Children's Home run by Keys Education Ltd in Herefordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC062074 1 SC062074 Registered provider: Keys Education Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider. The home provides care for up to four children with complex needs.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since December 2017.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 24 September 2024

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC062074 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/09/2024 Full Good 31/01/2024 Full Good 27/02/2023 Full Good 15/06/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC062074 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is a good home, which is welcoming and provides a relaxed atmosphere for children. Two children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. One child spoke about their experiences of living at the home and another child informally engaged with the inspector and was observed. One child said that they enjoyed living at the home and felt well supported and safe.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager ensures that children are provided with individualised care. Staff ensure that children’s support plans are clearly followed and up to date. As a result, staff provide good, consistent care to children, which is reflected in the significant time they have both lived in the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build positive and trusting relationships with children, who say that this is important to them. Positive interactions were seen throughout the home, with fun activities and laughter in abundance.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote education well. The registered manager and staff have worked with external professionals to support children in identifying education which meets their needs. The manager has advocated strongly for the children with partner agencies when she has felt that support has not been suitable. This has meant that one child has recently completed all their GCSE examinations, which is a significant achievement.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff conduct individual and regular direct work sessions with children. This supports their needs and learning. However, staff are not consistent in the way that these are recorded and do not always evaluate the impact of the sessions on children or follow up on actions to ensure that the support remains appropriate.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home and two children have moved out. One child experienced a well-planned and successful transition from the home, in line with their wishes and feelings. The move into the home for another child was appropriately assessed based on the information available to the registered manager at the time. However, due to limited information-sharing from the placing authority, staff were not fully equipped to meet the child’s needs. As a result, the child left the home at short notice, which negatively affected their experience and progress. The manager did not provide sufficient challenge to the placing authority to address these shortfalls.

p.3

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

The registered manager regularly updates children’s individualised support plans. Staff are confident in supporting children in line with their care plans. These systems are further enhanced by the provider’s therapeutic team, who provide support for both staff and children. This supports children to receive well-planned, consistent and safe care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC062074 4 When children go missing from the home, staff follow agreed protocols to ensure their safe return. Safeguarding agencies are informed promptly, and children are offered a return home interview to explore any learning and inform future care planning. This helps to ensure that children continue to receive safe and responsive care.

p.3

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

Conflict between children has been a challenge within the home. The manager and therapeutic team have sourced education and resources for staff to work through with children to help them to better understand healthy relationships and to overcome issues. However, improvement is needed in staff recording and planning these education sessions to ensure that they remain relevant and fit children’s needs.

p.4

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

One child has displayed some complex behaviour that has resulted in property damage. This has been managed by a resilient and skilled staff team who have used their experience to support children effectively. As a result, children have continued to feel supported and safe during challenging times.

p.4

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

Since the last inspection, physical interventions have been used to keep one child safe. These measures were deemed appropriate and proportionate. However, staff records of these incidents lack sufficient detail about the support provided to the child prior to the use of physical intervention. On several occasions, the police were called to the home to assist staff in managing the child’s high-risk behaviour and ensuring their safety. While the manager reviewed these incidents, there are shortfalls in identifying weaknesses in staff practice, the involvement of the police, and the impact of these measures on the child. These gaps affect the quality of support provided to the child and their overall experience.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the children’s needs and promotes a supportive and loving culture. She is supported well by a deputy manager, who shares the same caring ethos and aspirations for children. This creates a loving and supportive environment for children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths and areas of development within the home. She has a clear action plan of how to address these to ensure children receive good, consistent and safe care.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by the management team. They receive regular, reflective supervision to further enhance their practice and learning. They are suitably trained and are further supported by the therapy team, which provides them with the skills to ensure that children receive consistent care which has a positive impact on children’s lives. Staff have commented that they feel that they are making a difference to children’s lives.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff maintain positive relationships with professionals and children’s family members. This collaborative approach helps to ensure that children receive the right care and support. Professionals have praised the quality of Inspection report for children’s home: SC062074 5 communication from the manager and staff, highlighting how this has contributed to children achieving positive outcomes.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has monitoring systems in place which provide some oversight of the care and support that children are receiving. However, there is a need for some improvement. There have been occasions when she has failed to identify shortfalls and ensure that effective actions were undertaken to support staff and children. Furthermore, monitoring systems do not consider children’s wishes and feelings when decisions are made about their care planning. Inspection report for children’s home: SC062074 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

p.6

Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(c))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must challenge the local authority when they do not share essential information about children to ensure that staff can safely meet children’s needs. 30 July 2025

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

p.6

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they have effective oversight of children’s care and safeguarding incidents 30 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC062074 7 to enable them to continue to develop the care that children receive.

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, records of direct work with children should be clear to help children to understand the benefit of the work completed and clarity on the next steps to ensure they make progress. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see that their views have been listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

p.7

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: SC062074 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

p.8

Inspector

Hayley Booth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC062074 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9