Children's Home run by Warwickshire County Council in Warwickshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2815615 1 Registered provider: Warwickshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in February 2025 and is operated by the local authority. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a permanent, suitably qualified registered manager in post who is also registered with another children’s home operated by the local authority.

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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: 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: 2815615 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children moved in shortly after the home first opened. Both children spoke to the inspector and shared their views about their experiences in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are supportive and promote children’s engagement in education. Both children have good attendance at school. Staff work collaboratively with education professionals to overcome any challenges and ensure that children make progress. When children are not in school, staff work with them to support their learning. This helps to keep children engaged and provides them with opportunities to achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to pursue their interests and enjoy new experiences. Over the summer, the children have had the opportunity to go on holiday and participate in various planned activities. This helps children to have fun and increase their general well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and nurture significant relationships that are important to the children. One child moved to the home so that they could be closer to their family. This has enabled them to regularly spend time with loved ones and maintain positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, children’s health and well-being needs are well supported. Children are encouraged to be active and are registered with local health services. When children need specialist support, it is promptly implemented. However, the records for children’s health are poorly maintained, and staff have failed to ensure that children’s immunisations are up to date. Furthermore, meals offered are not consistent, and one child is not always provided with a sufficiently healthy and varied diet to support good health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained and decorated to a good standard. There are homely touches, such as children’s photos displayed throughout the home. The children’s bedrooms are highly personalised with items that are important to them. However, institutionalised features detract from an otherwise pleasant environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When a new child moved into the home, the potential risks to the child already living there were not fully considered. As a result, children were exposed to some potential and avoidable risks. Safety plans have since been implemented to mitigate those risks. However, shortfalls in the manager’s assessment processes have the potential to compromise children’s safety.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s risks and take action to mitigate them. This includes carefully storing items that may cause harm and ensuring that staff are trained in managing children’s specific risks and vulnerabilities. Staff provide individual Inspection report for children’s home: 2815615 3 support to the children and follow safety plans effectively. When children are distressed, staff take appropriate action to ensure that they receive the support they need to keep them safe. However, records do not consistently demonstrate that staff offer children first aid following incidents to show they care.

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

Incidents requiring the use of physical intervention with children are rare. When it is used, there is good management oversight. Following one incident, the manager identified opportunities for staff learning and development. This helped to equip staff with the skills to de-escalate incidents effectively.

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

Allegations and complaints raised by children are taken seriously. They are reported promptly to the appropriate professionals, and immediate action is taken to safeguard children. The manager works in partnership with professionals when concerns are raised and takes reasonable action in response.

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

Staff take decisive action to ensure that children remain safe when they attempt to go missing. Staff have a good understanding of where children are going. They follow children and maintain contact with them to encourage their safe return.

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

Safe recruitment processes are in place. Appropriate checks are carried out on new staff before they start working in the home. This ensures that children are cared for by suitably vetted adults.

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

Leaders and managers want the best for the children and work hard to achieve this. However, there are some shortfalls in their management oversight, systems and processes. While these shortfalls have not directly affected children’s overall safety and experiences, they have the potential to affect the care they receive.

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

Overall, staff have opportunities to discuss the children’s needs. This usually takes place during staff team meetings and with support from a therapist who provides advice and guidance to help staff understand children’s needs. However, there are some gaps in staff receiving regular supervision, and leaders do not have a clear plan to address this. Consequently, staff are not routinely provided with opportunities to discuss their performance, reflect on practice and identify areas for learning and development to help improve care for children.

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

Staff receive an induction and access to training to meet children’s needs. Those working towards the required qualification are on track to complete it within the expected time frame. This ensures that children are supported by staff who are developing the skills and knowledge needed for their role.

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

Children provide feedback on the home and express any wishes they have. For example, staff have organised activities in line with children’s requests and interests. In addition, staff provide children with opportunities to contribute to the care that they receive. Inspection report for children’s home: 2815615 4 Professionals are complimentary about the staff and care provided. They speak positively about the stable home environment for children. They say that staff work collaboratively with them to support the children, address concerns and implement plans to keep children safe. One professional commented, ‘[Name of child] is very well looked after, and he feels safe there. I have visited the home and seen his interactions with staff; they appear to know him well.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2815615 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that children’s healthcare needs are met in line with their plans. This includes ensuring that they have access to immunisations. Information relating to children’s healthcare services must be accurately recorded in their plans so that staff can support their health needs effectively. 10 October 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—

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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; 10 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2815615 6 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 manager must ensure there are effective systems of oversight in relation to the quality of records relating to children. This specifically relates to those used for assessing children’s risks when they move into the home and in relation to incidents. The registered manager must also ensure that staff receive regular supervision and have a good understanding of how to keep children safe.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided with nutritious meals to meet their needs. This specifically relates to the provision of more varied and healthy meals in line with children’s wishes. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.8)  The registered person should seek to ensure that the home provides a nurturing and supportive environment that is homely and meets children’s needs. This specifically relates to the institutionalised features present in the home. (‘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: 2815615 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Warwickshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Shire Hall, Warwick CV34 4RL

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Inspector

Louise Naylor, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2815615 8 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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