Children's Home run by Nova1care Limited in St Helens

Inspection report for children’s home: 2804329 1 Registered provider: Nova1care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered with Ofsted in November 2024 and is privately owned. It provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2024.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2804329 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have lived in the home since its registration. The manager carefully considers children’s needs and views before they move in. She ensures that she gathers information from various professionals. The child currently living in the home had the opportunity to visit before moving in. This helped ease any worries or anxieties they had.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is modern and warmly decorated. There are photos of the child participating in activities with staff. Although the child’s bedroom is personalised, it is not always tidy. Immediate action was taken to address this during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has established relationships with staff who are child centred in their practice. The child spoke positively about staff. The child is supported to develop confidence and self-esteem through regular praise from staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have worked hard to promote full-time education, and the child is making progress from their starting point. All staff were present on the child’s first day in school to wish them well. The child is struggling to settle in a classroom setting, so the manager is working closely with the headteacher of the virtual school to ensure that the right support is in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s health needs are met. Regular meaningful key-work sessions take place to help the child understand the importance of attending appointments. Staff have helped the child understand good sleep hygiene, and the child is now sleeping through the night.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child participates in a range of activities in the community, and photos of these experiences are held in their life-story book. The child’s wishes and feelings are sought daily, and an independent advocate has been sourced to strengthen the representation of the child’s views.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of family time and promoting friendships. Staff encourage the child to spend time with family members and invite friends to visit the home.

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

Safeguarding practices in the home are good. Staff understand the child’s risks and vulnerabilities. Incidents are well managed.

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

Staff rarely use restraint, only resorting to it when necessary. Competent staff use effective de-escalation techniques in a therapeutic way, which contributes to the low level of interventions. The manager has good oversight of all incidents, and the child’s Inspection report for children’s home: 2804329 3 views and feelings are sought following incidents. Where the manager identifies learning from incidents, this is implemented with lessons learned and reflective sessions.

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

Staff understand the child’s risks and know them well. The child’s individual records are regularly reviewed. However, some documents are too long and do not always contain accurate and up-to-date information. This has the potential to cause confusion for staff.

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

Despite the manager providing information during team meetings, not all staff understand the roles and responsibilities of safeguarding professionals, including the local authority designated officer. A recommendation has been made regarding this.

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

There have been some incidents where the child has gone missing from the home. The staff have responded quickly and appropriately. Staff work with the child’s friends and family to locate them. When they return, the staff consult professionals about how to support the child and reduce the risks they face.

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

When the child struggles with their emotional well-being, staff act on advice from external agencies. The child works with the staff to discuss their behaviours and develop effective strategies to help them manage their emotions.

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

Safer recruitment procedures are in place, and checks are carried out on all staff before they start working in the home. These checks ensure that only suitable adults are employed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and knowledgeable and is ambitious for the home and its development. The manager feels supported by the responsible individual. Staff are complimentary about the support they receive. One member of staff said, ‘Management offer praise, encouragement and constructive feedback when needed.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals involved in the home is positive. One stated:

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

‘This is the best residential placement with which I have worked. This is the most stable placement [name of child] has had. They have made progress in their ability to trust adults and clearly benefited from the excellent trauma-informed care that is on offer here.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes good use of internal and external monitoring systems. However, on one occasion, they have not made the regulator aware of a serious incident involving the child. Furthermore, notifications are not always submitted in a timely manner, which means that the regulator does not have full oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive supervision, which is an opportunity to identify development needs and address any concerns in practice. Regular team meetings take place, and workshops have been delivered on topics including alcohol awareness and therapeutic parenting. This provides continuous learning for staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2804329 4 Staff have the necessary skills to support the child’s complex needs. They receive a wide range of training specific to the child’s needs. When new concerns emerge for children, the manager quickly sources additional support and resources from external partners to ensure that staff have the relevant skills to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are sufficient staff in post, and the manager is a visible presence in the home. However, the manager has not ensured that the staff’s actual working hours are always included on the rota, which means there is no clear record of which staff work with the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2804329 5

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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 registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered person ensuring that all the child’s records are up to date, dated and contain all accurate information. 4 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that all staff’s actual hours worked are recorded clearly on the rota. 4 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; 4 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2804329 6 an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered manager ensuring that all serious incidents are reported without delay.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all staff fully understand the correct reporting procedures in the event of an allegation. This includes understanding the role of the local authority designated officer. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.15)

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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: 2804329 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Newlands, 1a Huyton Hey Road, Liverpool L36 5SE

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Inspectors

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Vicky Wainwright, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2804329 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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