Children's home run by Protea Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2804677 1 Registered provider: Protea Care Limited

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Full inspection 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 company. It offers care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, four children were living in the home and contributed to the inspection.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2804677 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop positive and trusting relationships with children, contributing to children’s feelings of happiness living in the home. Staff support children to make positive progress when measured against their individual starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s health and well-being. Staff encourage children to lead healthy lifestyles, including access to regular physical activity and a nutritious balanced diet. For one child, this has had a significant impact on their overall health and well-being. Staff are proactive in ensuring that children’s health needs are both identified and met in a timely and effective manner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote education and learning within the home. Staff advocate for children’s education, working with education providers to ensure that the right support is in place. Staff support children to successfully re-engage in education after a lengthy period of not attending school. For children not in formal education, staff provide educational activities in the home and a structured daily routine to support children’s ongoing development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff engage children in meaningful and reflective conversations that help children to better understand their emotions, behaviours and experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions into the home are well managed. The manager undertakes thorough risk assessments and planning, ensuring that the needs of existing and prospective children are carefully balanced.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care and support plans are not updated in timely manner meaning that key documents do not reflect children’s current needs. However, staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s individual needs and risk factors that supports consistent and responsive care.

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

Staff respond effectively to incidents in line with children’s support plans, using de- escalation techniques that are tailored to each child’s needs. When staff use physical intervention, this is used appropriately and proportionately, in accordance with the child’s agreed support plan.

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

Staff and managers ensure that incident records are well maintained. Reports are detailed, clear and evidence how staff have supported children during and after incidents. These records demonstrate thoughtful reflection and learning from events.

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

Staff show good professional curiosity with children which has contributed to improved safety for children by removing potentially harmful items from children’s bedrooms. Staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2804677 3 are vigilant of children’s behaviour and act accordingly to keep children safe.

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

Staff understand missing-from-home procedures and follow these when children leave the home without permission. However, on one occasion, staff failed to complete adequate checks of a child’s bedroom. This missed oversight contributed to a missing- from-home incident where children were at risk of harm.

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

Children know how to complain and when complaints are made, the manager ensures that they are thoroughly investigated with outcomes shared with children. Leaders and managers follow allegations procedures appropriately, ensuring that both children and staff are protected throughout the process.

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

The manager regularly reviews the home’s location and community risks. Leaders and managers respond to incidents in the local area, taking action to mitigate risks and safeguard children effectively.

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

Staff use sanctions proportionately and restoratively, helping children to understand the consequences of their actions while promoting reflection and learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a strong, positive role model to the staff team. She sets high standards and leads by example. The manager is aspirational for children, which influences the wider team who share her commitment to improving outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report feeling well supported by the manager and the deputy managers, and describe a culture of openness, trust, and high expectations. The quality of supervision is consistently good. Supervisions take place regularly and are reflective in nature, offering space to identify and address individual areas for professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are used effectively to review practice, reflect on incidents, and consider how to continue improving care for children. These sessions are purposeful and contribute to a shared team ethos and a learning culture.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the home is appropriately staffed to meet the needs of children. Where the use of agency staff is required, the manager ensures that consistency is maintained by using the same individuals to provide stability for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager shows strong leadership in addressing shortfalls in practice. When concerns arise, she takes prompt and proportionate action to address these, supporting staff to learn and improve. Where safeguarding practice has not met expected standards, leaders and managers have acted quickly to address areas of concern and implement changes. Inspection report for children’s home: 2804677 4

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

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that there is the right level of staff supervision in place to safeguard children. This includes ensuring that children’s whereabouts in and out of the home is closely monitored in line with their risk assessments. 21 November 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that there is a consistent and effective approach to record-keeping. Children’s important information is to be readily accessible to staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

The registered person must ensure that key documents such as care and support plans are updated in a timely manner to ensure that information within key documents is current.

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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: 2804677 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Protea Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Howard Roth & Co, 317 Horn Lane, London W3 0BU

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Inspector

Chloe Harvey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2804677 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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