Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children's home: SC008269 1 SC008269 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today

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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. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2024. In addition to this home, the registered manager also manages another home in the organisation.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC008269 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2024 Full Good 14/03/2023 Full Good 17/11/2021 Full Good 05/02/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: SC008269 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well cared for. They form strong and positive relationships with staff and feel safe and secure. Staff treat children with dignity and respect. Staff spoke fondly and with pride about the children they support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children said that they feel listened to. They said that if they have any worries or concerns they can share these with staff, who will listen and help.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to express their views, wishes and feelings through conversations and discussions. This helps children to feel valued and to have a say in decisions made about their day-to-day lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Staff ensure that children are registered with local health providers such as the GP and dentist. They support children to attend routine appointments, and specialist health appointments when needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff advocate for children’s education. When necessary, they have challenged the children’s placing authorities to ensure that children have access to suitable schools. As a result, all the children are doing well in school and have high levels of attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a variety of activities, such as trampolining, playing football, swimming and going on holiday. This provides children with opportunities to learn new skills, experience new hobbies and develop their interests. Staff also respect that children like their home comforts and often enjoy spending time in the home playing on their electronic devices and gaming consoles. This is done with appropriate restrictions and staff monitoring.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s time with family and friends is supported in line with agreed plans. Staff have developed positive relationships with family members, and they work together to make sure that children’s time with family is supported and encouraged, despite this sometimes taking place a long distance from the home. This good work ensures that children can maintain relationships which are important to them and helps support their sense of belonging and build their identity.

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

There have been no safeguarding concerns, allegations or disclosures since the last inspection. Staff were able to describe the process they would follow should a concern arise, however, they were not clear about the role of the local authority designated officer (LADO).

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

Each child’s individual risks are detailed in their care plans and risk management plans. These are robust documents, which are frequently reviewed and updated and give clear Inspection report for children's home: SC008269 4 information, guidance and strategies to staff to ensure consistent responses to children’s behaviours. Staff understand these documents and put them into practice.

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

When it has been necessary to restrain a child to keep them safe, this action has been reasonable and proportionate. Physical intervention techniques used by staff have been the least restrictive possible and for the minimum amount of time. Children and staff are supported after a restraint to reflect and to look at lessons learned from the incident. The manager has oversight of these incident reports. When he has been involved in a restraint incident, a senior manager has reviewed the reports to ensure that there is impartial oversight.

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

Children’s positive behaviour and achievements are actively rewarded and celebrated. When staff have imposed consequences, these have been proportionate to the situation. The manager has oversight of these and discusses them in team meetings to ensure their effectiveness and that they remain proportionate and relevant to the behaviour.

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

There have been no incidents of bullying. However, the manager and staff take a proactive approach to working with the children to help them understand positive relationships and the impact that bullying can have.

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

When children are new to the home, their needs are fully considered before they move in. Assessments take into account all relevant and necessary information and there is a child-centred approach to deciding if the home and staff team can meet the child’s needs and whether the child moving in and the children already living there will be suitable to live together.

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

Children often move into the home in an emergency with little or no planning possible. Staff welcome children and support them to move into the home as sensitively as possible, taking into consideration their individual circumstances.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a newly registered manager. He has a clear vision for what he wants to achieve for the children and for the development of the team. Staff describe the manager as readily available to offer support and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has monitoring and review systems in place to provide him with an overview of the home. He puts a strong emphasis on reflective practice. This means that he is able to identify strengths and areas for change or improvement. This could be strengthened by implementing a workforce plan to ensure that workforce-related needs are monitored and addressed as needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff ensure that the home is warm and welcoming. It provides a caring and nurturing environment for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a stable and consistent core team of staff who know the children well. Staff are suitably qualified and are trained in key topics. However, not all staff are trained to meet Inspection report for children's home: SC008269 5 the individual needs of children, such as sexualised behaviours, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and e-safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision sessions take place regularly and are a supportive tool for staff. The quality of these sessions has recently improved. They now focus on staff practice and the impact staff have on the children they support, in addition to ensuring that staff understand their roles and responsibilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are well attended, and staff understand their value. They are used to share information with the team about children and about the home. They are also used to reflect on significant events and identify lessons learned and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff work with external professionals such as schools and placing authorities to ensure that those in the team around the child are all working together to achieve the best outcomes for children. Inspection report for children's home: SC008269 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 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff are trained in issues specific to the individual needs of children living in the home. 18 April 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so they understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of a child. They should ensure that staff understand the role of the LADO. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce- related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.8) Inspection report for children's home: SC008269 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: SC008269 8

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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

Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC008269 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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Inspector

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