Children's Home run by Action for Children in Gloucestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2790895 1 Registered provider: Action for Children Services 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 by a private provider. It was registered with Ofsted in May 2025 to provide a ‘forever home’ for a child who has experienced social, emotional and mental health difficulties and learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

One child is living in the home, and they spoke with the inspector. Leaders and managers are exploring registering the home with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as the child is approaching adulthood.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since the home was registered.

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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: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2790895 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before the child moved to the home, he was provided with opportunities to get to know the staff who would be caring for him. This helped to reduce his anxieties about his upcoming move and contributed to his sense of stability and safety. It also enabled staff to develop an early understanding of the child’s needs and how best to support him. The child has developed positive and trusting relationships with staff. He says that he likes living in the home and recognises that the staff help him.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Detailed plans were developed to support the child’s move to the home. Information was shared by the ‘team around the child’, and he was supported to visit the home and the local area. Additionally, arrangements were made for a family member to stay at the home during the child’s first overnight stay. This helped to further reduce the child’s anxieties and promoted feelings of safety and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A large multi-disciplinary team coordinates the child’s care to ensure that his complex needs are met. The child receives personalised care that supports him to make progress. Staff support the child to make decisions about his day-to-day care, ensuring that he feels heard, listened to and has a say about how his needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to attend his medical appointments. Before the child moved in, arrangements were made to promote continuity of care from known health professionals whenever possible. This has contributed to the child’s ongoing engagement in their healthcare. In addition, the child’s medication has been reviewed and reduced. As a result, the child is experiencing fewer negative side effects, which has helped him to participate more actively in his daily routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to access education that is tailored to his needs and minimises the disruption to other positive aspects of his life. Although in its infancy, the child’s engagement with his learning has improved. Staff celebrate the child’s achievements in education, and his certificates are proudly displayed in his bedroom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is provided with opportunities to participate in activities in the community that he otherwise would not have had. This contributes to the child’s sense of inclusion and reduces social isolation. The child regularly goes swimming and visits a family member at their home. The child gave a massive smile when he was asked about the time that he spends with his family member. Staff support the child’s time with his family member, as they are aware of the significance of these positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to take increased responsibility for his personal care. Since moving to the home, he has shown that can shower independently. He has also been to a local barbershop to have his hair cut and beard shaved. Inspection report for children’s home: 2790895 3

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

The frequency and severity of incidents that the child has been involved in have reduced. Staff know the child well and use strategies to help him to manage his emotions in safer ways. As a result, restraint has been used less often than it has previously been. When restraint has been used, it has been proportionate to the risk of harm and is always a last resort for staff.

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

After incidents that have challenged staff, they are supported to reflect on what happened and what they could do differently. This empowers them to critically analyse the care that they provide so that adjustments can be made to prevent similar occurrences in the future. However, reflections with the child are less impactful, as staff do not always use the child’s preferred communication methods to facilitate the conversations. Staff do not always support the child to explore what happened or what they could do differently to express themselves more safely in the future.

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

Senior leaders demonstrate a thoroughness and rigour when completing recruitment checks to determine the suitability of agency-employed staff to work with children. When checks revealed concerns about one agency-employed member of staff, the concerns were shared with the relevant professionals and action was taken to ensure that children are protected from harm. However, the recruitment checks that are completed for permanently employed members of staff are not always reviewed by the registered manager. Although the checks have been completed, the registered manager has not reviewed them, so they are unable to say with certainty that the checks are satisfactory. Leaders and managers accept this vulnerability and are taking action to resolve it.

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

Staff use appropriate parental controls to help the child to stay safe when online. However, given that the child is approaching adulthood, not enough is being done to help the child to develop their knowledge of healthy relationships and how to stay safe online for themselves. Leaders and managers are confident that staff are having conversations with the child to help them to understand these topics. However, the conversations are delivered by a member of staff who has not received suitable training to enhance their own knowledge. As a result of a lack of oversight, leaders and managers are unable to evaluate how effective these conversations are or assess the child’s ongoing learning needs. Leaders and managers have not proactively planned to meet the child’s future needs in this area.

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

The child’s care plans are not always accurate, up to date or reflective of the care that he receives. Furthermore, some plans use institutionalised language, which detract from the personalised care that is provided by the staff.

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

This home was designed, furnished and registered with the intention of providing a ‘forever home’ for the child who now lives in it. Leaders and managers work collaboratively with the child’s placing authority to provide an environment that meets the child’s needs and helps them to stay increasingly safe. To achieve this, an Inspection report for children’s home: 2790895 4 appropriate level of physical restrictions is used. Leaders and managers regularly review the use of restrictions and work within a multi-disciplinary team to explore less restrictive strategies to promote the child’s independence, freedom and choice. Although physical restrictions have been reduced, the reasons for reductions are sometimes unclear, and there is a lack of critical analysis and oversight by leaders and managers to promote further reductions.

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

Although the environment was designed with the child’s needs in mind, there is considerable damage to the home. When damage to the home presents a safety risk to the child, swift action is taken to make the environment safe again. However, when cosmetic damage is caused, the response from leaders and managers is delayed and not enough is done to ensure that the home is maintained to an acceptable standard. Efforts to improve the child’s environment lack creativity.

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

When the child moved to the home, several agency-employed staff members from his previous home were commissioned to move with him. This helped to provide the child with continuity of care. As the child has settled into the home, there are plans to reduce the number of agency-employed staff who support him. However, several agency- employed members of staff have made the decision to transfer to the home’s permanent staff team. This demonstrates staff’s commitment to providing the child with good- quality care from people who he knows well.

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

Staff supervisions sessions and team meetings provide staff with the opportunity to reflect on the child’s complex needs and the care that they provide to him. Staff are supported to develop their skills and understanding to help them in their role and to promote continuous improvements to the quality of care. These discussions are complemented by reflective practice sessions facilitated by a therapeutic practitioner. Reflective sessions provide staff with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the child’s individual needs and how they can support him to overcome the barriers to his continued progress.

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

Experienced staff are given opportunities to mentor newer colleagues, which enables them to share valuable knowledge about how to support the child effectively. This also promotes teamwork and the provision of consistent care. However, the current system that leaders and managers use to monitor staff training needs are ineffective. Although current staff training compliance is positive, the oversight of staff training needs will become increasingly burdensome and difficult as the length of time that the home has been open increases. Inspection report for children’s home: 2790895 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 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

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

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; and

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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)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the home environment is maintained to a good standard. When the home is damaged, the registered person must ensure that repairs are completed swiftly. The registered person and staff should hold high aspirations for the child, including with regard to the quality of the environment that they live in.

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Requirement Due date

Secondly, the registered person must ensure that the child’s plans are up to date, accurate and reflective of the care that they receive. The child’s plans should clearly outline the progress that they have made and support staff to provide consistent care that promotes ongoing development. The registered person’s oversight of these plans should support 22 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2790895 6 them to evaluate the quality of care that is being provided and allow for continuous improvements to be made.

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Requirement Due date

Thirdly, the registered person must ensure that staff support the child to reflect on their behaviours and how they express their emotions, in line with their ability and communication needs. Staff should routinely help the child to think about how they can express themselves safely.

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Requirement Due date

Finally, the registered person must employ effective monitoring systems to ensure that staff have the skills and experience that they need to provide good-quality care to the child and meet their needs.

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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; and

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that any care that is arranged or provided for a child that—

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Requirement Due date

relates to the child’s development (within the meaning of section 17(11) of the Children Act 1989) or health; and 22 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2790895 7 is not arranged or provided as part of the health service continued under section 1(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006;

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Requirement Due date

satisfies the conditions in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

that the care meets the child’s needs; and

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Requirement Due date

that the care is delivered by a person who—

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Requirement Due date

has the experience, knowledge and skills to deliver that care; and

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Requirement Due date

is under the supervision of a person who is appropriately skilled and qualified to supervise that care. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)(vi)(ix)(d)(i)(ii) (3)(b)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff support the child to understand how to keep themselves safe online and within online and offline relationships. The registered person should have a clear understanding of the child’s learning needs, in line with their age and ability, and their support needs. Staff should help the child to understand what positive and harmful relationships look like. Staff should have the skills and experience to do this effectively.

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2790895 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Action for Children Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Action for Children, 3 The Boulevard, Ascot Road, Watford WD18 8AG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Sandy Cheetham-Bah

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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2790895 9 regulates 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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