Children's Home run by Progressive Care Limited in Sheffield

Inspection report for children’s home: 2751408 1 Registered provider: Progressive 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 managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager at the home since 21 April 2025. A new manager has been appointed, although she is yet to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded. The care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2751408 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/08/2024 Full Good 13/02/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2751408 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The leadership and management arrangements of the home are ineffective, leading to serious and widespread failures in how children are helped and protected. This has significantly impacted on children’s progress and experiences. One child has remained in the home since the previous inspection and this stability has afforded the child some progress. However, risks have not reduced. During the inspection, the child was seen happily cooking alongside staff, but records indicated the child often expresses boredom and unhappiness.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child has moved into the home since the last inspection. Staff were not provided with strategies on how to manage the dynamics between the new child and the child already living at the home. Furthermore, no consideration was given as to whether staff needed further training and development to help them meet the child’s needs. Despite these shortfalls, the child has settled into the home well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child goes to school and the other child has a bespoke education plan. This is because of extensive liaison between the local authority, education professionals and staff. However, the child does not usually attend their education sessions. There is limited evidence how staff support the child to overcome the barriers to learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff have a limited understanding of how children’s specific health needs impact their behaviour. Staff do not support children to learn to manage their own health needs and improve their quality of life. When there have been barriers to children accessing healthcare, there is limited considerations to how staff can help the child overcome these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children find it difficult to understand the expectations of staff because incentives and goals often change. This makes them ineffective, and one child voiced their frustrations to staff.

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

Written documentation relating to children’s risks contain contrasting information and do not give clear guidance for staff to follow. Leaders and staff do not have a good understanding of what the current vulnerabilities are for each child, despite this being raised as a concern at the last inspection. For example, one child has used a cigarette lighter and aerosol again and there is still no risk assessment about fire starting. Furthermore, staff continue to lack curiosity during conversations with children. When children begin to share their feelings and experiences, staff do not use these opportunities to help the children to recognise, and reduce the risks that they are taking.

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

Several incidents where a child has gone missing have not been managed in line with the child’s agreed missing protocol. During one incident where a child was missing from Inspection report for children’s home: 2751408 4 the home, the child’s family shared information with staff that the child was in another part of the country. This information was not responded to appropriately, leaving the child at risk for several hours.

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

Room searches do not take place despite incidents with fire, substance misuse and children going missing from the home. There are no records of environmental searches taking place or about when children’s bedding is changed. This is despite one child’s social worker raising concerns around their bedroom cleanliness and the lack of staff support to the child with this.

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

On one day, on two separate occasions, a member of staff left the child alone in the home, unsupervised. The manager addressed this when she became aware.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the last inspection, the newly registered manager left the home unexpectedly. The newly appointed manager’s induction did not take into consideration her lack of experience managing a children’s home. The manager has not received supervision since she was appointed to the role in April 2025. This lack of clear direction and senior leadership support has contributed to ineffective oversight of the running of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff inductions and probations are ineffective. They do not prepare staff to work in a children’s home. One member of staff, with no prior experience working in a children’s home, did not receive a probation review for two months. In this time, a safeguarding incident took place. The probation review, which took place after the incident, did not reflect or address the safeguarding concern. There are further examples of probation meetings not addressing concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The information management system is chaotic, which contributes to the oversight of the running of the home being ineffective. Children’s records do not contain correct information and some important children’s documents are missing. The manager struggled to locate reports and additional information requested during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager and staff within the home continue to have strong links with the placing local authority for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2751408 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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

ensure staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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. 17 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2751408 6 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h)) *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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare; and

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(b)) 17 August 2025

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; 10 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2751408 7 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

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child's respect and trust;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(b)) The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

that staff help each child to— 10 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2751408 8 achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child's health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child's health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child's age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child's health and well-being needs; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child's well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2751408 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Progressive Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 51 Attercliffe Common, Sheffield S9 2AE

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Inspectors

Joanna Beal, Social Care Inspector Sam Saxby-Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2751408 10 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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