Children's Home run by AMMA Childcare Services in Solihull

Inspection report for children’s home: 2739801 1 Registered provider: AMMA Childcare Services Ltd

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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 operated by a private company and has been registered with Ofsted since August 2023. The home is registered to provide care for up to three children who may have specific emotional needs and may have experienced trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a permanent registered manager who has also been in post since August 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of inspection, two children were living in the home. Both were spoken to.

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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: 21 February 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2739801 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2024 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2739801 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are currently two children living in the home. Both children have lived in the home for over a year and are making good progress across all aspects of their lives. When the inspector visited the home, the children were away on trips over the half-term holiday. The inspector was able to speak with the children by telephone to gather their views. Since the last inspection in February 2024, one child moved into the home and two children moved out.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported with their emotional well-being. Both children access therapeutic support and are engaging well in this. Staff undertake twice-weekly therapeutic sessions where they work with the children to help them think positively about themselves and build strong, trusting relationships. For example, in one session, staff planned a special movie evening with decorations and snacks to bring the children together. Positive messages are displayed throughout the home. This helps children to better understand their feelings and has impacted positively on behaviour in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in education. Staff support children to attend educational provisions that are appropriate to their needs. Staff ensure that any additional support needed is in place to help them succeed. For one child, their attendance has increased from 33% to 97% since living in the home. They receive additional support from a tutor to help them in subject areas that they find more challenging and have secured a college course for September. The support provided helps children to work towards their aspirations for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are given opportunities to enrich their lives and have fun. Children have been on holidays abroad and have started to submit ideas for where they want to go on holiday this year. Birthdays are planned and celebrated in line with children’s wishes. For one child, a hall was hired for their birthday party, where they were able to invite family and friends. This helps children to build positive memories of their time in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to explore their cultural heritage and identity. This has included a trip abroad for one child to find out more about their cultural heritage. Staff have also taken the time to understand an important event in a child’s life that is traditionally celebrated within their culture. Staff have helped plan and facilitate this celebration and in doing so have helped improve relationships between the child and their parent. This helps the children to feel a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to build, repair and maintain relationships with family. For one child, this has successfully led to increased time with their family. For another child, the support provided has helped to build bridges with family while exploring information about the child’s cultural background, helping the children to feel loved. Inspection report for children’s home: 2739801 4 The home environment is well maintained and provides a homely and pleasant environment for the children. The children’s rooms are personalised and there are photos of them displayed in the home. However, a significant amount of waste was stored in the garden from refurbishments which could potentially put children at risk of injury.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have left the home at short notice. While there was clear rationale for the moves, it did not help the children to receive positive endings to their placement before moving on.

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

Children say they feel safe living in the home. There are clear routines and boundaries in place so that children know what is expected of them, which helps them to feel secure.

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

Staff understand the risks relating to the children. Children’s plans and risk assessments are regularly updated and provide staff with the insight needed to minimise those risks. For example, there are systems in place to keep children safe online. Staff also worked with one child to help them understand these risks. This included the child completing a course on online safety so that they could better understand the dangers and keep safe.

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

Staff help children to reflect on their behaviour and make positive choices. Staff use incentives and rewards, tailored to the individual child to promote positive behaviour. Achievements are celebrated. For example, children were rewarded with a meal out and a gift when they had not self-harmed after six months and a year respectively. When used, consequences are proportionate and help the children to reflect on the impact of their behaviour and learn from it.

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

Incidents of challenging behaviour occurring in the home have significantly reduced in recent months. The need for physical interventions is rare, and children have not gone missing. However, when children do go missing staff are clear on what action they need to take to help secure the child’s safe return.

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

When a child makes an allegation, staff do not always notify the local authority designated officer (LADO) in timely manner prior to investigating. This does not ensure that there is effective oversight of the concerns to ensure that children are always kept safe.

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

Staff have clear guidance for the safe administration of medicines to children. This was reviewed and updated following an incident. Staff who administer medicines have all received training and an assessment of their competencies. They are given clear instructions to follow, and checks are in place to enable any errors to be detected at the earliest opportunity. These measures help to support the safe administration of medicines to children living at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2739801 5 Safe recruitment processes are in place. Appropriate checks are carried out on new staff before they work at the home. This ensures children are cared for by suitably vetted people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has high aspirations for the children to do well and have positive experiences. In turn, they have high expectations of staff, and the manager is not afraid to challenge staff when they do not meet those expectations. The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses and is keen to ensure that the right workforce is in place that can meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported and are given opportunities to learn and develop. Staff say they enjoy their work. They have access to a wide range of training, including support from their in-house therapist. Staff receive regular supervision sessions where they can discuss any learning and development needs and are empowered to take on responsibilities to further develop their skill set. This helps ensure that the children receive care from a suitably skilled and motivated workforce.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The members of the staff team work well together. They support each other when needed to ensure that shifts are covered and are flexible in meeting the needs of children. As a result, the home has not needed to use agency staff, and the children are supported by a consistent workforce.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s views and wishes are actively sought, and this is central to the ethos of the home. There are a variety of ways in which children can provide input into the running of the home. As well as having regular meetings, suggestion boxes and complaints processes, staff record any wishes the children raise during general conversations so that they are not lost. The manager provides oversight to ensure that reasonable requests are taken forward. This ensures that the children feel listened to and their voices heard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager works well within children’s professional networks. They are competent in sharing information, communicating and advocating for children. Professionals speak highly of the manager in supporting the children to progress. One professional described the home as a great place, where the child was thriving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The systems for monitoring and providing oversight of the home have generally been effective in helping to maintain standards. However, they failed to recognise environmental issues in the garden to ensure that action was taken. In addition, the manager has not always recognised and notified Ofsted of all serious events that have occurred. This is important in ensuring external oversight of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2739801 6

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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 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to delays in notifying the LADO following an allegation and ensuring that children are assessed for injuries following incidents so that medical assistance may be offered.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the waste in the garden. 31 March 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e)) 31 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2739801 7

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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: 2739801 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: AMMA Childcare Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 507B, JQ Modern, 120 Vyse Street, Hockley, Birmingham B18 6NF

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Kamilah Mullings

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Inspector

Louise Naylor, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2739801 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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