Children's Home run by Coven Care Homes Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report children's home: 2838567 1 Registered provider: Coven Care Homes 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

This home registered with Ofsted on 10 May 2025 and is operated by a private company. It provides care for up to two children with mild learning disabilities and /or who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a permanent registered manager in post, who is suitably experienced and qualified. This is the homes first inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home. They were present and spent time talking with the inspector.

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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: none Inspection report children's home: 2838567 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is a newly registered home, and the first child moved in at the end of July 2025. Managers followed a comprehensive process to learn about the child; this led to an informed decision that the home was suitable to meet their needs. The child received a well-planned introduction to the home, this included staff members sharing videos to introduce themselves. As a result, they have settled well and have begun to make initial progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have helped the child to access routine health care. They encouraged the child to choose their own glasses at the opticians. The child is very proud of these. Staff have also taken the child to a specialist hairdresser, to meet their cultural hair care needs. Prompt referrals are made for healthcare specialists. Staff talk with the child sensitively to help them learn about caring for themselves. This includes topics of hygiene and healthy eating.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers swiftly escalated the request for appropriate education to be provided. As a result, the child is attending a suitable school on a full-time basis and has greatly benefited from this routine.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have listened to the child to get to know about their favoured activities and encouraged them to make choices. As a result, the child enjoys a range of activities at the home, including arts and craft, and gardening and going out for trips to theme parks and bike riding. Staff are actively building memory books to record the child's experiences, including photos and positive comments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the child’s care is well planned. Plans are updated frequently as the staff get to know the child and have a greater understanding of their needs. Managers have not ensured that the statutory paperwork is sufficient and as such there are gaps. This includes incompletion of the delegated authority agreement, by the local authority. This could inhibit or delay a range of consents being actioned.

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

Staff understand the child's needs and risks. The child's plan sets out what action staff must take to keep the child safe. Staff supervise the child in line with their plans. However, they balance this well with enabling them to have space and independence when this is safe and appropriate. For example, the child will choose to spend time alone relaxing.

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

Staff provide guidance to the child that promotes positive behaviour. There have been some incidents when staff have needed to physically intervene in the child's behaviour. This action has been effective in managing the risks arising from the behaviour. Staff Inspection report children's home: 2838567 3 There have been some changes in the staff team. However, there is now a full staff team. They are a very new team and as such managers are focussing on developing the team and achieving consistency in staff practice. Managers have addressed where staff practice, on occasion, has fallen below the expected standard. As a result, staff now have a greater awareness and understanding of the need to be consistent with implementing routines and boundaries.

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

Staff receive regular supervisions, and managers complete additional single subject supervisions to address any urgent matters. Some staff have supportive performance improvement plans in place, to support their on-going development. Overall, staff say they feel well supported by managers.

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

There is a low number of qualified staff. However, two staff have specialist qualifications in psychology. There is a plan for their expertise to support further embedding therapeutic care. Staff views and preferences are considered in planning working patterns and staff are safely recruited.

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

The organisation has enhanced their training offer. Therapeutic parenting and a model of care have been adopted at the home. Staff have had appropriate training, as a result, they are beginning to embed this into practice. However, the homes Statement of Purpose has not been updated to reflect this.

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

There are organisational changes planned, but these are being well managed in a timely way to build and sustain long term stability at the home. have a good understanding of how to support the child to calm when they are upset or anxious.

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

Staff are trained in physical intervention by the responsible individual, who sustains his 'train the trainer' status through attending refresher courses. Managers take time to help staff reflect in detail following incidents. They also share learning points that arise from this reflection and their management oversight and update the child’s plans accordingly.

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

There have been no allegations at the home, staff know what action to take in this event. Staff have talked to the child about how to make a complaint. However, not all staff demonstrate understanding of the home’s whistle blowing policy. This could reduce opportunities for any concerns to be shared.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is dual registered, but the other home is not currently operational. The registered manager and responsible individual work closely in collaboration for reflection and decision making. They jointly provide good oversight at the home. The manager has recently modified the approach to oversight of some documents. This provides more effective evaluation of themes and patterns to inform the care of the child. Inspection report children's home: 2838567 4

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the child’s placement plan sets out the permissions that their placing authority has delegated to the registered person. Wherever possible the home should secure the appropriate authority to support the child to be involved in the same positive activities as their peers. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 30, paragraph 6.2)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff are familiar with the homes internal whistleblowing procedures through the induction process. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose. The Statement of Purpose must be up to date and reflect approaches and models of care provided at the home. This must be shared with the regulator. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

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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: 2838567 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Coven Care Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 9 Cairns Drive, Stafford ST16 3PW

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Inspector

Alison Snell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2838567 6 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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