Children's Home run by Good Foundations Limited in Wirral

Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 1 Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in June 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living at the home at the time of the inspection. All the children were spoken to as part of the inspection.

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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: 26 November 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/11/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/11/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the same children have remained living in the home. Children have extremely positive relationships with each other and the staff team. Staff know the children well, listen to them and promote their welfare. During the inspection, children were respectful of each other and spent time with staff cooking together, playing games in the garden and gaming online. Children also spent time with each other preparing for their GCSEs, with access to a wide range of newly purchased resources.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child said, ‘I love it here, it is my home.’ Others said: ‘Staff do listen to me and support me;’ ‘It’s a great place to be. The new managers and staff want us to do well,’ and ‘We understand the new rules around education. We may not always like them, but it is fair.’ Children have a sense of permanence and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made significant progress in various aspects of their lives, including health, education and general well-being. All children talked openly about the changes since the last inspection, including the reintroduction of age-appropriate boundaries and routines and access to a wide range of new activities. Children had also been consulted about the home’s decor, including the colour schemes. The home is a warm, nurturing environment that children are exceptionally proud of.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been a marked improvement for all children in educational attendance and participation, with the new management team supporting staff to implement tailored strategies to support each child’s learning journey. Children are proud of their educational achievements and talked excitedly about their aspirations for their futures. For all children, there has been significant progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Creative and improved healthcare practices support children to improve their health and well-being. All outstanding health appointments for children have now been successfully actioned, ensuring that their physical and emotional needs are met. Staff talk to children about the importance of healthy lifestyles. This is supporting children’s confidence, self- esteem and emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to re-establish and build positive relationships with family members and friends, understanding the importance of supporting children to develop and maintain relationships with the people who are important to them. Feedback from families was exceptional about the differences in outcomes and progress for children and how families remained fully involved and included in their child’s care. Parents said: ‘I know he is safe, happy and loved;’ ‘It’s like he has two families and we both work together,’ and ‘I can ring anytime for an update and do not feel like I am bothering anyone.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 4

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

Children are safe and risks are managed well, with a proactive approach to learning and age-appropriate responses by staff. These responses reduce the risk of harm for each child. The new management team regularly includes the child’s allocated social worker and family members in the planning process and agree the strategies to minimise risks. These responses keep children safe and help to minimise risks.

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

The new management team has introduced clear and effective boundaries and encourages good routines, supporting children’s progress and development. A restorative approach to behaviour management helps children to understand the impact of negative behaviour on themselves and others. The organisation has a no restraint policy, encouraging all staff to instead use a calm, nurturing response to the child when in crisis. They act as a good parent and support the child throughout times of difficulty. This reassures children that the staff caring for them will keep them safe.

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

The staff understand children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities. Newly revised behaviour management and risk management plans are clear and concise. Staff know the strategies to follow to keep children safe and talk to managers if they no longer agree that the agreed strategies are effective. This supports a strong, robust approach to risk management. Staff spend time with children to help them to understand the risks they may face online, in the home or local community. This includes discussions exploring exploitation, bullying, vaping and knife crime.

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

Managers and staff are clear about the procedures for responding to concerns about the safety of a child. Although there have been no child protection concerns or missing-from-home episodes, all are clear about the process they should follow, including the information that they are required to share with the placing and/or host local authority and safeguarding professionals. This ensures that children’s safety is prioritised.

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

The management team has reinforced to staff the importance of using a system of positive rewards and incentives for children, to promote engagement and provide praise for children. Children have responded well to the incentives in place and recognise their achievements and take pride in them.

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

The home environment is maintained to a good standard, with the individualisation of spaces to reflect children’s individual personalities. All required health and safety checks are carried out and medication is managed appropriately. The design of the home office area ensures that staff are not hidden away from children doing administrative work and creates a more natural and safe living environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Following the last inspection, the responsible individual took immediate action to address the shortfalls identified. Changes were made in the management team and staff from Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 5 within the organisation who had previous relationships with children were identified to work in the home. These changes were introduced gradually.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager no longer works in the home and a new manager has been identified to lead the team. He has previous experience as a registered manager and is inspirational and highly motivated. He has spent time with children understanding their lived experience, being honest and realistic about the changes required to support the children to thrive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new deputy manager, appointed from within the organisation, supports the manager in the day-to-day management of the home. Together, they are ambitious and committed to ensuring that staff practice is child focused. They have met with the staff team to reinforce what good care looks like, but also to be explicit with staff about the expectations of their roles and responsibilities in working with children, to support them to stay safe and make progress from their starting points.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new managers show passion and commitment and are strong advocates for children, taking a proactive approach in meetings to ensure that the care provided meets the individual needs of each child. They pride themselves on the positive relationships that they and the staff team have established with children, families and other professionals involved in children’s care. This was confirmed by children, families and professionals who spoke extremely positively about the changes in staffing. Children said that they are now ‘listened to’, ‘supported’ and ‘cared for’. Families said, ‘I am treated with respect and fully involved.’ Professionals were also highly complimentary about the changes in the home, including improved communication systems.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children provided lots of examples of changes made by leaders and managers to support them in all aspects of their care. Managers understand the strengths and weaknesses of the care provided. Regular evaluations and reflective practice are enabling them to assess the effectiveness of care practice and consider developmental approaches. When weaknesses are identified, decisive and effective action is taken to rectify them. Action has been taken to meet the requirements and recommendations from the last inspection, with no further breaches identified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new management team has developed a positive staff culture which provides children with a nurturing environment. Staff say that they love working in the home and are very enthusiastic about the care that they provide for children. Staff were positive about the support they have from leaders and the managers. They have access to regular training and supervision sessions and team meetings to improve and develop their practice. Communication is a key strength of this team, and this has supported the manager to create a strong and stable staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Case records reflect children’s lives and experiences and demonstrate the progress that children have made. The records celebrate children’s achievements and are available to children to contribute to as they wish, with appropriate support. Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 6

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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: 2727821 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 Tower Quays, Tower Road, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH41 1BP

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Inspectors

Michelle Edge, Senior His Majesty’s Inspector Mathew Morris-Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 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 children 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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