Children's Home run by Within Reach Services Limited in Gloucestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2684355 1 Registered provider: Within Reach Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider and offers care for up to two children.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is not yet registered with Ofsted but has submitted his application.

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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: 13 November 2024

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2684355 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/11/2024 Full Good 12/09/2023 Full Outstanding 31/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2684355 3

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improvement to be good

Both children living at the home were seen and spoken to during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Children have made good progress in some areas. However, at times, insufficient help and protection have negatively impacted their experiences.

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improvement to be good

Staff support and encourage children to attend school and work with external professionals to remove barriers to their education. As a result, one child is now regularly attending educational sessions after previously not accessing education consistently. Another child recently sat their GCSEs.

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improvement to be good

Staff celebrate children’s achievements and use positive incentives rather than consequences to help and encourage children to make more positive choices. For example, one child recently went on a trip to a theme park in recognition of the progress they have made in developing their independence skills. Staff also encourage children to participate in activities they enjoy, such as horse riding.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers provide children with support to visit and maintain relationships with family and other people who are important to them. However, managers have not taken enough action to ensure that appropriate boundaries are in place for these visits and that time with family and friends remains safe and positive for children.

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improvement to be good

Children’s bedrooms are highly personalised based on their individual interests. Some areas of the home need refreshing or minor repairs, although these issues do not significantly detract from the homely environment.

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improvement to be good

The home specialises in providing care for children with complex social and emotional needs. As a result, when incidents take place, they are usually significant.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers work with external professionals to share information and review the support in place for children. Managers take action to address serious safeguarding concerns, and appropriate processes are followed as required.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been 77 incidents involving the use of restraint. Restraint is generally used in appropriate circumstances and to prevent children from seriously harming themselves or others. However, incident reports lack quality and do not always provide a clear narrative of events. Some restraint records contain conflicting information or indicate additional holds were used with children that were not highlighted in the report. Inspection report for children’s home: 2684355 4 Managers provide oversight when incidents take place or restraint is used. However, managers have failed to identify conflicting or incorrect information in incident reports, and they have not always clearly identified appropriate follow-up actions.

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improvement to be good

There have been several instances where staff members or other professionals, such as paramedics, have called the police for assistance. As a result, one child has been arrested multiple times and has now been given a youth justice order.

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improvement to be good

There has been one significant incident involving the two children who live at the home, during which staff called the police and one child was arrested. Leaders and managers appropriately review situations involving the police, and they identified significant concerns with staff practice during this incident. An investigation report was completed, and learning was identified from this. However, none of the identified actions had progressed at the time of the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers say they talk to children about expectations for behaviour and how to stay safe. However, managers cannot review the effectiveness of the children’s support due to the lack of detailed records.

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improvement to be good

One child has unrestricted access to a mobile phone, which can affect their emotional well-being. The child’s support plan identifies several actions staff should take to reduce the risks, including the child handing their mobile phone in at night and staff checking this with them. These actions have not been implemented. Managers have not reviewed the effectiveness of these measures, nor have they challenged external professionals when there are disagreements about strategies for supporting children with their mobile phone use.

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

The manager has been in post since March 2025 and has applied to register with Ofsted. The manager is motivated to provide children with good-quality care and a positive experience of living at the home. He has a thorough understanding of the children’s overall needs and has positive relationships with them both.

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

Managers use monitoring systems to track children’s progress and identify significant patterns and trends. However, management oversight following incidents has not been consistent. As a result, managers have missed opportunities to identify learning and address issues relating to staff practice and well-being.

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

Feedback from staff is mixed. Some staff report feeling well supported by managers. They enjoy working at the home and take pride in the progress made by children. Other staff feel they have not had enough support from leaders and managers when significant incidents have occurred, and this has affected their relationships with children.

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

Staff do not always recognise how children’s experiences affect their behaviour. Managers have not done enough to address this. Staff are offered an opportunity to Inspection report for children’s home: 2684355 5 speak with managers following incidents; however, not all staff accept these discussions. When post-incident discussions raise concerns regarding staff practice or well-being, managers have not always taken prompt action to address these issues.

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

Managers use team meetings to reinforce expectations and to share updates and information. Supervision takes place consistently, and staff have access to appropriate training that is specific to the needs of the children at the home.

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

Leaders and managers have identified some areas for development in the staff team and have taken action to begin to address them. For example, rotas have been adjusted to ensure that managers are present during the evenings and weekends to support staff in building their confidence and to model good practice for them.

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

Leaders and managers have also recently agreed that out-of-hours management support for staff will be provided solely by managers from this home rather than by managers across the organisation. Managers hope this will boost staff’s confidence and offer children an increased level of consistency in their responses.

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

At the time of the inspection, these measures had not been fully embedded. Therefore, their effectiveness could not be assessed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2684355 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

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

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

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ix)(x)(xi)) 18 October 2025

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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

promotes their welfare. 18 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2684355 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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)(h))

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iv)(e)) 18 October 2025

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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 involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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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 (a)(b)(c)) 18 October 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: 2684355 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Within Reach Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/o Hazlewoods LLP, Windsor House, Bayshill Road, Cheltenham GL50 3AT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Trevor Ridgewell

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Inspector

Janet Jauregui, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2684355 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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