Children's Home run by Shropshire Council in Shropshire

Inspection report children's home: 2747302 1 Registered provider: Shropshire Council

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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 local authority home is registered to provide care for up to three children.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 30 January 2024, when the home was registered with Ofsted. The registered manager was not present in the home during the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home. The inspector spent time with one child. Another child provided their views in writing.

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Information about this children's home

The term ‘carers’ has been used throughout the report to reflect the home’s preferred title to describe staff.

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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: 10 September 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2747302 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/09/2024 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2747302 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care approaches focus on supporting children to acquire skills in line with their growing independence. Children make progress to learn how to travel independently, to cook, to complete application forms, and to manage their own appointments. Additionally, children learn how to manage their own medication to promote their independence. Importantly, children feel ready to move on and to live independently, or to live with reduced support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to actively participate in care planning decisions about their future. They attend care planning meetings and express their views. Managers challenge children’s future care plans when they have concerns. They communicate with children effectively to help them to understand actions taken.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop positive relationships with carers. This helps children to talk to them about the issues that impact their lives. At times, children participate in positive activities with carers. Photos are collated in books for children to look back on to recall positive moments in their lives. For example, photos show children enjoying 'a buffet to remember' at Christmas time and carers in fancy dress, and a child enjoying a recent holiday in the UK.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and carers work hard to support each child, but they do not always achieve a balance that allows the child to develop their independence while ensuring that their day-to-day needs are met. This includes support to help children to develop healthy routines and boundaries effectively, including a healthy diet and sleep routine. Additionally, one child’s bedroom was observed to be in a poor state.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have not attended education provisions consistently and they do not participate in educational activity throughout the day when they are at home. Managers and carers explore future education and employment opportunities with children. This has supported all the children to apply for college courses in the new academic term.

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

Managers and carers understand the risks posed to children and respond effectively. For one child, the home has forged a strong safeguarding response with partner agencies. Actions taken to protect the child from harm outside of the home are effective. This approach has directly contributed to stability for the child in their care arrangements.

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

Individual risk assessments are detailed but tend to lose focus about current risks and strategies. Occasionally, strategies discussed by carers are not included in risk assessments. However, staff are consistent about the actions that they need to take to increase children’s safety. This includes when children are missing from the home. There is a well-coordinated response to children when they are missing from the home. Inspection report children's home: 2747302 4 Carers provide children with nurturing responses and reassurance at times of increased stress and distress. Conversations take place with children about how to keep themselves safe. For instance, carers speak to children openly about relationships, sexual health needs, drug misuse, and about self-harm. However, care approaches are not helping children to cease vaping.

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

At times, managers and carers conduct searches of children’s rooms. The rationale for room searches to reduce risks to the child and others is recorded clearly. Concerns are shared with the child’s placing authority when needed.

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

Following incidents, managers review incident records. They provide reflection and learning for carers to directly inform support provided to children. When actions are not implemented promptly, managers follow-up with carers to ensure that children receive the support that they need.

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

Managers work with the children’s placing authority and parents effectively to ensure that time spent with friends and family members is carefully assessed and promoted without any unnecessary restrictions. Carers demonstrate curiosity about children’s friendships in the community and online to help keep them safe. Additionally, links are forged with friends’ parents to ensure that arrangements for them to spend time together are safe. However, these links are not maintained to ensure that safe time together is always promoted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively, including in the registered manager’s absence. An experienced deputy manager uses learning from practice to improve support provided to children. Senior managers understand the home’s strengths and weaknesses.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have managed staffing shortages well to minimise the impact on children. Action is being taken to address vacancies. Arrangements for recruitment reduce the risk of unsuitable persons working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers understand the goals and care plans for children. They monitor progress that children make to acquire skills for their independence effectively. One child described that living in the home is ‘helpful’ to them to prepare them for moving on into adulthood. An external professional described a child making progress in ‘leaps and bounds’, referring to their increasing independence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers’ monitoring of the quality of care to ensure that care approaches help children to develop positive boundaries and healthy routines, is less effective. This reduces opportunities to identify and to implement creative alternative strategies when the desired outcome is not achieved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training activities for carers are effective. They are focused on the specific needs of children. Learning is disseminated across the care team to promote consistent responses Inspection report children's home: 2747302 5 to children and to reduce risk. Carers are informed about the home’s model of care, in line with its statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that the physical environment in the main areas of the home are well- maintained. However, office areas and rooms that are locked detract from a homely environment. Senior managers responded to concerns about the physical environment of one child’s bedroom. They said that action would be taken to improve this. Inspection report children's home: 2747302 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, 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children's home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children's needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

understand and apply the home's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child's welfare;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home.

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Requirement Due date

Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(i)(ii)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that carers are equipped with strategies that help each child to develop skills that lead to healthy routines. Additionally, interventions must ensure that children’s daily needs are met. 19 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. 12 September 2025 Inspection report children's home: 2747302 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child's education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child's learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care for each child to achieve their potential. When strategies are not effective, these should be reviewed and alternative approaches used that lead to the desired outcome. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that a homely environment is maintained. Office areas should be in keeping with a homely environment and children should be able to access all areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child's needs. ('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 children's home: 2747302 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Shropshire Council, Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury SY2 6ND

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Inspector

Louise Bacon, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2747302 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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