Children's Home run by Fairfields House Support Services Limited in Tameside

Inspection report for children’s home: 2689909 1 Registered provider: Fairfields House Support Services 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 registered with Ofsted in July 2024 and is privately owned. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager in post who has been registered with Ofsted since June 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this visit, no children were living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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requires improvement to be 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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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 12 November 2024

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection :

This home was judged inadequate at the full inspection on 12 and 13 November 2024. Following this inspection, Ofsted issued two compliance notices under section 22A of the Care Standards Act 2000. These related to regulation 12, the protection of children standard and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard. Ofsted also issued a notice restricting accommodation at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2689909 2 Since the last full inspection, four monitoring visits have been undertaken to review the actions taken by the provider to meet the compliance notices and restriction notice. The restriction notice remained in effect until 22 April 2025. Inspection report for children’s home: 2689909 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/11/2024 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2689909 4

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improvement to be good

Previous shortfalls in the safeguarding practice and leadership and management of the home have hindered the overall progress and outcomes for the child previously living in the home.

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improvement to be good

The child who has moved on from the home received support from staff to introduce them to their new home, which included visits, regular discussions with staff and activities that the child helped to choose. This enabled the child to move into their new home with some familiarity.

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improvement to be good

The child who previously lived in the home was not provided with appropriate support from staff in respect of their mental health needs. This led to delays in staff identifying what support the child needed. The quality of key-worker sessions varied and there has been a missed opportunity to have meaningful discussions with the child, which may have led to more support being provided.

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improvement to be good

Staff promoted activities with the child such as playing football with staff, attending football matches and promoting the child’s skills and talents by ensuring they attend weekly clubs. Staff have promoted family time for the child in line with the local authority plans, ensuring that the child remained connected to those who mean the most to them.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, significant alterations to the home environment have taken place. This has been a combined effort by all staff, who have invested fully into the redecoration and furnishing of the home, which is now a warm, welcoming and child- friendly environment for children to enjoy, relax and play.

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improvement to be good

The child’s risks haven’t always been fully understood by staff and there have been inconsistent responses to safeguarding concerns and serious incidents. The child’s records did not include all known information about the child’s risks and needs. The child’s records did not detail that actions from the child’s formal reviews have been carried out and that these have been considered when making decisions around the child’s future. In addition, action has not been taken to obtain all relevant local authority documents for the child. This means that staff did not provide care to the child in line with formal plans.

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improvement to be good

Since the new manager has been in post, there has been a full review of policies, documentation and recording systems, which now contain clear guidance for staff to follow in the event of a serious incident taking place. Staff training has been reviewed Inspection report for children’s home: 2689909 5 and prioritised and the staff that were spoken to say that they feel confident to manage difficult situations should they arise in the future.

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improvement to be good

Prior to the child moving on from the home, debriefs with the child and staff following serious incidents varied in frequency and quality. Room search documents did not contain management evaluation of the reasons why the room search was taking place, nor did it include a debrief with the child or contain the child’s wishes and feelings.

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improvement to be good

The manager has reviewed the local risks in the area. Staff have a good understanding of local risks and what themes and patterns are emerging in the area to enable them to make clear decisions about children coming to live at the home.

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improvement to be good

The home is a safe environment for children to live in and there are frequent health and safety checks taking place of the home environment. Two minor alterations to children’s bedroom furniture were required at the time of the inspection. These were completed without delay.

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improvement to be good

The visitor book does not always state the time of when a visitor left the home. This means that there is not an accurate record kept of visitors to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, there has been a change to the management and staffing arrangements in the home. A new manager and staff team have been recruited. The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. Since starting in post, she has worked hard to review and reflect on the previous shortfalls in the home and identify areas for development. The manager has a clear vision for service improvement and the development of the staff team. She has worked effectively alongside leaders and managers to implement effective monitoring and recording systems. These enable the staff team to deliver effective care with a strong emphasis on children’s participation and reflective practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recruitment of new staff to the home is safe. The manager is vigilant in undertaking checks of any new staff working in the home. This means that the staff recruited to work at the home have been suitably vetted and all relevant checks have been carried out.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are suitably trained and qualified and have a shared commitment to caring for and supporting children. Staff have a clear knowledge and understanding of safeguarding, what to do if a serious incident occurs, as well as whistle blowing and the complaints procedure. One member of staff said there has been a ‘full reset’, which has led to a transparent, open culture within the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff who are new to the home are supported by more experienced staff. They are encouraged to develop the required skills and competencies through a robust induction process, supervision and training. Experienced staff have clear roles to support and mentor new staff through their induction process. Inspection report for children’s home: 2689909 6 Regular supervision sessions are taking place with the staff team. The recordings of these sessions are detailed and provide staff with the opportunity to talk about practice- related matters as well as promoting staff well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly. These are well attended and provide the staff with the opportunity to reflect on training, consider new ways of working, share ideas and make suggestions. Consequently, staff feel valued and heard, which contributes to positive staff morale and teamwork. Inspection report for children’s home: 2689909 7

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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

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))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all local authority plans are obtained for the child and that concerns are escalated if these are not received in a timely manner. 29 August 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

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 29 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2689909 8 are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that there is suitable management oversight and evaluation of room searches to include a full description of the reasons why the search was carried out, a full record of the child’s wishes and feelings and/or a debrief with the child and any preventative measures taken following the search.

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that a full and accurate record of visitors to the home is kept. 29 August 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: 2689909 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Fairfields House Support Services Limited

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Inspector

Michelle Greenhalgh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2689909 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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