Children's Home run by Yaffle Care Limited in Hampshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2821712 1 Registered provider: Yaffle Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home that is registered to care for up to three children. There were two children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 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 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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2821712 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled at the home and staff invest time in listening to them, building trusting relationships with them and promoting their well-being. This helps children to share their experiences with trusted staff and to ask for support when they are worried or need support with planning their future. It also helps children to consider accessing more specialist support when needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to get involved in the day-to-day running of the home. Children’s routines are individualised to their needs, and the children are consulted when important decisions are made about their lives. Staff work well with the professional network to provide children with consistency and to help them understand when their wishes cannot be acted upon and why this is in their best interests. For example, staff and the manager have effective communication with a social worker, and they jointly supported a child to move into independent living within a realistic timescale.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health and staff support children to access their primary health care appointments, such as with the doctor, dentist and optician. Staff seek urgent medical advice when children’s needs require this, such as when there are concerns about self-harming. The manager advocates for specialist assessments and support when children’s needs are beyond staff’s expertise. For example, the manager challenged the placing authority and escalated concerns about the lack of specialist help at the intensity needed for a child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Neither child attended education when they moved into the home. The children’s educational needs have been supported via the virtual school and staff. Staff know the children’s interests and needs well and have identified education provisions that are able to support the children with these. Staff support routines and educational activities throughout the day, in preparation for the children’s return to school in September 2025. A parent expressed their appreciation for staff supporting their child to enrol in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff offer children a range of positive experiences through recreational activities and trips. This supports the children to explore new social interactions and environments as part of their independence plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to maintain meaningful relationships with their families, including when children are far away from home. Staff provide care that is responsive to children’s identity, family history and cultural needs. There are positive relationships with parents, who feel comfortable to discuss their children’s needs with staff and raise any issues or concerns with the manager. Parents, a social worker and an independent reviewing officer gave positive feedback about consistent, age-appropriate routines and boundaries for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2821712 3

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

Children say they feel safe in the home, although they do not always agree with the risks identified by staff. Children are given the opportunity to review their risk assessments and express their views about how staff can better keep them safe. Children are supported to take age-appropriate risks.

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

Children can identify at least one member of staff whom they trust to share their worries and thoughts with. Staff model positive behaviours. This helps children to develop their own strategies to manage conflicts and difficult feelings in a safer way. This is considerable progress in comparison to their starting points.

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

Staff have effective strategies to prevent missing-from-home incidents and there are well-coordinated responses when children go missing from the home to help them to return safely. This includes staff looking for children when they go missing from the home, efficient multi-agency working with the police and social workers, good collaboration with parents and ensuring that return home interviews are arranged. As a result of this work, the number of missing-from-home incidents have reduced.

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

Incidents involving physical intervention are low and when restraint is used, this is proportionate and used to safeguard children and those around them. Staff understand children’s experiences and respond to their behaviours with alternative strategies that are specific to the needs of each child.

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

Any searches of children’s rooms and possessions are proportionate to the level of risk. Not all staff knew how to explain this to the children, and this impacted on one child’s emotional well-being on one occasion. Staff accessed additional training, and there is good management oversight to ensure that searches are carried out sensitively.

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

The manager addresses investigations into children’s complaints and allegations efficiently, and these are shared with appropriate agencies, such as the local authority designated officer and social workers. Children are supported and protected. For example, there was an incident in which a child’s self-confidence and trusting relationship with staff was affected by comments made by a member of staff. The manager took immediate action to address the child’s concerns, which were taken seriously.

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

Staff use risk assessments and behaviour support plans as tools to inform their day-to- day practice. Staff take collective responsibility to update risk assessments and to support children. This provides the children with a consistent approach when addressing their behaviours. However, the risk assessments are not all recorded in child-friendly language, and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between fact and professional opinion. Inspection report for children’s home: 2821712 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a permanent, experienced manager who is a good advocate for the children’s needs. Staff and the manager can evidence the positive impact that living at the home has had on the children’s progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This is a new home, registered in February 2025. This was the home’s first inspection. The past six months have been challenging for both staff and the children, but the manager has demonstrated strong leadership.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The culture within the home is one of prioritising children’s safety and protection. Staff are aware of the whistle-blowing policy and are confident to use this. The ethos of the home is demonstrated in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff’s mandatory training is up to date, and the manager has commissioned additional specialist training. Staff say that the training received is sufficient as an initial foundation to ensuring that the children are well cared for and safeguarded. Staff have a sense of pride working in this home. Staff talk highly of the manager and see them as their role model from whom they draw strength and knowledge.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff’s supervision sessions are reflective and include regular individual and group supervision. The group supervision is provided by an external specialist agency. This provides additional scrutiny, challenge and reflections on staff’s practice, and staff are supported to consider the children’s needs from a holistic perspective. The manager has a clear plan in place on how to support staff’s continuous professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager, the responsible individual and the director ensure that the physical environment of the home is maintained to a high standard and looks like a family home. The children’s wishes are considered when decorating the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been a small number of incidents where staff’s limited understanding of children’s needs and how to manage their behaviours have impacted on children’s emotional well-being. The manager has taken appropriate actions to address this with staff and to support children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2821712 5

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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 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—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 20 December 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the behaviour management strategy is understood and applied by all staff, kept under review and revised where appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)

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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: 2821712 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Yaffle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Gemma House, 39 Lilestone Street, London NW8 8SS

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Inspector

Claudia Poienar, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2821712 7 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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