Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Today

Inspection report for children’s home: 2557152 1 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today

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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 and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who may experience emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2019.

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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: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2557152 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2024 Full Good 28/06/2022 Full Good 11/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2557152 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager ensures that children who move into and on from the home experience well-thought-out, planned moves. Staff welcome children to the home sensitively. This ensures that children settle into the home well. One child wrote to staff, saying: ‘Thank you all so much for being there for me, looking after me and everything you have all done for me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand and meet the individualised care needs of the children. Staff are responsive to these needs, ensuring that each child receives the support they require to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their individual starting points due to the care that they receive from staff. Children have positive relationships with staff and say that they feel safe and well supported. Staff provide an environment that encourages positive development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. Staff will advocate for specialist support needs. When children do not feel able to access specialist support, the manager will consult with health professionals, ensuring children’s needs are understood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager advocates for children to ensure they can access education. Children who have been absent from education now attend more consistently and have shown progress. When children do not attend education, staff must ensure there is a structured routine that promotes independent learning as an alternative for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff manage complex needs effectively, providing the necessary care and support that allows children to progress. Children are encouraged to take ownership of their journey, leading to continued growth. This enables children to navigate challenges and make meaningful progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote opportunities for children to spend time with those who are most important to them. This ensures that children maintain crucial family connections which can support their emotional development and provide continuity and a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff source support for the individual needs of children effectively, ensuring that assistance is provided when challenges arise. Staff offer a holistic and person-centred approach to care, addressing both the immediate and long-term needs of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively encourage children to develop their independence skills in accordance with their individual ability. For instance, one child has received support in acquiring meal preparation skills and has taken responsibility for maintaining the cleanliness of their bedroom. Inspection report for children’s home: 2557152 4

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

Children are safeguarded effectively. There is a reduction in risk because of the care children receive.

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

Staff demonstrate a strong understanding of the risks associated with each child and take appropriate action to mitigate them. Risk assessments are regularly updated and reflect the needs of children.

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

When children go missing from home, staff follow missing-from-home protocols to ensure that children return to the home safely. Return home interviews are conducted by an independent person, ensuring that the child’s voice is heard.

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

Staff manage incidents effectively. Recording of incidents, however, does not always include a review or reflection about what action can be taken to reduce the likelihood of recurring incidents.

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

Children spoken with during the inspection do not know how to complain or raise concerns if they are worried about anything in the home. This limits their ability to voice their concerns and for these concerns to be acted on.

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

The manager provides effective leadership and ensures that the children’s needs are at the forefront of decision-making. Staff are proactive in advocating for the needs of children, particularly regarding their education and post-16 options, ensuring that these critical aspects of their futures are supported.

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

The manager challenges wider agencies when they are not meeting the needs of the children, ensuring that external partners remain accountable and responsive to the needs of the children in their care.

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

The manager has successfully achieved a stable workforce, which contributes to consistency and continuity of care for the children.

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

The manager completes supervision sessions with staff, but some of these have been outside of timescale. The quality of supervision is inconsistent and does not always reflect on staff member’s well-being, professional development or interactions with the children. This leads to an inconsistent staff insight into the developing needs of children.

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

There are areas requiring improvement. The quality of care reports are of poor quality and fail to meet the legislative requirements, limiting the manager’s ability to adequately monitor, review and implement improvements in the care provided to children. These reports do not provide a clear, structured plan for continuous improvement, which hinders the ability to track and address any gaps in care or service provision. Inspection report for children’s home: 2557152 5 Feedback from wider family members and, in some cases, children themselves is absent from both independent visitor reports and quality of care reviews. This lack of participation impacts the quality of child involvement in the management and improvement of the home, limiting their voice in the overall development of the service.

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

The current training schedule is not aligned with the workforce development plan. Some staff and the manager’s training has lapsed, and this has not been identified or addressed by the manager. This does not ensure that staff have the most up-to-date knowledge to meet children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2557152 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider must ensure that when children are not in education, there is clear structure and routine in place at the home to support independent study. The registered provider must also ensure that when there are concerns around lack of education, that these are appropriately challenged with the virtual school. 28/03/2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2557152 7 The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that each child is provided with proactive key-work sessions that are planned based on children’s presenting needs and feelings. 21/03/2025

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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. 28/03/2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2557152 8 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff continue their development through updating mandatory training needs in line with policy.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that when completing a quality of care review, children’s feedback is taken into consideration and evidenced in the report.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the responsible individual must ensure that quality of care reviews provide analysis and evaluation of care provided, alongside an action plan necessary to measure improvement. 11/04/2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should encourage children to share any concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. Children must be able to take up issues or make a complaint with support and without any fear that this will result in any adverse consequences. Regulation 39 sets out the requirements on the registered person to have a complaints procedure. Children must be aware of this procedure and be reminded of it as necessary. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The registered person must appoint an individual as the responsible individual for the home. The responsible individual’s role is to supervise the management of the home Inspection report for children’s home: 2557152 9 as set out in the definition of a responsible individual in regulation 2. They should have an understanding of both effective practice in responding to the needs of looked-

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Recommendations

after children and of local authority care planning duties and how children’s homes are required to support these. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 60, paragraph 12.13)

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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: 2557152 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6LR

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Inspector

Paul McKay-Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2557152 11 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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