Children's Home run by 5ab Care Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2830600 1 Registered provider: 5ab Care 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 is owned by a private organisation and is registered to provide care for up to five children who may have social and emotional difficulties or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living in the home. Both of them spoke with the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

A registered and suitably experienced manager is in post. This was the home’s first inspection since it was registered in May 2025.

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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: 2830600 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living in this home. They feel safe and can speak to staff about their worries. One child said, ‘It’s good living here; we go on fun activities. I feel included.’ Staff know the children well. As a result, children have trusting and secure relationships with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean and decorated to a high standard. It looks and feels like a family home. There is artwork and photos of the children and staff displayed. The children have personalised bedrooms. One child said, ‘I feel like I live in a mansion; my bedroom is so big.’ The garden has furniture to relax on and various play equipment. This supports the children’s enjoyment of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Moves into the home are well planned. When children come to live in the home in an emergency, staff help children to manage their anxieties around this. For example, for one child, the manager shared photos of the home with the child’s school on the day of their arrival. This helped the child know what to expect. One child’s support worker said, ‘It was a very quick move into the home, but within 10 minutes of being there, the child said I could go.’ This planning ensures that moves into the home are smooth and successful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager is a strong advocate for children’s education. When children are experiencing difficulties at school, staff proactively liaise with schools. One child was recently supported to make a successful transition to a new school. Another child travels a long distance with staff to maintain their current school place. This has helped to provide them with consistency in their education. As a result of this support, children are making good progress with their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with clear and consistent boundaries. Children work towards a ‘ladder of success’, which celebrates and rewards their achievements. One ‘ladder of success’ was being used for a child to build up additional time unsupervised outside of the home, as they stayed within their curfew. This provides children with clear goals to work towards while keeping them safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support from staff to spend time with their family and friends. One child recently had a birthday party in the home’s garden, and friends and family attended. This helps to give children a sense of belonging and promotes their identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are generally met. There was an occasion where a child injured themselves and did not receive the necessary medical attention. The child has recovered from this injury, and there has been no lasting impact. However, the staff and manager did not ensure that they had all the information about the injury. Inspection report for children’s home: 2830600 3 The manager advised they will ensure that they explore all future injuries in detail so that the appropriate medical attention can be sought if needed.

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

Children feel safe living in this home. Before coming to this home, one child would go missing often. No children have gone missing while living in this home. This is because staff have important conversations with children to help them become safer. They also provide consistent boundaries. There are clear plans for staff to follow if children do go missing. However, information to be shared with the police about children in the event of them going missing does not contain all known risks. This has not yet impacted on the safety of children as there have been no missing episodes. However, the manager acknowledged a need for this information to be recorded in full and stated they would update this plan.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the risks that the internet poses to children. They have effective strategies in place. The manager works in partnership with the child’s social worker to agree restrictions on social media use. Children receive support to safely access the internet, and staff have important conversations with children about how to stay safe online. As a result, the risks for one child around their social media use have reduced.

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

When children make allegations, staff take these seriously. Allegations are shared with the appropriate agencies. However, children do not get timely feedback about how their allegation is being dealt with. The manager is not always clear about how the allegation is being managed by external agencies. This does not ensure that children feel listened to when they share their worries.

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

There has been one physical restraint used within the home. Staff used this proportionately to prevent harm to another child. Staff and one child were spoken with after this incident. The other child involved was not spoken to in a timely way. This does not ensure that children’s feelings are heard and understood. Staff had conversations with the children after this incident to repair their relationship.

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

Incidents of self-harm are rare. When children self-harm, staff do not always show enough professional curiosity about these incidents. This does not ensure that they have gained all the available information, and incidents are not always recorded clearly. This impacts on staff fully understanding the individual risks of self-harm for each child.

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

Risk assessments are up to date, and the majority give clear guidance to staff on how to support children’s needs and reduce risks. A minority of plans do not reflect the risks and how to manage these. For example, one child’s potential risk to younger children in the home was not identified in their plan. This does not help staff to understand how to keep children safe. This has not impacted on children’s safety, and the manager took action to address this during the inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2830600 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children in the home well and has high aspirations for them. She is committed to providing children with stability and positive experiences. The manager challenges external agencies when children are not receiving the services that they need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established good connections with partner agencies. Professionals are positive about the care provided to the children by the staff team and the quality of communication. One teacher said, ‘We have had really good communication with the home. They have clear procedures and meet with us regularly.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they are well led. One staff member said, ‘I feel that my managers are approachable and open to ideas in how we care for young people.’ Staff benefit from regular and reflective supervision and team meetings. These sessions provide effective support and challenge.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager encourages staff to develop and progress in their role. Staff receive a thorough induction. They are provided with a wide range of training that informs their practice. However, there has been some delay in all staff receiving training in line with the home’s statement of purpose and to meet children’s individual needs. This impacts on the staff’s ability to fully understand and respond to children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has oversight of incidents and takes action to address shortfalls in staff practice. However, this is not always consistent, and some recording of incidents lacks clarity. For example, when one child was found with a vape, a staff member did not support them in line with their risk management plan. This was not identified by the manager in their oversight. This is a missed opportunity for learning and improving the care provided to children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2830600 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 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(v)(vi)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that incidents of self-injury are recorded and responded to appropriately. This also relates to ensuring that risk assessments contain accurate information about children’s risks so that staff know how to keep children safe. 13 November

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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— 13 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2830600 6 lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

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)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff have the training required to meet children’s needs. This also relates to ensuring that management oversight identifies where improvements could be made to staff practice.

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child; 13 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2830600 7 is given appropriate advocacy support. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that children are updated after they have made an allegation. This also relates to children being spoken with after significant incidents to gain their views.

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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: 2830600 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Devonshire Business Centre, Unit 27 Works Road, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire SG6 1GJ

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Inspector

Jenny Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2830600 9 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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