Children's Home run by Sphere Care Solutions in Bolton

Inspection report for children's home: 2819939 1 Registered provider: Sphere Care Solutions

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private company. It providers care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. The inspector spoke with the child.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in June 2025. This is the home’s first inspection.

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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 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 provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2819939 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Prior to registering with Ofsted, the provider was operating as an unregistered children’s home. The same child continues to live in the home and is making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers are passionate about their roles and show the child genuine care and consideration. Staff talk to the child about things that are important to them and help the child to understand risk and safety in the community. This has included supporting the child to talk about their worries and understand court processes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the child to share their views and to think about things from different perspectives. Staff talk to the child about what they do well and keep a record of the progress that the child is making. The child said that they feel happy living in the home and that staff listen to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff offer the child opportunities to try new things and visit new places. They advocate for the child to spend time with people who are important to them, in a more planned way. One professional said, ‘I think they are very invested in making this a wonderful experience for [Name].’ Staff encourage the child to engage in education and to develop aspirations for the future. The child is now talking about completing an apprenticeship when they are old enough.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff check in on the child’s physical and emotional wellbeing and support them to attend health appointments. The team have sought additional support for the child around their substance misuse. However, the child regularly uses a vape in the home and has also smoked cigarettes. While staff have offered smoking cessation programmes, they have not provided consistent challenge around smoking and vaping, nor have they completed regular work to help the child understand associated risks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean and tidy and has photos of the child on display. The child’s bedroom is decorated and furnished to their preferences., The home is generally in good repair, but there are some maintenance issues that need to be addressed. The front and back doors have key locks which would create a hazard should the home experience a fire. A locksmith was arranged during this inspection to have these locks changed.

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

The child says that they feel safe living in the home. Staff have spent time building up positive and trusting relationships with the child which has enabled them to have regular reflective conversations. Consequently, the child’s risks have reduced significantly. The child’s mother said, ‘I’m really proud of [Name]. [Name] is making better choices now which I think the staff have helped with.’ Inspection report for children's home: 2819939 3 Staff understand the child’s risks and vulnerabilities and know how to keep the child safe. They work with the child in a way that helps them to manage their emotions. This has helped to reduce the number of incidents of challenging behaviour. When these incidents have occurred, the registered manager ensures that he speaks with both the child and staff after the incident. However, the documents that provide staff with strategies to manage challenging behaviour are not always clear or helpful. This has not

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

impacted on the child’s safety or wellbeing due to staff’s knowledge of, and relationships with, the child.

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

Professionals report good communication from managers and staff who work well together to help keep the child safe. Staff and managers take measured approaches to manage risk to balance the child’s autonomy and safety. One professional said, ‘I think it’s actually really lovely that [Name] has ended up here because this opportunity to have stability is the best chance [Name] has to turn their future around.’

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

When the child goes missing from the home, staff make consistent attempts to get in touch with the child and people who are important to them. They communicate well with other professionals and report the child missing appropriately. However, staff have not consistently gone out to look for the child when they are missing. This has not resulted in any harm to the child and has improved in more recent incidents. Documents that record action taken when the child has been missing, have not always been clearly completed. However, the quality of staff recording has improved significantly and more recent records have been completed much more comprehensively.

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

When concerns are raised about members of staff, leaders and managers respond appropriately to ensure that staff remain safe to work with vulnerable children. When concerns about the child are shared, the registered manager shares this information with the staff team. However, these concerns are not always fully detailed in writing. While some concerns about children have been shared with the regulator, the registered manager has not consistently shared all relevant incidents.

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

The registered manager has the experience and skills required to manage the home effectively. Staff feel valued by the management team and say that they are very well supported.

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

The registered manager challenges staff to continue to improve their practice. Staff benefit from ongoing training and significant individualised input from the registered manager to help them develop their skills. Additionally, staff benefit from reflective team meetings and senior meetings to implement learning and discuss improvements that can be made. One senior member of staff said of senior meetings, ‘They are brilliant. It’s a great way of developing but also feeling valued that the company is putting that resource in for us.’

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

The registered manager makes good use of external monitoring of the home and is keen to implement suggestions for improvement. Senior members of staff complete weekly audits to ensure that all necessary tasks are being completed every week in the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2819939 4 The registered manager should complete monthly managers audits; however, these are not always documented.

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

As the registered manager spends significant amounts of time supporting staff with their learning and recording, he does not provide himself with adequate time for management oversight and evaluation. This has led to a lack of documentation in the home which includes: records of consequences given to the child; records of concerns shared by other professionals; and records of supervision sessions with staff.

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

Two neighbours have made complaints about the child. However, there are no records of the complaints made, the action taken, or the outcomes. When the child has gone missing, the registered manager has not evaluated the records to reflect on staff practice or identify patterns and trends in the child’s behaviour. Inspection report for children's home: 2819939 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(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that procedures in place to keep children safe are clear, effective and personalised. When children go missing from home, staff must search for them to ensure their safety. The registered person must ensure that when concerns are raised about children, that all details are fully recorded, as well as action taken. Additionally, the registered person must ensure that children live in a positive environment that contributes to good mental health. 25 September 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 25 September 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2819939 6 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

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there are records of all incidents, evaluation and oversight provided within the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all allegations, police involvement and/or serious incidents are reported to the regulator. 25 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must supply to HMCI, at HMCI’s request, a statement containing a summary of any complaints made during the preceding twelve months and the action that was taken in response to each complaint. (Regulation 39 (1)(3)(5))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that details of any complaints to the home are fully recorded and include action taken and outcomes of the complaint. 25 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

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 25 September 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2819939 7 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

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

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children are supported to maintain their health and understand the dangers of smoking or vaping. Staff must be provided with clear guidance on how to respond when children bring smoking or vaping paraphernalia into the home.

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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: 2819939 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sphere Care Solutions

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 152a Deansgate, Bolton, Lancashire BL1 1BB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Olugbenga Odebunmi

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Inspector

Aislinn Cooper, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2819939 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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