Children's Home run by United Children's Services Limited in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC488961 1 SC488961 Registered provider: United Childrens Services 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 children’s home is operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to five children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home. The inspector observed and spoke to all three children.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspector was aware during this inspection that serious child protection allegations were being investigated by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate allegations of this kind, actions taken by the setting in response to the allegations were considered, where appropriate, alongside other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform the inspector’s judgements.

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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: SC488961 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/06/2024 Full Good 16/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 29/11/2022 Full Good 16/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC488961 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is large and spacious and is currently being redecorated. Staff personalise children’s bedrooms and have repurposed an area of the home into a soundproof music studio. Staff have provided a punch bag and football goalposts in the garden, which children use.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s certificates of achievement are displayed in the home. Staff show their appreciation of the children by regularly filling in an appreciation book for each child. When children experience success, staff give them congratulation cards and a reward of the child’s choosing, such as going out for breakfast. The improvements made to the home and approach to celebrating success provide children with a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s health needs are met. All children are healthy and have access to a dentist, doctor and optician. Staff have supported a child to access a smoking-cessation service. Children have access to regular therapeutic support. Staff have monthly consultations with a child psychotherapist, which staff have said is helpful. The therapist said, ‘This team is one of the best. They want therapeutic input and are using a therapeutic approach.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are accessing education and making progress. Staff support children to be ready for the school day and are curious how the day went when children return. Staff transport children to education and facilitate education provision in the home. An assistant headteacher said, ‘A strength of the home is how closely they work with school, finding solutions together and taking best steps for the child.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff speak positively about the children and enjoy spending time with them. Staff support children to take part in positive activities. Staff take children to the gym, kayaking, boxing and to play softball. A child had an area in their bedroom set up for using building bricks, and another child had a gaming area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team is diverse. This provides opportunity for children to be cared for by staff with similar beliefs, culture and interests. It also provides opportunity for children to learn about difference and explore new experiences. Staff record the experiences of children. However, these records do not reflect the voice of the child and are not written in a therapeutic way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have built trusting and secure relationships with the children. All children were spoken to and said that they feel supported and could talk to staff about their worries. Staff advocate for children with professionals to ensure that the child’s wishes and feelings are known and understood. Staff recognise the importance of children seeing people who are important to them. They take children to see family and facilitate time with family in their home. A parent said that staff invited them for dinner on Christmas day to spend time with their child. Inspection report for children’s home: SC488961 4 At nighttime, bedroom doors are alarmed and all areas are not accessible to children. Staff do not regularly review the use of these measures, which are not based on children’s needs and associated risks.

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

Staff work with agencies to keep children safe, providing a multi-agency response to children’s risks. A social worker said, ‘Staff place the welfare of the child as the most significant factor.’ Professionals spoken to said that staff provide good communication and are responsive.

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

Children said that they feel safe. Staff speak to children about their needs and associated risks in a helpful way. Children have risk management plans. However, these plans do not always provide an accurate reflection of risk and staff do not consistently follow the strategies within the plans to manage risk effectively. For example, a child’s plan to manage the risk of vaping was not adhered to. Another child lost access to their mobile phone and this was not taken into account when reviewing the likelihood of the child going missing and remaining safe.

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

Staff provide a proactive response when children go missing from the home. When children are missing, staff look for them and make efforts to maintain contact. Staff communicate with other agencies, such as the police and child exploitation professionals, to reduce the risk when children are missing. When children return home, staff ensure that an independent professional speaks to them. Staff work with children to understand the risks associated with going missing and how to stay safe. Staff carry out searches of children’s bedrooms when necessary. However, consent to conduct room searches is not sought, and children are not informed when room searches have taken place.

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

To encourage positive behaviour, staff implement boundaries and routines. Staff challenge children if there is any discriminatory or bullying behaviour. Staff have the skills to de-escalate behaviours, which has meant that staff do not need to hold children to manage risk. For one child, this is significant progress. Staff implement consequences for children if boundaries have not been adhered to. However, the use of consequences is not always restorative. Staff understand internet safety and the risks of social media. When needed, staff regularly check children’s phones and speak to children about how to keep safe online.

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

Staff seek the views of children and professionals on the quality of care provided. Staff have not received any complaints. All children know how to raise a complaint. Staff have completed mandatory training and training that is specific to children’s needs. The manager has recruited the staff team using robust recruitment checks to ensure that staff are safe to work with children.

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

When children make allegations, they are listened to and taken seriously. Staff respond swiftly to allegations, ensuring that safeguarding referrals are made, and social workers and relevant professionals are informed of any allegations. Inspection report for children’s home: SC488961 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed to ensuring that staff provide children with good-quality care that is aligned to the home’s statement of purpose. The manager escalates any concerns with relevant professionals and advocates for children. When there is uncertainty about the long-term care plan, the manager proactively raises this with the placing authority to ensure stability for children. When spoken to, professionals said that the manager is effective at multi-agency working and advocates for the children. A tutor said, ‘The manager is one of the best I have worked with.’ Parents said that the manager is approachable, and they can speak to them if they have concerns about the care provided to their children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has systems in place to monitor and evaluate the care provided to children, but has not utilised opportunities to seek feedback from families as part of this evaluation. The manager has oversight of all record-keeping in relation to children and completes regular audits of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that the manager ensures that the environment is a positive and fun place to work in. The manager provides regular supervision to staff, which is reflective and considers children’s needs and the well-being of staff. Staff find supervision useful, and that the manager is supportive and approachable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager facilitates monthly team meetings. These meetings provide the opportunity to consider team issues, areas for development and the care provided to children. The manager ensures that any new staff starting have a comprehensive induction with regular review of their performance before having their probation completed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC488961 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(b)) 7 August 2025

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. 7 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC488961 7 (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)) 7 August 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure any sanctions used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that bedrooms are only searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s safety or well-being. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear

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Recommendations

recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC488961 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: United Childrens Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit J The Quays, Burton Waters, Lincoln LN1 2XG

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Inspector

Laura Copus, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC488961 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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