Children's Home run by Keys Stepping Stones Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home: SC008490 1 SC008490 Registered provider: Keys Stepping Stones 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 is a private children’s home registered for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023. She is suitably experienced qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspectors spoke with all children.

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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 November 2023

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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: SC008490 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2023 Full Good 10/08/2022 Full Good 02/02/2022 Full Good 10/03/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC008490 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from long term placements at this home, providing them with stability and permanence. The staff team provides children with nurturing care and support and because of this, children have positive relationships with the staff team. Children are provided with consistent routines, structures and boundaries, to help them settle into the home. Children report that they are happy in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, children make good progress in all areas of their lives. This includes areas such as developing their self-care skills, managing their emotions, developing their self- esteem and independence skills. Effective independence planning packages are in place to support children in developing their practical skills and knowledge for adulthood. Social workers are positive about the quality of care provided to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children participate in their care planning meetings. Keywork sessions with children are conducted regularly by staff, focusing on the child’s views in relation to their individual needs. Topics are revisited to enable the child to reflect, to express their feelings and to ensure that they are listened to. A company-wide young inspectors’ scheme is another forum for children to share their views and to contribute to improving their quality of care. It also helps to develop children’s confidence and social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team understand the children’s health needs, including accessing additional specialist support that children require. They collaborate with child and adolescent mental health workers, psychologists and therapists to ensure that children’s emotional well-being is promoted and monitored closely. Children’s trusting relationships with staff means that they are comfortable talking through their feelings with those they have close bonds with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers have good relationships with partner agencies to ensure that children’s educational needs are met. They attend all education related meetings to ensure that there are clear arrangements in place for children, including those who are not attending school. They challenge decisions that may impact on children’s progress in education. However, for one child, contingency plans are not in place for them to access further education in the new area they may move to. Although a local college course has been secured, the staff team has not yet explored colleges in other areas of the country that the child may live, in preparation for the child moving to semi-independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s interests and hobbies are promoted through weekly classes and clubs, such as dance, swimming and horse-riding classes. They spend time with each other and their friends in the community. Their friends visit their home and stay for sleep overs. Children spend regular time with those who are important to them. Staff support children effectively to rebuild and sustain relationships with their family. Inspection report for children’s home: SC008490 4

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

Staff invest in children’s safety and wellbeing. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children. They manage significant risks effectively to ensure that children can continue to live together safely.

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

When children struggle to keep themselves safe or work with the boundaries implemented by staff, the manager supports the staff team to explore triggers to children’s behaviour to help them get back on track. The manager uses her review of serious incidents and her knowledge of the children to identify what is going on for the child and to implement additional support systems they may require. The managers also debriefs staff following all incidents to enable them to reflect on their practice and to identify alternative ways to support children.

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

Leaders and managers take suitable action to explore any allegations made by children. However, on one occasion they have failed to evidence the process followed in their decision to leave a staff member on shift, following an allegation made by a child. In addition, one child’s risk assessment that includes an agreed multi-agency approach to managing allegations alongside the local authority designated officer has not been reviewed.

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

Staff use their positive relationships with children to help them to manage their behaviour. Restraint is used only as a last resort and when necessary to keep children safe. Staff are initiative-taking in reducing risks for children as they occur and so the police are not used to manage incidents. Children’s behaviour management plans reflect their views of how they prefer to be supported by staff and the strategies that are helpful to them. Direct work is always undertaken with children following any significant incident, to help them to understand the risks and how to make safer choices.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. Staff consistently follow children’s missing- from-home protocols, and they are proactive in their approach to try and locate and return children. Consequently, children have not been missing overnight or for prolonged periods of time.

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

Leaders and mangers demonstrate an effective multi agency approach to keep children safe from harm. There is a wide range of internal and external professionals that the staff team consults with to assess children’s needs and to mitigate risks. This includes police liaison officers, substance misuse, harmful sexual behaviour and self-injury specialists.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children very well. She is integral to children feeling safe and happy in the home. She is a positive role model for the staff. Her knowledge of the children is filtered down the staff team, which means that children are provided with the individualised care and support that they require. Inspection report for children’s home: SC008490 5 The manager always looks for opportunities to improve children’s experiences of residential care and to promote their life opportunities. She advocates well for children, to ensure that their needs are met and that any decisions made support their individual development and reflect their views, wishes and feelings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team report that leaders and managers support them well. They are provided with clear and consistent guidance about the support in place for children. Consequently, the staff team works together to provide a good quality of care for children. The core staff team is stable. The provider has their own bank staff who know the children well and they are used on the occasions that core staff are unable to cover shortfalls in the rota.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses team meetings to share research-based practice, to share valuable information relating to children’s care planning and to feedback from any lessons learned. A variety of specialised professionals attend the meetings to deliver training and to guide staff in the work they do with children. For example, a programme of neurodiversity workshops is currently being undertaken with the staff team. In addition, the manager ensures that staff are trained in a wide variety of areas bespoke to children’s needs and risk behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with regular practice-related supervision to review their practice. Staff are recognised companywide for their initiative-taking practice, particularly where they have worked hard to keep children safe. Any performance issues are dealt with quickly to ensure that individualised support and training is identified and implemented. The manager has also introduced a mentoring system to upskill both her senior team and residential staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor’s reports provide additional scrutiny of the service and support the manager in her development of the quality of care provided to children. The manager’s review of the quality-of-care report captures progress made by each of the children and provides a clear evaluation of how staff practice has supported positive change. Inspection report for children’s home: SC008490 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, 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and

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Requirement Due date

delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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)(a)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers should evidence the process that they follow when they are making decisions about whether staff should remain on shift, following allegations made by children.

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Requirement Due date

The manager should ensure that their oversight of allegation management records is effective.

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Requirement Due date

When a risk assessment has been agreed as a multi-agency approach to managing allegations made by a child, there should be evidence of it having been regularly reviewed with the LADO and the child’s social worker. 2 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC008490 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they work with local authorities who have a number of responsibilities in relation to education and training for 16–19-year-olds, including ensuring that sufficient provision is available to meet their needs. Children’s homes should work with the local authority to make sure the young people they are responsible for are getting the support they need to participate. Specifically, contingency plans should be in place for children’s further education, both in the local area and if they move away from the area when they move out of the home to prepare for adulthood. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.17)

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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: SC008490 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Stepping Stones Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Thomas Cappleman

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Inspectors

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Angeline Clarke, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC008490 9 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 children who are looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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