Children's Home run by Kingsway Children’s Home Limited in Manchester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2836510 1 Registered provider: Kingsway Children’s Home 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

This home is operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted on 22 June 2025. This is the first full inspection of the home since registration.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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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: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2836510 2

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improvement to be good

Since the home was registered, two children have moved into the home in emergency circumstances. However, the manager ensured that as much information was gathered as possible before their arrival.

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improvement to be good

Children receive care and support from a consistent staff team. Staff provide children with a nurturing environment that is helping children to form positive relationships.

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improvement to be good

The children have settled in well. There have been some challenges in the children’s relationship with each other, which have resulted in incidents. Children are being encouraged to develop positive, trusting relationships with each other. However, at the time of the inspection both children expressed negative views about each other.

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improvement to be good

Staff spend time talking to the children about their health needs and encourage them to stay active and understand the importance of being healthy. One child enjoys taking part in a wide range of activities, including roller skating and going to the park.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to maintain relationships with their families. Staff understand the importance of family relationships and help children spend time with their families and people who are important to them in line with their care plans.

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improvement to be good

Children have positive relationships with staff. This is helping them build a sense of belonging. Consultation with children takes place and children say they can talk to trusted adults about any concerns. Children say they feel safe and listened to.

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improvement to be good

Risk management plans are reviewed and updated, and managers and staff understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children. Staff know how to respond when children may be at risk of harm. However, there was one incident when a member of staff left a child in hospital for a brief period and there is no record of the rationale for this. Although no harm came to the child, this practice left the child at risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

Overall, incidents of restraints and the use of guides are clearly recorded. However, management oversight and review of practice is not always clear. This means that the use of holds and guides is not always evaluated to ensure they were necessary and effective. Inspection report for children’s home: 2836510 3 Records relating to practice in the home are not consistently completed. One incident record was reviewed but had no managerial oversight or evaluation. This does not give the regulator a full overview of the events. During this incident a child made an allegation, and it is not clear how the manager investigated this.

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments detail strategies for staff when responding to incidents, including alcohol and substance misuse. However, records lack details about the actions staff have taken to be professionally curious and support children.

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improvement to be good

Two members of staff do not understand the roles and responsibilities of significant safeguarding professionals, including the local authority designated officer (LADO). A recommendation has been made to address this.

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improvement to be good

Incidents of one child going missing from home have significantly reduced since they moved into the home. When the child does go missing, staff are proactive in going to look for them. The manager ensures that independent return home interviews are carried out.

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improvement to be good

There are clear and appropriate arrangements in the place for the management of medication. Managers and staff have worked closely with child and adolescent mental health services to review one child’s medication needs. Fire practices in the home are safe. All staff are suitably trained in fire awareness, and children regularly take part in fire evacuations.

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

There is a suitably experienced and qualified manager in post. He demonstrates a child- centred approach and is very committed to his role. Staff enjoy their roles and say the manager is supportive and approachable.

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

There are clear lines of responsibility and line management in place. However, leaders and managers do not demonstrate any learning from incidents in the home, which means it is unclear what action is taken to prevent incidents reoccurring.

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

Leaders and managers recognise the home’s strengths and areas for improvement. They are in the process of developing further monitoring tools to improve their overall monitoring and review processes.

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

Staff have opportunities to undertake training that develops their understanding, knowledge and skills required to meet the children’s individual needs. This includes training on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and internet safety.

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

New staff say they had a good-quality induction. However, not all staff have received regular supervision in line with the home’s statement of purpose. In addition, the quality of supervision is variable. This means that not all staff have the opportunity to reflect on practice and identify their learning and developmental needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2836510 4 External monitoring is in place. However, the monthly monitoring reports do not always contain good-quality evaluations. This is not helping the manager make the necessary improvements in the home. A recommendation has been made to address this.

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

Feedback from professionals is positive. They say that staff attend all relevant meetings and provide excellent support to families, and that communication is good. One professional said, ‘Children benefit from trusted and consistent boundaries.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2836510 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

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

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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff use professional curiosity during incidents, and that incidents are fully recorded. Furthermore, when allegations are made, the manager must ensure that there is a detailed record of actions taken. 19 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2836510 6 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

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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that following incidents, including any allegations, information is fully recorded. Incidents must contain clear management oversight and evaluation. 19 December 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 19 December 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the independent visitor completes a rigorous assessment of the home that includes good-quality evaluation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that all staff receive regular supervision in line with the home’s statement of purpose. In addition, all supervision sessions should be of good quality and reflective. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  The registered person should ensure that all staff understand the role of significant safeguarding professionals, including the LADO. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.18) Inspection report for children’s home: 2836510 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: 2836510 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kingsway Children’s Home Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 163 Kingsway, Manchester M19 2ND

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Inspector

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2836510 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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