Children's Home run by Choices Home for Children Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 1 Registered provider: Choices Home for Children Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private organisation. It provides care for up to two 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, however, one was staying in holiday accommodation with staff from the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspector spoke to one child about their experiences of living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2025.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 12 November 2024

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/11/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/08/2023 Full Good 29/06/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 3

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improvement to be good

One child lives in the home. Another child is on the register of the home but has been moved to holiday accommodation while the placing authority social worker seeks a new home for them. The child who lives here benefits from a welcoming and comfortable environment. Staff have created a homely setting that supports a sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not have access to the most current care plans or placement reviews from the local authority. This limits their ability to understand how to care for the children effectively. The manager has not used the provider’s escalation process to obtain these documents.

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improvement to be good

Staff have key conversations with children, and this is a strength of the home. Topics discussed are relevant and timely and cover subjects such as self-harm, missing from home, peer relationships, education, boundaries and identity. The child has shown varying levels of engagement recently due to the current instability at the home. The frequency and structure of sessions reflect a proactive effort by staff to address risks and promote reflection.

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improvement to be good

The child living in the home is attending school regularly and has some routine and structure. This contributes positively to their overall stability and progress. In contrast, the other child in the holiday accommodation is not in school, partly due to moving into the home during the summer break. Staff engage the child in completing worksheets. However, recently both children have not been in a good routine and this is limiting their opportunities for learning and development.

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improvement to be good

Staff make efforts to help children make meaningful memories. This helps children to build a sense of identity and continuity. One child who has left the home took away memory books, which means they can reflect on the positive times living at the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff develop good relationships with children, and they understand their risks well. However, due to the staff team being split between the holiday accommodation and the home, the capacity of staff to care for children effectively is limited. Furthermore, the frequent use of agency staff does not provide consistency of care for children.

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improvement to be good

Some children have come to live at the home when staff could not fully meet their needs, and they have since left. Several children did not want to live at the home, and this resulted in a high number of missing-from-home episodes. These were managed appropriately and return home interviews were completed in a timely manner. However, poor admission processes have contributed to the instability at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 4 Children’s experiences of leaving the home have not been helpful to them. Two children have been placed in holiday accommodation. One child was moved due to bail conditions being imposed by the police and another child moved due to staff being unable to manage their behaviours. The current arrangements for one child were made without the placing authority’s consent and the responsible individual states that this was actioned due to safeguarding issues. This has contributed to further disruption and risks

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improvement to be good

There are significant concerns around safeguarding and planning. Staff do not always intervene appropriately to ensure the safety of children. Two children were allowed to stay in one bedroom through the night, and the member of staff did not have the confidence to intervene and take appropriate action. This undermines children’s sense of security, although they did not recognise this at the time. Senior managers have taken swift action to address issues with this member of staff.

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

Leaders at the home demonstrate commitment and a clear desire to improve outcomes for children, however, this is slow paced. The registered manager is well regarded by staff, who speak positively about the support and direction they receive from her.

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

The manager does not have a system in place to identity shortfalls in the quality of care provided. The data presented at the inspection does not reflect the recent events in the home and is out of date. The manager relies on a senior manager’s monthly audit to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home, however, this does not evaluate the quality of the work that is completed. The quality of care review lacks analysis and does not include feedback from parents, carers and external professionals. Feedback is not gathered consistently, and this restricts the manager’s ability to evaluate how the care provided impacts on children’s progress.

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

Staff supervision has improved over time. Some records of supervision are brief and lack depth, however, more recent records show that supervision is now reflective and robust. Sessions offer staff meaningful opportunities to discuss their practice and personal development. The workforce plan does not detail the frequency of supervision, which should be explicit.

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

The visits by the independent person are completed regularly and recommendations arising from these visits are addressed promptly, demonstrating a responsive approach to external scrutiny. In the past, there have been many recommendations in these reports but more recently there have been fewer, which demonstrates the manager is improving the care the home provides.

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

Members of the staff team are mostly new, and have a range of experience. Staff are yet to demonstrate that they are a strong cohesive team, as children are not always being helped to stay safe. Staff are up to date with their training but there are gaps in Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 5 implementing the learning from training in practice. Consequently, the care provided to children is inconsistent. Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 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, 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— that staff—

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff are equipped with the skills to intervene when necessary to ensure that children are safe. 23 December 2025

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and 23 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 7 have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s moves into and out of the home are as planned as possible and that children have a positive experience.

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they have effective monitoring systems in place to ensure that they know the strengths and weaknesses of the home. 23 December 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. 23 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 8 In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the quality of care review actively seeks and reflects the views of stakeholders and clearly demonstrates how these views inform the running of the home.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs; 23 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 9 if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that any move out of the home, especially to holiday accommodation, must be with placing authority consent.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff—

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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

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement; 23 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 10 raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s daily routines encourage and promote their engagement in education.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they have sufficient information from the child’s placing authority and other relevant agencies to assess effectively whether they can meet the child’s needs before agreeing to the placement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.5)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce- related requirements of regulation 16. This plan should detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction and how to manage poor performance. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: 2674455 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Choices Home for Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 31 Wellington Road, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 7ED

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Inspector

Colin Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2674455 12 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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