Children's Home run by Cheshire East Council in Cheshire East

Inspection report for children’s home: 2788637 1 Registered provider: Cheshire East Council 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 May 2024 and is run by a local authority. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is managed by a suitably qualified registered manager.

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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: 19 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: 2788637 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/11/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2788637 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All three children were spoken to as part of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s anxieties around living away from family. They engage with children and build relationships with them at their pace. One child has made progress in all areas of their life due to the strong relationships they have with staff. Another child, who struggles to communicate with professionals, has started to speak with staff. This is progress from their starting point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are consistent in offering the children activities that are of interest to them to promote their engagement. When children struggle to access the community, staff arrange for the child’s friends to visit them at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children living in the home have access to education. Staff make effective use of incentives and consequences to encourage children’s attendance. Staff have supported one child in building positive relationships with school staff. They have attended school with the child when necessary and gone for walks with the child and school staff. This has helped the child to settle into their new school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Staff encourage children to attend health appointments. Information about children’s health and well-being is clearly recorded in their care plans. This allows staff to closely monitor and review their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children’s relationships with their family. Staff encourage children to spend time with their family, both in the community and the family home. Staff make sure to keep children's families informed about their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s cultural heritage. For example, they provide opportunities for children to celebrate particular holidays. Staff speak with children’s families to learn about their culture and how to incorporate it into the child’s care.

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

Safeguarding incidents in the home are rare. Staff understand children’s vulnerabilities and risks and their responsibilities to safeguard them.

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

Staff recognise the risks associated with children accessing the internet. They take action to address new and emerging concerns regarding children’s online activity. The manager works with external professionals to ensure that risks are recognised and understood by the staff team. Staff support children to access the internet and use devices safely through close monitoring. This helps to reduce the risks so that children can continue to engage in activities they enjoy, such as online gaming. Inspection report for children’s home: 2788637 4 There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home. Children’s plans include clear guidance for staff to follow should incidents occur. However, the plans do not reflect all known risks for children or the strategies to use to manage them. Children’s plans are not personalised according to their individual needs. This does not support staff in providing individualised care to children.

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

Following behaviours of concern for children, staff do not always spend time with them to explore their behaviour. For example, staff sometimes fail to speak with children about inappropriate content they find when carrying out mobile phone checks. This does not help children to understand and learn from their behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is caring in her approach and has a good understanding of the children’s needs. The manager has good oversight of the children’s day-to-day care. She regularly reviews children’s records. This allows her to offer staff advice and support to improve their practice and recording and reporting.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff team are working together to improve the systems and processes in place to support their practice. Staff say that the manager is supportive and receptive to feedback. This has meant processes such as daily handovers have improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are held regularly. They are used as an opportunity for staff to reflect on what is working well and how they can improve. Staff say they feel confident in voicing their ideas and challenging decisions when needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have received training relevant to the children’s needs. However, they do not have the skills to meet all the children’s emotional needs. The manager is aware and is contacting external professionals to provide staff and children with intervention. Inspection report for children’s home: 2788637 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(ix)) 18 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2788637 6 Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff help children understand their behaviours. The registered person must ensure that staff are suitably trained and have the skills to support children who have experienced significant trauma.

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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

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children’s plans include all known risks, and the strategies identified to manage these risks. 18 July 2025

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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: 2788637 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cheshire East Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Westfields, Middlewich Road, Sandbach CW11 1HZ

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Inspector

Hayley Smith, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2788637 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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Inspector

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