Children's Home run by Spring Care for You Ltd in Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2823058 1 Registered provider: Spring Care For You Ltd Full inspection 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 provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 30 September 2025. A manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home and was spoken with.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered provider has recently appointed a new responsible individual, and they are yet to be assessed to ensure they have the relevant capacity, experience and skills to carry out the role.

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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: 2823058 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the first inspection of the home since it was registered in April 2025. Two children moved into the home since it was registered. One child has moved out. Staff have formed good relationships with the child who is relaxed in their presence and have settled well. The home is nicely presented and feels personal to children, including their bedrooms. There are sensory areas where children can relax, and staff display photos of the children and artwork they have created, helping to make the home feel warm and welcoming.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into the home, planning is well considered. For one child, a strong transition plan was developed with input from professionals and important people in their life, which helped them to settle quickly. However, the views of a key professional for a child already living at the home were not sought to inform the transition plan. This gap in communication limited the manager’s ability to take a multi-agency approach to consider the needs of both children. When one child moved out of the home in an emergency, it was a particularly difficult time. There has been limited reflection time for staff following this event, which represents a missed opportunity to learn and strengthen future practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place emphasis on children’s education, and children benefit from positive relationships between staff and children’s schools. Children are settled in school, and staff attend important school events, which helps children feel supported in both settings. Educational professionals are positive about the progress of children since they have lived at the home. One professional said, ‘The staff are amazing, the child is at the centre of everything they do.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to take part in activities that they enjoy, and these include activities that develop their life skills and promote health and well-being. Staff support children to attend important health appointments. Staff are creating memory books for children to support them with memories of their time at the home. Staff carry out regular planned and unplanned key-work sessions with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to see family members who are important to them. This helps children to maintain positive connections with their family. Staff and managers communicate well with important people in children’s lives. A child’s relative shared heartfelt feedback, saying, ‘They are becoming the child they have the potential to be for one of the first times in their life. I feel I do not have to worry about them now that they are at the home, which is a weight off my shoulders.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care plans and assessments developed at the home that help staff understand and support children’s needs are not updated regularly. This impacts on the ability of staff to respond to changes in children’s circumstances and provide care that reflects their current needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2823058 3

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

Staff have developed positive relationships with children and enjoy spending time with them. Children feel safe and, as a result, do not go missing from home. Staff help children to feel secure and settled in their environment. There are robust plans in place should a child go missing, and staff know how to respond. There have been some interactions with neighbours of the home. Managers and staff have responded promptly to their queries to help build positive relationships.

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

There have been times when staff have needed to check children’s rooms to make sure that they are safe. These situations have been managed well, with staff taking time to speak to children about what is happening and why. Staff have recorded the reasons for the checks clearly.

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

Staff recognise the significance of peer relationships at the home. At times, these relationships have been complex and have required staff intervention to support positive interactions. There was a significant incident between children that was not reported to Ofsted. Staff consistently talk to children to help them reflect on their interactions with others and develop a better understanding of positive behaviour.

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

When staff have held children, this has been to ensure the safety of the children and staff. Managers have oversight of these incidents, and children are spoken to afterwards to help them understand what happened and why. However, behaviour management plans are not updated consistently following physical interventions. Therefore, important details may have been missed, making it harder to manage future incidents effectively.

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

Children know how to make a complaint. When they do, investigations occur, including managers working in partnership with external professionals. Managers undertake investigations as necessary to ensure positive staff practice and know the importance of updating the child. However, on one occasion, the follow-up from leaders with staff after a child made a complaint was not cohesive, and communication with staff was poor. Leaders’ response to this created uncertainty around roles and responsibilities, which had implications for both the child and team dynamics.

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

On one occasion, a member of staff shared significant information with a child without seeking guidance to ensure that this information could be shared. Although the manager had some oversight afterwards, the records do not clearly explain what took place and the decisions made. This could have affected the child’s emotional well-being and their relationships with important people in their life.

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

Since the home was registered, there have been several changes in leadership, including three different responsible individuals. The current responsible individual previously held the role of registered manager. A new acting manager is now in place, who has applied Inspection report for children’s home: 2823058 4 to register with Ofsted. These changes in senior leadership have occasionally left staff feeling unsupported. At times, these concerns have not been well managed by leaders. However, staff are positive about the new management team and its plans to develop the home, which is helping to rebuild confidence and stability.

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

Staff receive regular supervision. However, formal supervision for the home’s manager has not been recorded, and supervision provided to staff during their probation periods does not reflect the expectations set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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

Decisions made by leaders and related rationale are not always clearly recorded. This includes communication with external professionals and people connected to the child. These gaps in recording mean that important decisions and actions may not be clear to staff supporting the child.

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

The new management team is committed to the home and focused on achieving the best outcomes for children and staff. The manager has created a plan for the home and matched staff skills to specific goals, which are now starting to be embedded in practice. The responsible individual recognised the need to improve external oversight in line with regulations and acted quickly to make changes, helping to support ongoing development of the home.

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

Regular team meetings help to support the development of the staff team, which includes both experienced members and those new to the role. Staff are currently engaging in training relevant to their roles, with plans in place to work towards formal qualifications. However, not all staff are up to date with training. The manager has identified staff development as a priority and has implemented plans to strengthen this.

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

Staff have commented positively on the support they feel is now in place, with one member of staff saying, ‘Both the manager and the responsible individual are wonderful people who are passionate about their jobs. They are always there to support the team and bring a smile to the young people’s faces as well.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2823058 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(g)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that there are clear recordings of debriefs and that concerns raised by staff are managed appropriately by leaders.

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Requirement Due date

Supervision of staff and leaders should be recorded and in line with the statement of purpose. 8 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2823058 6 Decision-making and any rationale for decisions should be recorded clearly.

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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

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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that risk management and home care plans are in place and up to date that identify known and potential risks for each child.

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Requirement Due date

Information relating to children’s medication should be clear.

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Requirement Due date

Decisions regarding children moving into the home should be clearly communicated and recorded to support effective multi- agency planning. 8 December 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must notify incidents of peer- on-peer abuse when they are considered to be serious. 8 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2823058 7

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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: 2823058 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Spring Care For You Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Old Vicarage, Main Road, Holmesfield, Dronfield S18 7WT

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Inspector

Lorna Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2823058 9 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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