Children's home run by Sportfit Support Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2803078 1 Registered provider: Sportfit Support Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home was registered in October 2024. The home provides care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of inspection, no children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since March 2025.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2803078 2

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improvement to be good

Since the home registered, one child has lived in the home. However, they moved on from the home after a short while. This child had some positive relationships with staff, which supported them to explore their early life experiences and make initial steps towards reintegration in education. However, relationships with staff were compromised due to some staff conflict, which resulted in inconsistent approaches to the child’s care and support. This negatively impacted on the child’s emotional well-being and contributed to their unplanned exit from the home.

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improvement to be good

Before the child moved into the home, leaders had not considered all the available information to assess whether they could meet the child’s needs. However, once the child moved in, risk management and support plans were implemented to ensure that staff had a clear understanding of how best to support the child. Despite these efforts, staff were not aligned in how they cared for the child. This resulted in the child feeling unhappy in the care of certain staff.

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improvement to be good

During their time in the home, the child was supported to access healthcare services appropriately. Staff advocated strongly on the child’s behalf to secure specialist mental health support. The child also benefited from intensive support from the in-house therapist, who played a significant role in supporting the child’s exit from the home.

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improvement to be good

The staff team left the home at the same time as the child. Since this time, a new staff team has been appointed. Two new children are due to move into the home. The current staff team are working closely with these children and their placing local authority to support a smooth move into the home. This work has been ongoing for many weeks and is being carried out at a pace that meets the children’s needs. The work is creative, flexible and planned with the children’s parent and professional network. Within this, the children are offered various activities appropriate to their wants and needs.

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improvement to be good

The early attempts of the new staff team to develop effective relationships with the children have been positive. This is reflected in the children’s engagement and feedback from professionals. However, the strength and impact of staff relationships with these children is yet to be assessed. Furthermore, leaders have not ensured that staff have a clear understanding of the children’s needs. This is because relevant records and information have not been fully obtained from the local authority. Information that has been captured contains conflicting information and does not provide staff with the necessary insight they need to care for the children in a way that meets their needs.

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improvement to be good

Internally, the home is maintained to a high standard. There is ample space for children to share communal spaces and have privacy in a warm, welcoming environment. However, alarms on the front and rear doors, which sound in the shared spaces, detract from this. In addition, there are two CCTV cameras at either side of the front door. The Inspection report for children’s home: 2803078 3 need for this monitoring equipment is not rationalised or considered and reviewed in children’s risk assessments.

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improvement to be good

The child who has lived in this home did not feel consistently safe.

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improvement to be good

The quality of children’s risk management plans is inconsistent. Some offer a comprehensive review of a child’s risk profile, but analysis of the risk does not match what is described. Others contain conflicting or partial information. This limits the effectiveness of strategies aimed at mitigating risk. Consequently, staff are not clear about how they are expected to keep children safe.

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improvement to be good

Physical interventions are not used in this home. The recording of behavioural incidents is variable. This is because opportunities to talk with the child and staff are not taken, and there is limited evidence of positive behaviour being promoted. This does not give children the opportunity to their views about what happened, is a missed opportunity to understand staff practice and limits how learning is identified and addressed following incidents.

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improvement to be good

The responses from leaders are effective in relation to allegations about staff. They liaise with appropriate safeguarding partners and swiftly address any concerns. However, not all staff in the home are aware of their statutory requirements to keep children safe or who they could call if they needed support. This compromises a positive safeguarding culture.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment processes are secure. However, the quality of staff inductions varies. This is because some new staff have worked with children without having a basic introduction to the home.

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improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good.

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improvement to be good

The home was registered on 8 October 2024. Since it opened, a complete staff team has left employment, and another team has been recruited.

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improvement to be good

The home has been without a registered manager since March 2025. While the provider is actively recruiting, there is currently no suitably qualified person in charge of the day- to-day running of the home. The daily operation of the home is overseen by a deputy manager, who has not been provided with effective support or oversight. Despite the instability in the management of the home, two new children have been accepted to move into the home imminently. Work has already begun to help prepare the children for the move, and relationships with staff are already forming.

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improvement to be good

The responsible individual has not had the capacity to supervise the management of the home effectively. This is due to them being located a significant distance away from the Inspection report for children’s home: 2803078 4 home and them maintaining several other executive roles in the wider company. Leaders are aware of the impact this has had and have appointed a new responsible individual, who is due to start imminently. However, there is a lack of identified learning from the experiences of the first child who lived in the home and that of the original staff team.

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improvement to be good

As a result of the instability in the leadership and management of the home, oversight of practice and the quality of care is compromised. This is because the responsible individual relies on verbal feedback from the deputy manager to assess this. In turn, the responsible individual reports to the senior management team. Consequently, leaders were not aware of the various shortfalls identified, and accordingly, they do not fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home.

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improvement to be good

The new staff are positive about their roles and are keen for the new children to move into the home. They speak positively about how present and approachable senior managers are, but they express concern about the direction of the home and worry about how significant incidents might be managed when children move in.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not afforded the opportunity to regularly appraise their practice. There has been one team meeting since February 2025. The quality of this meeting was poor, and opportunities were not taken to affirm the home’s ethos and explore safeguarding matters. There are also significant gaps in staff supervision, with some newer members of staff having had no supervision at all. Leaders were unaware of this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2803078 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 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;

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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

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

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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there are suitable management arrangements and effective monitoring systems in place. 19 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 19 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2803078 6 provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(iv)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that managers have the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children. 19 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(b)) 19 September 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 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; 19 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2803078 7 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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive well-planned care from the home;

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Requirement Due date

and have a positive experience of admission and transition processes.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff have the required skills and training to meet the needs of children before they move into the home. 19 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(d)) 19 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2803078 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the responsible individual has the capacity to supervise the management of each children’s home that they are responsible for. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 60, paragraph 12.4)

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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: 2803078 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sportfit Support Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 63a Millbrook Road East, Southampton SO15 1HN

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Inspector

Becky Paradise, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2803078 10 regulates 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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