

There have been some incidents when it has been necessary for staff to use physical interventions to keep a child safe. However, incidents of restraint are well managed and proportionate to the risks to the child and others. Staff are fully aware that restraint is a last resort and have a good understanding of children’s needs and triggers. They use de- escalation techniques to reduce risk, in line with the child’s plan. Managers help the child and staff to share their views after each incident. Additionally, reflective discussions are held with staff to support any learning or improvements to their practice.

p.4

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

There has been one occasion when a child made a historical disclosure. Managers took steps to support them and ensure their safety and psychological well-being was maintained. They shared information with the child’s social worker to ensure Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 5 safeguarding could be put in place where necessary. This ensures the child feels listened to and supports them to build trust with the staff.

p.4

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

Recruitment of new staff is robust and all necessary background checks are carried out. This means that only adults who are safe to do so can work with children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers are highly ambitious for children and the quality of care that they receive. They strive to ensure continuous improvements to children’s care, which helps support children to make exceptional progress.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

When the previous manager left, robust interim arrangements were put in place which included additional oversight from the responsible individual. This helped ensure standards of care for children were maintained before the new manager was appointed.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The new management team, although only being in post for short while, demonstrates an excellent understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. The manager and deputy both have an ambitious vision and high expectations for what children can achieve. They are also committed to ensuring the highest standards of individualised care for children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are exceptional monitoring systems in place to support the manager to have robust oversight of the home. The manager completes learning reviews to assess the quality of care and identify what improvements can be made. The management team benefits from excellent support from senior managers, who also maintain excellent oversight of the service. Where shortfalls have been identified around independent person reports, managers have taken swift and effective action to address these.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers provide an incredibly supportive environment for staff. Consistent and meaningful supervision and appraisals encourage staff to use reflective practice to assess how they can improve their practice and the quality of care provided to children. Additionally, managers ensure specific training to meet children’s needs is provided, using specialist support from professionals or external agencies. There is also evidence of research-based practice being used to further enhance staff knowledge to ensure children’s needs can be met effectively. This research has been specific to individual children and their needs and has helped to develop individualised strategies to support them.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home benefits from a core group of staff. Since the last inspection, there has been a significant amount of change, with six staff, including the long-serving manager and deputy, leaving the home. However, despite these changes, there has been little impact on children’s day-to-day experiences. This is because the resilience, experience and skills of the staff ensure the home runs effectively and children remain incredibly well supported. In addition, senior managers have ensured effective planning and increased their oversight of the home through this period of change. Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 6 Staff speak incredibly positively about their experiences working in the home. They feel well supported by managers and feel the new management team has settled into the home exceptionally well. They also feel they benefit from learning and development opportunities provided by managers which support their ongoing personal development.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Relationships with external professionals and partner agencies are excellent. Professionals are highly complimentary about the care children receive, the commitment of staff and the improved life chances the care provided creates for children. One professional said, ‘The staff were exceptional in providing care for my child. They ensured that their education, health and social needs were met. They provided a nurturing environment that supported their academic and personal growth.’ Another professional said, ‘The manager and the team are amazing and have helped my child settle very well.’

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

No requirements or recommendations have been made.

p.6

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: 2584908 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Shropshire Council, Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury SY2 6ND

p.7

Inspector

Carl Wilton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 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.

p.7

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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8