Children's home run by Bayleaf Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2781144 1 Registered provider: Bayleaf Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a private provider. It was registered with Ofsted in August 2024. It can provide care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. No children have moved out since the home has been registered.

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Information about this children’s home

The new manager registered with Ofsted in November 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

A responsible individual has been in post since January 2025. Ofsted is in the process of reviewing their suitability.

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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 requires improvement to be 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 is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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good

Date of last inspection: 15 October 2024

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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: 2781144 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/10/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2781144 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home. This was managed with care and warmth. Staff are welcoming and supported the child well. However, managers have not assessed peer group dynamics effectively. This has led to some conflicts between peers that have had a negative impact on children’s well-being. Staff build trusting relationships with children, and there are efforts to encourage positive relationships between children. Children say they like living in the home, and they enjoy a wide range of activities and new experiences.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not always ensure that children’s education, health and care plans are kept under review. This has the potential for children’s evolving educational, health and care needs not being fully explored or understood. Staff demonstrate a commitment to supporting children’s education attendance. As a result, children’s attendance has improved, and they are making progress with their learning. Staff help children to develop an understanding of a wide range of topics through discussions. Arrangements are made for local agencies, such as the police community support officer, to discuss topics such as knife crime.

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improvement to be good

There are inconsistent approaches to supporting children’s health needs. Progress with personal hygiene routines for some children since the last inspection has not been sustained. Managers and staff are not proactive in ensuring that children have access to a dentist. As a result, some children have not attended routine dental checks. Managers do make referrals to specialist services to support children’s mental well-being.

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improvement to be good

Children spend time with people who matter to them. Staff support them to have regular time with family. This helps children to maintain a sense of identity and belonging. In addition, staff are creative in supporting children to understand and explore their identity.

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improvement to be good

General areas of the home are warm and welcoming. However, some children’s bedrooms do not reflect the same standard of care. Bedrooms were in a poor state of repair. Managers and leaders took immediate action to improve children’s bedrooms.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand children’s needs and risks well. Children’s plans and risk assessments do not always include all the steps that staff need to take to keep them safe. For example, when children move into the home, impact risk assessments lack detail and known risks are not clearly evaluated or addressed in the planning Inspection report for children’s home: 2781144 4 documents. This lack of a proactive, well-informed matching process has limited the home’s ability to ensure stable and safe placements from the start. As a result, incidents have increased since the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

Through discussions with staff, children are supported to understand how to keep themselves safe. Suitable online safety measures are in place; staff regularly check children’s devices. This helps to keep them safe when exploring the internet. Children are supported to understand acceptable behaviours, and staff respond well to children’s emotional needs, helping them to identify their feelings and promoting positive approaches to managing situations.

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improvement to be good

Physical interventions are used as a last resort. Staff and children are provided with an opportunity to reflect on incidents and measures used to manage behaviours. However, the recording of incidents does not always detail the therapeutic approaches used to de-escalate incidents. In addition, the manager’s evaluations do not always identify shortfalls or explore children’s concerns. This is a missed opportunity to improve practice in line with the home’s therapeutic model and appropriately assess children’s risks.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers respond appropriately when children make allegations. They consult with relevant professionals to share information and follow the advice given. Allegations are investigated. However, children do not always receive feedback about the outcome. This does not help children to understand what has happened in response to them raising a concern and does not ensure that children always feel listened to.

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good

The home is managed by an experienced and suitably qualified manager who registered with Ofsted in November 2024. She is supported by a new responsible individual who joined in January 2025. Leaders and managers are working well with children’s placing social workers to support children’s stability in the home. While they understand the complexity of children’s needs and current concerns regarding the peer dynamics, they are passionate about reducing any further disruption to children’s lives. There is a multi-agency approach to manage this situation.

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good

While the responsible individual now has comprehensive monitoring systems in place that highlight areas for development, the manager has not taken sufficient action to address all shortfalls identified. In addition, previous requirements have not been met and have been repeated. Children’s plans are reviewed regularly by managers and staff. However, they do not explore new strategies to help children. Management monitoring and oversight are not yet effective. Some statutory documentation is missing from children’s files. The manager developed an action plan to rectify shortfalls raised during the inspection to improve practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2781144 5 The staffing team has changed since the last inspection; some staff left to work in another home in the organisation and new staff have joined. Leaders and managers have worked well to ensure that continuity of care is provided to children by

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good

encouraging staff who have moved on to visit the home regularly to see children. In addition, staff have supported children to understand reasons for leaving to ensure that children experience positive endings.

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good

Staff have access to a range of training; courses include topics that are individualised to the needs of children who live in the home. A matrix used to keep track of training is not effective as information is not kept up to date. This does not provide assurance that the manager has sufficient oversight to understand the development needs of staff who care for children.

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good

Safe recruitment processes and practices are adhered to when recruiting new staff. All necessary checks are undertaken, which reduces the risk of children been cared for by unsuitable individuals. Inspection report for children’s home: 2781144 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

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

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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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 (b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that children’s healthcare appointments and education and health care reviews along with meeting minutes are suitably escalated. 1 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; 1 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2781144 7 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s risks are suitably assessed when children move in. Children’s plans and risk assessments provide staff with clear guidance around the steps they need to take to safeguard children from harm, including risks relating to group dynamics, and that staff take action in response to children’s identified risks. In addition, the registered person must ensure that children’s bedrooms and home environment are maintained and safe for children.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is repeated from the last inspection.

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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;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— 27 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2781144 8 research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met;

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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)(a)(f)(g)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they use monitoring and review systems, including evaluations after incidents, to reflect on and improve practice.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, the therapeutic approach should be delivered as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is repeated from the last inspection.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvements in the quality of care provided. They should help each child to understand how their views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and provide outcomes to children. This specifically relates to children receiving outcomes to incidents of allegations. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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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: 2781144 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bayleaf Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 7 Bankside, The Watermark, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE11 9SY

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Inspectors

Joanne Humphreys, Social Care Inspector Laura Norcop, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2781144 10 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 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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