Children's Home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited in Somerset

Inspection report for children’s home: 2732313 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is part of a bespoke partnership service that focuses on providing local residential care for children who have complex needs. The home can accommodate up to three children with social and emotional difficulties. Two children were living at the home at the time of the inspection, and their views were sought.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager in post.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2732313 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/07/2024 Full Good 22/01/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2732313 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress and are cared for by a dedicated staff team that values the children’s individual personalities. Leaders and managers place emphasis on supporting children to work through periods of distress and remain in the home. One professional commented, ‘They don’t give up; I know that they will stick with [name of child].’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take time to build trusting relationships and speak fondly about the children. Children are supported to talk openly about their feelings and worries, and this helps them to understand their emotions and behaviours. Conversations with children cover a variety of sensitive topics, both ad hoc and planned.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education and support children to regularly attend school. Bespoke packages of education are created to respond to children’s specific educational needs. This individualised approach has supported children who have been out of school for long periods of time to engage in meaningful education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have positive relationships with one another by role modelling positive behaviours and sharing some activities together. However, there is careful consideration to ensure the children build their individual personalities, and they are supported with their own separate interests. Children enjoy a wide range of age-appropriate social and recreational activities that complement their education, including fishing, baking, arts and crafts and watching sunsets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to maintain healthy routines, including sleep and hygiene. There is careful consideration in meeting children’s dietary needs and preferences while encouraging variety and healthy choices. Children are encouraged to cook for themselves, and there are plans in place to further develop their independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed to ensuring that children enjoy regular, meaningful time with their family and help with arrangements for children to see their loved ones. Staff have built trusting relationships with family members, which has helped to develop a consistent network of adults around the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is warm and welcoming, with shared spaces for eating together and relaxing. The children’s bedrooms are personalised to their individual tastes, and one child has their pet hamster in their bedroom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to independent advocacy, but within the home they do not always feel listened to. There are not clear enough processes for responding to children’s complaints or requests. Inspection report for children’s home: 2732313 4 Some of the language used in children’s records is labelling and blaming of the children’s emotions and behaviours. Records do not always include the voice of the child, and at times, child-focused language is not used.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding practices are inconsistent, and there are occasions when not enough action is being taken by staff to protect children..

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improvement to be good

Restraint is not fully understood by all staff. During some incidents, restraint has not been used as a last resort, and inappropriate holds have been used by staff. Records are not always used accurately to record these incidents, and children are not always spoken to thoroughly about the restraint. Leaders and managers have already begun to take action to address these shortfalls, but these changes have not yet been embedded in practice to show consistent improvement.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not always done enough to support staff with appropriate de-escalation techniques. As a result, there have been occasions when children’s behaviours have escalated to the point where police involvement has been necessary.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always ensure that consistent action is taken to respond to known risks. Professional curiosity is not always used effectively to explore children’s behaviours when there are safeguarding concerns. Leaders and managers do not always ensure robust oversight of incidents, and there is a lack of learning to prevent repeat occurrences.

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improvement to be good

Incidents that involve children being missing from home are well managed. On each occasion, staff have followed protocol, notified all relevant people and searched for the children at known locations. Staff ensured that the return home was warm and welcoming and without judgement, and they encouraged the children to share any experiences while away from the home.

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improvement to be good

Plans to support staff to minimise risk are up to date, clear and concise. Staff support children to take age-appropriate risks as part of their development and learn skills to help keep themselves safe. Children enjoy spending meaningful time with their friends in the community without any unnecessary restrictions.

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improvement to be good

Allegations are managed appropriately, and a proportionate and thorough response is taken to concerns raised about practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a dedicated and experienced registered manager who has been in post for several years. Staff enjoy their jobs and speak positively about the support of leaders and managers. Inspection report for children’s home: 2732313 5 Leaders and managers have taken action to reduce the reliance on temporary staff and have invested in supporting the retention of a stable staff team. Staff talk positively about these changes and the positive impact these have had on the children’s sense of stability. New staff are beginning to get to know the children well and demonstrate commitment and compassion in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that staff are up to date with mandatory training and organise bespoke training to support staff to respond to the individual needs of the children. New members of staff receive comprehensive training over a six-month probationary period.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers understand the importance of building relationships with children’s families and the multi-agency network. Professional feedback is positive about the progress being made by the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly, and staff are able to reflect on practice with the in-house clinical team. Leaders and managers openly discuss practice issues, and staff are supported with individual sessions if requested.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision takes place regularly but, at times, lacks critical challenge or reflection on practice. In some records, the focus is on procedure rather than practice. There are some examples of reflection, but this lacks deeper exploration on learning or practice improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Systems used to record the child’s journey are clear and kept up to date. Leaders and managers ensure that there is management oversight on children’s records, but the quality of oversight is not consistent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers do not always use learning from incidents, complaints or feedback to inform and improve practice. There is a lack of critical challenge to accurately understand how the home is performing. Inspection report for children’s home: 2732313 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 relationship standard is that children are helped to develop, and 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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop social aware behaviour

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

Help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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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; 28 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2732313 7 de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(ix)(x)(xi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider must ensure that staff support children to understand and express feelings and emotions without aggression. In addition, the registered provider must ensure that when children do become distressed, staff understand and apply appropriate de-escalation techniques and records accurately reflect events.

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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

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;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vii)(b)) 28 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2732313 8 In particular, the registered provider must ensure that staff are proactive in responding to known risks and maintain professional curiosity regarding potential risks.

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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: 2732313 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House, Valiant Office Suites, Valley Drive, Rugby CV21 1TQ

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Inspector

Stacey Pellow, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2732313 10 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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