Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2576409 1 Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Ltd

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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 privately owned children’s home is registered to provide care for up to six children with complex social and emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 14 February 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

Five children were present at the time of the inspection. Three children present were happy to take part in 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: 17 December 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2576409 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/12/2024 Full Outstanding 21/02/2024 Full Outstanding 07/03/2023 Full Outstanding 22/02/2022 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2576409 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, there were five children living in the home. Two children have been living in the home for three years and another child has lived in the home for over a year. The other two children moved in prior to the last inspection in December 2024. One child has recently moved out of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child, who lived at the home for over three years, has moved to live independently. Staff ensured the child had a positive ending to their time at the home, taking them on holiday and having a goodbye meal. Staff supported them on the day of the move and have remained in contact to ensure the child maintains a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s physical health needs are met. Children are registered with local health services and attend appointments when needed. In addition, staff have good understanding of children’s additional health needs and they advocate for children to receive the appropriate level of support. The home has an appointed psychologist who provides regular one-to-one and group support for children around targeted subjects. Sessions remain available to children whether they choose to attend or not. This approach helps children’s emotional health improve over time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to make progress in education. Two children have excellent attendance and another child has completed an apprenticeship with a local professional football team and will be soon sitting their GCSE exams. Another child is due to start a college course in photography. Staff work closely with school staff. For one child, they have aligned approaches used in the home and at school, which has helped the child to settle and make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure children have positive time with their families. They understand the importance of children maintaining their identity and having positive experiences with loved ones. This also helps children maintain support networks that they will need when the time comes to leave the home. However, staff recognise when family time is having a negative impact on children and work alongside professionals and family members to develop plans to ensure visits remain a positive experience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to make a positive contribution to the community. Two children have recently taken part in charitable events to raise money for their selected charities. Children are also supported to develop social skills through attending activities and social events. Staff capture these moments with photos and display them around the home. Children also have storybooks which capture their journey throughout their time living in the home. This approach ensures that children are provided with a strong sense of belonging. Inspection report for children’s home: 2576409 4 The environment has not been well maintained, with some areas being damaged and in need of decoration. Although leaders and managers have identified these shortfalls, there have been delays to maintenance work being completed. This has compromised children having access to a warm and homely environment and children said the damage

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

caused to the home had impacted on their day-to-day experiences.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the risks to children and behaviours that they present. They work with the appointed psychologist to consider children’s individual circumstances and past experiences and use this understanding when developing their plans. This ensures appropriate protocols are in place which are individual to children and helps staff know how to respond effectively to keep children safe.

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

There have been four allegations made by children since the last inspection. On each occasion, leaders and managers have responded effectively. They listen to children and make swift decisions to ensure their immediate safety. Managers share information and work closely with safeguarding professionals. Where allegations require further investigation, these are completed, and appropriate action is taken to safeguard children.

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

Staff use a variety of de-escalation strategies to help children manage their emotions. However, on several occasions it has been necessary for staff to use physical interventions to keep children and others safe. The use of restraint is proportionate, and it is only used as a last resort. Additionally, leaders and managers ensure that staff and children are spoken to afterwards. This provides staff with an opportunity to reflect, learn and develop their practice.

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

Incidents between children are rare. However, on one occasion when an incident did occur, staff managed it well. Staff remained present throughout and used strategies to redirect children’s attention and prevent further escalation. Children were given the opportunity to speak about and reflect on the incident afterwards and staff provided guidance around positive peer relationships.

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

Leaders and managers take effective action to assess and manage risks for children. When there has been evidence of risks about fire-setting, managers have taken appropriate action to reduce these. The child was educated around the dangers of fire by the local fire safety officer and a suitable risk assessment was implemented to ensure clear guidance for staff.

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

Recruitment checks are not always appropriate. Appropriate checks have not been completed in relation to a temporary member of staff working in the home. Their reason for leaving previous roles working with children were not verified and leaders and managers failed to identify or follow up on this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2576409 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is child focused and committed to making sure children have positive experiences. She has remained working on shift while being responsible for the day-to- day running of the home to ensure consistency and stability for children during a challenging period. This has been possible due to the positive support she receives from senior leaders. In addition, she has good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas of development and is clear about what is needed to ensure the quality of care is maintained or improved for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide a supportive environment for staff, through daily support, advice and guidance. Effective supervision and debriefs encourage staff to use reflective approaches to assess how they can improve their practice. Furthermore, managers ensure specific training is in place for staff to enhance their knowledge, understanding and skills to meet children’s individual needs. This includes delivering research-based learning developed by the appointed psychologist.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been significant challenges regarding staff turnover since the last inspection. This has led to greater dependency on temporary staff from agencies and other homes in the company. However, there has been little impact on children’s experiences and progress because a core group of staff who have remained working in the home have ensured children continue to receive effective, nurturing care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about working in the home. They say they benefit from the support the manager provides, that she is caring about their well-being and values the care and support they provide to children. Additionally, staff say senior managers are regularly present in the home and are approachable if advice or guidance is needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager demonstrates effective partnership working. Feedback gathered during the inspection was very positive. A professional for one child said: ‘I think they are really committed to children and the resilience they show towards my child is an absolute credit to the company. In my 10 years of working in social care I think they must be one of the best placements I have ever worked with.’ Another professional said: ‘My child does not trust easily so the relationships they have indicates the trust [child] has in them, which is credit to the team.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2576409 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that any maintenance tasks are completed without delay and that children’s bedrooms are well maintained and comfortable. 23 July 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that required checks relating to previous roles working with children or vulnerable adults are completed to minimise any potential risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2576409 7 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: 2576409 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 Rayns Way, Syston, Leicester LE7 1PF

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Inspector

Carl Wilton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2576409 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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