Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC005050 1 SC005050 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It provides care for up to five children who may have experienced childhood instability, resulting in trauma and associated complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, four children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2009 and holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management for residential care services for children. In October 2024, he became a dual-registered manager, responsible for this home and another home in the same organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

The organisation has a registered school on the same site. This inspection focused solely on the residential provision.

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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

Date of last inspection: 27 February 2024

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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: SC005050 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2024 Full Good 05/10/2022 Full Good 27/07/2021 Full Good 11/03/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC005050 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All four children living at the home were present during the inspection. All children are making good progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have moved into the home, and three children have moved out. Managers and staff ensure that children’s experiences of moving into and out of the home are positive. For example, they provide children with the opportunity to say goodbye and gift them with personalised memory books detailing their time at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend the on-site school, which is part of the same organisation. Staff work effectively in partnership with education professionals. Children’s attendance at school improves, and they make progress with their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children in spending time with their families. For one child, time with a family member has increased, and staff no longer supervise these visits. One child’s family member said, ‘They (the staff) have worked wonders with [name of child].’ This effective support helps children to maintain important relationships and promotes their identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children attend routine health appointments with staff support. They also have access to specialist support from child and adolescent mental health services when needed. Children are encouraged to eat healthily and exercise regularly, which promotes their good health and well-being. For one child, barriers around receiving dental treatment have not been addressed and supported effectively by staff. As a result, the child has not yet received the treatment they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite the good progress made by all children, some children’s experiences are mixed. The children recognise the good progress they are making in education and in managing their behaviours and emotions. However, some children find the home’s remote location and certain rules to be restrictive. Helping children to understand the boundaries in place is an area identified for development, as is helping them to move forward, feel more involved in and have greater access to their local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children can identify specific staff members with whom they can discuss any concerns, and they generally have positive relationships with most of them. Some children do not get along with all staff members, and they discussed this issue with the inspectors. This information was shared with the manager and the children’s social workers so that they can explore this further with the children.

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

There has been a reduction in incidents requiring physical intervention because staff use effective de-escalation strategies. When physical intervention is required, it is used as a Inspection report for children’s home: SC005050 4 last resort and to ensure children’s safety. The manager has oversight of all incidents, and opportunities are provided to staff and children to reflect and learn from these.

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

The frequency of children going missing from home has reduced significantly since they have come to live at the home. When incidents occur, staff respond well. They look for children and support them in returning home. Staff also talk to children about why they went missing and work well with other professionals, such as local police. This good work helps keep children safe.

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

Two members of staff have recently started working in the home. Safer recruitment processes are effective, with all necessary checks carried out. This reduces the risk of unsuitable people being employed to care for children at the home.

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

The manager and staff are clear about sharing safeguarding concerns with relevant individuals and the process for escalating concerns, including using the whistle-blowing process. They have attended a workshop on closed cultures and have some understanding of what this means, but staff are not yet confident in explaining what this is and how they prevent it from affecting children. Given the home is in a rural location and children attend school on the same site, it is important that staff and managers understand how to prevent something like this from happening.

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

Staff use consequences in response to socially unacceptable or unsafe behaviours. On occasion, these consequences are not restorative in nature and are not always relevant to the child’s actions or behaviours. Children can earn extra money for their achievements; such incentives encourage positive behaviour.

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

The home has a stable and experienced staff team. Staff can identify children’s risks and behaviours that challenge others. Staff help children to reflect on their feelings and emotions. However, information from these discussions does not always inform children’s plans. This is a missed opportunity to promote personalised, child-centred care that considers children’s views and provides staff with clear guidance and consistent approaches to managing children’s behaviours and risks.

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

Staff talk to children about risks and dangers, such as online risks, and they arrange specialist support when needed. This enables children to learn about risks and helps them to make safer choices. Despite the significant reduction in children’s risks, plans for children to have fewer restrictions and more opportunities to develop independence are not reviewed and updated. For example, children’s time without staff in the community is rare, and children do not have access to mobile phones. Without careful review and planning about how to move forward, this has the potential to restrict children’s individual development and preparation for their next steps.

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

The manager has not taken effective action to meet the requirement and recommendations raised at the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC005050 5 Monitoring systems are not always used effectively. There is insufficient information recorded about some concerns raised and a lack of information relating to how they are investigated and responded to. For example, a child raised concerns about their care during a care planning meeting. The manager perceived this as a grumble and did not include it in their monitoring reports. Actions identified from the investigation and shared with the child’s social worker have not been addressed. In addition, the manager has not shared the outcome of the investigation with the child.

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

The manager was not aware that a system issue had activated the alarms on children’s bedroom doors. These were deactivated by the manager after it was raised during the inspection.

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

The decor and furnishing in children’s bedrooms are basic and lack personalisation. One child has requested certain lighting for his bedroom. This request has been declined, as the manager feels it will affect the child’s quality of sleep without considering any alternative or compromise. Some areas of the home require cleaning, such as children’s bathrooms. The communal areas of the home do not provide a sense of homeliness due to a lack of soft furnishings and ornaments. The staff sleep-in area is cluttered and does not provide a relaxing space for staff to sleep. However, there has been some investment in the home, with a new modern kitchen having been fitted since the last inspection.

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

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified. He has good knowledge of children’s starting points and what they have accomplished since living at the home. He is passionate about reducing risks for children. However, leaders do not consider the potential for children to make even more progress and to reduce some of the boundaries and restrictions that are in place when risks are reduced. This causes a delay in children having more age-appropriate experiences.

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

Staff supervision records do not capture two-way discussions between the staff member and manager. Supervision does not provide a clear forum for staff to reflect on their practice and receive guidance from the manager. For example, a staff member has not received guidance on building effective relationships with children when this issue has been identified as a concern during supervision. This is a missed opportunity to improve staff practice and experiences for children.

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

The manager receives regular supervision. His annual appraisal involves submitting an annual self-evaluation form to a senior manager. The manager does not believe that he requires additional support, and plans around his continued professional development are not clear. This does not inspire confidence in the manager’s approach to his own professional growth and how it informs the ongoing development of the home.

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

Most staff hold a suitable qualification. Two new members of staff who occasionally work in the home are unqualified. Staff have received training that is specific to some children’s needs. However, the manager has not identified the need for training in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This affects staff’s ability to fully understand how best to support one child. Inspection report for children’s home: SC005050 6 Children are cared for by a consistent, stable staff team. Staff enjoy working in the home and feel supported by the manager.

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

Regular team meetings provide staff with opportunities to discuss the children. The manager uses these meetings to develop staff’s knowledge on relevant topics. For example, they have explored the impact of mobile phones on teenagers; however, they are not using this knowledge and understanding to support children’s individual development. Inspection report for children’s home: SC005050 7

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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

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 skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received;

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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)(c)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that staff receive training that is specific to children’s diagnosed health conditions. 30 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC005050 8 Children’s feedback on their experiences of living in the home must be considered by managers and inform their plans.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that there are effective systems in place for monitoring the appropriateness of consequences and reporting grumbles/concerns. In addition, findings from monitoring activity and management oversight must inform the development of the home and care provided to children.

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Requirement Due date

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

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(viii)(ix)(x)(b)) 30 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; 30 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC005050 9 use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding; and

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2(iv)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that individualised care is provided to children. When children’s risks reduce, plans must be kept under review, and children must be supported to participate in age-appropriate experiences without unnecessary delays. Furthermore, risk assessments must include information that is individual to each child rather than generic.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that the cleanliness of the home is maintained to a suitable standard, children’s bedrooms are personalised, and the home is decorated and furnished well, providing a homely atmosphere with relaxing spaces to spend time.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must review and revisit the support provided to a child to ensure that they attend the dentist for any necessary treatment. Inspection report for children’s home: SC005050 10

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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: SC005050 11

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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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Inspectors

Kirsty Truesdale, Social Care Inspector Helen Dunn, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC005050 12 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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