Children's Home run by Positive Pathways Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: 1234430 1 Registered provider: Positive Pathways Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company. It provides care for up to three children who may experience emotional and social difficulties and/or disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since February 2025 and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1234430 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/06/2024 Full Good 02/05/2023 Full Good 14/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 1234430 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a comfortable and homely living environment. The decor and furnishings are maintained to a high standard. There is a spacious dining area where children and staff eat their meals together. Children’s artwork is proudly displayed in the home. Children enjoy relaxing in their bedrooms, which are decorated to reflect their diversity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to explore their interests. This nurtures children’s aspirations and provides them with the opportunity to develop friendships in their community. One child enjoys attending a performing arts academy and spoke enthusiastically about this. Staff support children to keep pets, and one child has a hamster. This supports children to learn how to look after pets and contributes to their developing independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend school. One child is in full-time education and is making good progress. When children experience barriers to education, the manager and staff liaise with external professionals to develop support plans. As a result, children have engaged with specialist services to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand how to support children to share their views, wishes and feelings. A social worker shared that staff help children to discuss what is important to them. In addition, staff support children to share their views about their choice of meals, activities and the decoration of the home. This creates an inclusive environment, and children feel valued and safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively support children when they spend time independently with their family and friends. Staff visit children and keep in touch with them during visits to family members at their homes. This nurtures trusting relationships between children and staff and helps children to feel safer. Staff support family visits to the home when this is appropriate. One parent shared that staff are welcoming during all visits.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have returned to live with their parents, one child moved to live with foster carers and five children moved to specialist residential settings. Staff support children’s moves effectively when there are planned transitions. However, the manager recognises that children’s unplanned moves are an area for development to improve children’s overall experiences during important transitions in their lives.

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

Children have detailed support and risk plans that are regularly updated and reviewed. Staff support children to share their views, wishes and feelings about their safety plans. This helps children to feel safe, valued and respected. When children require specialist support, the manager and staff are proactive in arranging this. Staff liaise with external Inspection report for children’s home: 1234430 4 professionals and attend multi-agency meetings. This provides children with individualised care and promotes their well-being.

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

Staff are proactive in communicating with children when they are delayed in returning to the home. When children go missing from the home, staff follow children’s support plans and liaise with external professionals. This helps children to feel safe and to understand that staff care about their safety.

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

There have been no allegations or complaints since the last inspection. The manager and staff advocate for children when there are delays in external professionals providing support. For example, the manager made a formal complaint to a local authority regarding the role of a social worker. This ensures planning for children’s futures is not delayed and children feel listened to and valued.

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

Staff support children to understand the risks when they are spending time independently in the community. This helps children to share any concerns and to feel safe. For example, one child was supported by staff when they experienced bullying in the community. Staff support children to learn about knife crime, drugs and exploitation. This creates a safe environment for children to share their lived experiences.

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

The home has been without a registered manager since September 2024. The current manager took over in February 2025. While the manager has applied to register with Ofsted, she has not done this within the required time frame. This does not demonstrate effective leadership and has the potential to impact on children’s progress and overall day-to-day experiences in the home.

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

The new manager is supported by an experienced deputy manager. They are working together to create a safe and nurturing environment for children. The staff team are resilient and committed in their support of children. Staff feel supported, respected and valued by the new management team.

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

The new management team has monitoring and review systems in place. These are being used to enhance the overall experiences of children and to develop staff practice. However, the manager recognises there have been some delays in sending safeguarding information to Ofsted within the required timescales. This shortfall has the potential to delay Ofsted’s oversight of and responses to safeguarding information.

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

Staff are not consistently using the home’s therapeutic model that is detailed in the home’s statement of purpose. Leaders and managers accept that staff require further training to develop their confidence in using this model of care. Despite this shortfall, staff are skilled in supporting children to share their views, wishes and feelings through discussions and planned educative work. Inspection report for children’s home: 1234430 5 Safe recruitment is understood well by leaders and managers. This is supported by ongoing training for all staff. Staff value the reflective team meetings and supervision sessions that take place regularly. These systems help to develop staff practice and their emotional resilience. Inspection report for children’s home: 1234430 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

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to leaders and managers ensuring staff understand and apply the home’s therapeutic model of care. In addition, leaders and managers should have systems in place that enable them to have clear oversight of children’s care, including the process for new managers to register with Ofsted. 4 July 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff help children to prepare for any moves from the home effectively. This includes supporting children to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home’s support and, where children are moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 17, paragraph 3.27)  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified within 24 hours to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children’s home: 1234430 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: 1234430 8

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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

Siân Heffey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1234430 9 regulates and inspects to 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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