Children's Home run by Inspirations Leicestershire Limited in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2713886 1 Registered provider: Inspirations Leicestershire 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

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to four children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out and three children have moved in. The home’s registration has changed from three to four children.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, four children were living in the home and were spoken to.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2023.

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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 outstanding

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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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2713886 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/06/2024 Full Outstanding 23/05/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2713886 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by staff who are attuned to their needs. Staff and children have developed some strong relationships over time. Staff understand children’s needs and the importance of building strong and trusting relationships. Staff and managers are supporting children to develop positive relationships and are aware of the dynamics in the home changing now that four children are living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well presented inside and out and has a warm homely feel, despite being so spacious. Children have space to sit and enjoy activities either together or apart, and the sociable kitchen is the heart of the home where children and staff spend time together, cooking, enjoying a hot drink or just having a chat.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to try activities outside of the home. This helps to boost their self-esteem and confidence and enables them to socialise with peers and become more involved in the community in which they live.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with people who are important to them. Staff take children long distances to spend time with their families as part of their care plans. Children enjoy spending time with friends and are supported to have overnight stays with friends when this is agreed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is valued, and staff are creative in supporting children for whom educational placements have not yet been secured, with out-of-school activities and routines to support education. This helps to prepare children for education and provides structure. Staff and managers advocate for children to have education plans to meet their needs and to receive the support they need to enable them to achieve. The manager has been instrumental in ensuring that children in the home have education, health and care plans that reflect their needs and enable them to access suitable education provisions. One child has recently sat all their GCSE exams and is due to start college in September. One child has also secured a place on a college course, while another has been able to access and maintain suitable full-time education after a significant period out of formal education. This is significant progress for these children. For the child who has most recently come to live at the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

home, the manager is working closely with the relevant education partners and local authority to secure a school place. In the meantime, the child has a tutor and tailored plans and classes to enrich their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they like living at the home and feel safe and listened to. Children and staff were observed to enjoy spending time together, and there is humour and laughter in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2713886 4

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

Children have individualised and robust risk management plans. These plans are updated regularly, and all staff are made aware when there have been changes made to children’s plans. The manager has developed quick reference guides for staff to assist them in caring for children. Safety plans are written and reviewed in consultation with relevant professionals, and family members where this is appropriate. Children’s views are evident in their plans and assessments.

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

Staff have received training to help them meet the specific needs of the children living in the home. This helps staff feel confident to respond to serious incidents for children. Staff can explain and give examples of when they have put this training into practice.

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

Children are supported to access specialist services identified to help keep them safer. The manager advocates strongly for the children in the home and is robust in following up with external partners when there has been any drift or delays in progressing children’s plans.

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

Children know how to make a complaint and were able to explain the process of how to make a complaint. One child explained the process of receiving letters back from the manager and how they can respond if they are not happy with the outcome of a complaint. The manager ensures that children can access advocates.

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

Managers and staff work closely with children’s families, placing local authorities and other safeguarding agencies to help keep children safer. The trusting relationships built with families, and information-sharing between them, have been instrumental in ensuring that children have received timely support when there have been serious incidents.

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

Staff and managers understand children’s vulnerabilities and understand the importance of strong relationships to help keep children safer. Children are supported to build trusting relationships over time, and these help staff to recognise sooner if a child might need additional support. This has helped to reduce incidents for some children. Staff work to build relationships with children who have more recently come to live at the home.

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

When children are missing from the home, staff are proactive in trying to find them, and each child has an individualised protocol in place. Staff ensure that children receive care and are offered medical attention when they return home. The manager intends to undertake further work with the staff team around how to respond to missing-from-home incidents.

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

When there have been incidents that require staff to physically intervene, records are clearly recorded, children and staff receive debriefs and any further support is identified. Records have reflective manager and responsible individual oversight. In addition, all incidents are reviewed by another individual who is separate to the Inspection report for children’s home: 2713886 5 incident and who is a trainer of the organisation’s chosen intervention strategy, which provides further scrutiny. Critical reflective oversight ensures that any learning from incidents can be embedded and support can be put in place where required for children and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is aspirational for the children and the home. The sense of pride the manager has for each of the children is evident. The manager has high standards for the care of the children and expects the same from the staff and other agencies. Professionals spoken to commented on the way the manager advocates for the children. One child said the manager ‘should get a pay rise, put that in your report!’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Family members and external professionals spoken to commented on the quality of the communication with the manager, how they work together and the care children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager ensures that there is a learning culture in the home and that research informs practice. For example, the manager and a staff member are currently doing a piece of work around the criminalisation of children in care. The manager supports the staff to be upskilled; staff development and career progression are valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and assistant psychologist work closely together, and with the staff team, to ensure that they are continuously looking at how best to support each child. Children are the focus of their care planning and safety plans, for example, they use research to help reduce self-injurious behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager understands and robustly follows safer recruitment practices for all staff. This includes mechanisms to regularly review the suitability of staff who are already employed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff speak highly of the manager. Staff are positive about the support they receive in their induction into the home, one-to-one supervision and team meetings. Staff commented on the open-door policy the manager has and how they feel genuinely supported and part of a team. Staff were able to speak about whistle-blowing procedures, and these are regularly discussed in team meetings and supervisions. The manager tests staff’s understanding using scenarios. Any learning is quickly identified and put in place for staff to help them support children’s specific needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

No requirements or recommendations have been made following this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2713886 6

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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: 2713886 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspirations Leicestershire Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 131a London Road, Oadby, Leicester LE2 5DP

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Inspector

Caroline Hose, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2713886 8 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 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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