Children's Home run by Keys QTC Limited in Gloucestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 1 Registered provider: Keys QTC Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private provider and offers care and short-term specialist support for up to four children. The home’s statement of purpose explains that in addition to the registered home, children also use a variety of off-site accommodation as part of an outdoor adventure activity programme.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2024.

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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

Date of last inspection: 23 October 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/10/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/06/2023 Full Good 15/06/2022 Full Good 01/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home and they all spoke with the inspector. One child was present at the home, another child was visited at an off-site accommodation provision and a third child was spoken with over the phone. A fourth child who recently moved from the home was also spoken with over the phone.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to make good progress from their starting points. Children who have previously struggled to attend school are helped to develop the confidence that they need to play an active role in their learning. A range of educational opportunities are provided to children, which enable them to gain nationally recognised qualifications and pursue their chosen career paths.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s healthcare needs are being met. Children are supported to attend their medical appointments, which has allowed for important healthcare procedures to be carried out.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to participate in a range of fun activities, including playing golf, paddleboarding and rock climbing. Children are given opportunities that they otherwise might not have, which helps them to develop positive interests and hobbies and withdraw from harmful relationships. One member of staff said that children are helped to ‘experience these adventures and find new ways to enjoy life’. The significance of this is recognised by children, their families and professionals alike.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to spend positive time with their family. In addition, children are also supported to develop trusting relationships with staff. As these relationships grow, children are more able to reflect on their previous experiences, recognise why others are concerned about risk-taking behaviours and develop the skills that they need to stay safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to contribute to their care planning and staff work collaboratively with them to help them to achieve their goals. However, children’s plans are not always written in a way that is helpful for them. Staff do not use child-friendly language, which means that some records are confusing and unhelpful. The use of institutionalised language by staff has resulted in some children using it in their everyday conversations with others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is nicely decorated and furnished. The home feels lived in and there are plenty of games for children, snacks in the cupboard and toys to play with. The registered manager reflected that the environment was ‘a centre before, now [it is] a home’. However, a restriction that prevents children from accessing all areas of their home means that children must ask staff to use cleaning products. This presents a barrier for children when they are completing household chores. The individual risk that is posed to children by having access to some cleaning products is not considered or reviewed. Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 4

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

Due to the individual risks that are associated with the children who come to live at the home, they are provided with high levels of support and supervision. Alongside this, staff help children to understand risk and how to make safe choices. The advice and guidance that staff give to children is tailored to their individual needs and what is important in their lives. Children say that they feel safe, cared for and listened to.

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

When restraint is used, it is necessary and proportionate to the risk of harm. The registered manager routinely evaluates the use of restraint to determine its effectiveness and identify learning for staff. Children are supported to reflect on what happened and what they could do differently in the future. As a result, restraint has not been used often, as children are helped to express themselves in safer ways.

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

When concerns about children’s online activity are identified, staff take appropriate action to help children to stay safe. Concerns are shared with the relevant professionals to ensure a robust multi-agency response. Staff support children to understand online safety and how they can stay safe in the future.

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

When children disclose worrying childhood experiences, staff respond sensitively and share the concerns with the relevant professionals. Children are supported to work with support services to understand what happened and what action can be taken to protect children.

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

When children are upset and walk away from the home, staff follow them and encourage them to return. This has prevented some children from being exposed to increased risk in the community. When children are missing, staff follow the agreed procedures, including searching the local area, trying to contact the child and reporting them as missing to the police. When children return to the home, they are welcomed back by staff, who are curious about their welfare, where they have been and who they have been with. Concerns are shared appropriately, and actions are taken to prevent similar occurrences from happening again.

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

Medication is stored securely and administered safely. Leaders and managers have increased their oversight of medication administration to help prevent errors from being made. When errors are made, learning is identified and shared with staff.

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

The registered manager demonstrates a commitment to improving the care and support that is offered to children. As a result, action has been taken to address the shortfalls that were identified during the last inspection. Although improvements have been made, the registered manager recognises the ‘journey’ that staff are on.

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

Leaders and manager’s own review of the quality of care that is provided to children is ineffective and does not support continuous improvement. Despite leaders and Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 5 managers recognising that the systems that they use to promote change are flawed, little has been done to review their effectiveness.

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

Leaders and managers do not have robust oversight of the concerns that are raised about the practice of staff. Leaders and managers are unsure how many times concerns about staff have been shared with the local authority designated officer. Although appropriate action has been taken to respond to concerns about staff conduct, ineffective monitoring systems mean that it is difficult for leaders and managers to identify patterns and respond to cumulative concerns.

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

On one occasion, leaders and managers did not share concerns about the conduct of a member of staff with the relevant professionals. Although the member of staff’s performance was reviewed and a development plan was implemented, no other action was taken. As a result, the child was left to believe that the conduct of the staff member was acceptable. In addition, delays in the reporting of the concerns to leaders and managers were not addressed swiftly. During the inspection, action was taken to share the concerns about staff practice.

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

Staff supervision sessions are held regularly. Staff are supported to reflect on their relationships with the children and the care that they provide. However, practice concerns are not always robustly challenged. Plans to support staff to develop their skills are sometimes left to drift, which has resulted in repeated concerns being raised.

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

Children are supported to move out of the home in a positive way, and staff celebrate their achievements with them. For example, one child left the home after an in-house ‘graduation ceremony’ to highlight the achievements that they had made while living at the home. Professionals recognise the positive difference that living at this home has had on children’s lives and their future trajectory. Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 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 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

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

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that concerns about staff’s conduct towards children are shared with the relevant professionals and robust actions are taken to protect children from harm. The registered person must help children to understand the actions that are taken to keep them safe so that they feel protected.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that staff have a sound understanding of safeguarding procedures so that concerns are reported swiftly. When staff are not satisfied with the response from leaders and managers, they must feel confident and able to escalate their concerns. 30 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— 30 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 7 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must use monitoring and review systems to evaluate the quality of care that is provided to children effectively. This should be used to meaningfully inform the home’s development plan to ensure continuous improvements.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should use monitoring and review systems to support staff to reflect on their practice, challenge poor practice and help staff to develop the skills that they need to provide good-quality care to children.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should continually and actively monitor concerns that are raised about staff’s practice and conduct towards children. In particular, the registered person should have clear oversight of all ‘low-level concerns’ so that themes and patterns can be identified and appropriate action can be taken to protect children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 42, paragraph, 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment. In most cases, the environment should be homely and domestic rather than ‘institutional’. In particular, the registered person should ensure that children are able to access all areas of their home. Children should be supported to stay safe, rather than have blanket restrictions imposed on them. In addition, the registered Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 8 person should ensure that the language used by staff is nurturing and child friendly.

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Recommendations

Staff should avoid the use of institutionalised terms when talking to children or making records for them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 15, paragraph, 3.9)

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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: 1280578 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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