Children's Home run by Positive Pathways Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC410537 1 SC410537 Registered provider: Positive Pathways 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 home is run by a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional needs and/or a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023. She holds a relevant level 5 qualification.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home. All three children were seen and two were spoken to by the inspector.

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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: SC410537 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/04/2024 Full Good 25/07/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/08/2022 Full Good 15/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC410537 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved into the home and four have moved out. Overall, children have benefited from planned moves. When endings have been sudden and unplanned, staff have worked with social workers to ensure that these decisions have been jointly discussed and managed to ensure children’s best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children moving into the home are welcomed sensitively. They are introduced to staff and are given a children’s guide about the home. Staff are thoughtful and purchase toys or bedding that the children like. This practice helps to reduce children’s anxieties, encourages meaningful relationships and supports children to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children attending school regularly. Their support and encouragement have helped all three children to feel safe enough to attend full-time education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to try activities and new things that they have not experienced before. One child has joined a football club and a youth club. The other two children have joined a gym and on occasion attend together. These experiences contribute to children’s identity and help them to develop happy childhood memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a welcoming, homely and well-decorated home. There are photos of the children and their families displayed in the home. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their taste. They are well furnished, to enable them to feel comfortable and have a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to take age-appropriate, balanced risk. For example, children are able to have time out with friends and have age-appropriate access to mobile devices. This builds children’s self-esteem and allows them to form positive memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have positive relationships with each other. Staff use a therapeutic approach to encourage the children to develop an understanding of the impact of their behaviour on others. This is helping the children to improve their relationship and supports their overall development.

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

Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities and children’s vulnerabilities. Good- quality risk assessments inform the children’s care. Children’s plans are kept under constant review to ensure staff have the accurate information that they need to keep the children safe. Plans are reviewed by staff and raise awareness and promote consistency. As a result, children are safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC410537 4 Staff have meaningful conversations with children about positive relationships, education and emotional health. This direct work is helping children to understand how to keep themselves safe and develop socially acceptable behaviour.

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

Children’s missing-from-home incidents have significantly decreased due to staff’s proactive and curious approach. They consistently search for children and work tenaciously with children’s parents, police and social workers. This helps the children to understand that staff care for them proactively.

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

Staff understand children’s triggers and feelings well. As a result, they rarely need to physically hold children. When staff have had to use physical holds, these have been safe and proportionate and used as a last resort. Staff generally record details of the incident in a timely manner. However, on two occasions, the manager has not ensured that records were created within the appropriate timescales.

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

The manager generally acts promptly when children make complaints or disclosures. She takes time to talk to children, complete comprehensive investigations following advice from the local authority designated officer and ensures that children are informed of any outcomes. However, there was one occasion when the registered manager did not act on a child’s complaint about a member of staff for four days. The complaint was managed effectively but this delay could result in children feel undervalued and not confident to raise concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is dedicated and places the children’s needs at the centre of all she does. She understands the home’s strengths and areas for development. The registered manager is supported by a strong, present responsible individual.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Both the responsible individual and the registered manager have a shared vision, with children at the heart of practice. Both are open to challenge and learning. This supports a reflective staff team that has high expectations for children. They model healthy parenting and continue to strive to develop the staff team further in strengthening positive relationships with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak highly of the registered manager. Supervision sessions are regular and of good quality, and staff receive regular training that is relevant to the children’s individual needs. This supports staff development and leads to child-focused practice that is safe and consistent. Team meetings are informative and include a good level of discussion about the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals are positive in their feedback. They say that communication is effective and the staff team has been strong in supporting children back into education. Professionals are positive about the care that children receive from staff and how this has supported their progress. Inspection report for children’s home: SC410537 5 The registered manager has effective monitoring systems in place to continually assess and improve the quality of care. She has recently developed a monthly report to ensure that there is good oversight of all aspects of the children’s progress. The registered manager uses reports from the independent visitor to review and improve practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures the safer recruitment of new staff. When staff start work, they have an in-depth induction and regular reviews of their progress during their probation period. Inspection report for children’s home: SC410537 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 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—that staff—

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered manager must ensure that the appropriate agencies are notified of any concerns without delay to ensure the protection of children. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iv)) 30 June 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered manager should ensure that records for incidents of restraint are completed in a timely manner and in accordance with regulations. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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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: SC410537 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Positive Pathways Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Park Business Centre, Hastingwood Industrial Park, Wood Lane, Erdington, Birmingham, West Midlands B24 9QR

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Inspector

Julia Tompson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC410537 8 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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