Children's Home run by Highgate House Walsall Limited in Walsall

Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 1 Registered provider: Highgate House Walsall Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered on 16 September 2024 to provide care for up to three children who may experience emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is suitably qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there was one child living at the home. The child was seen and spoken to during 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 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: 25 February 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/02/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a welcoming environment, decorated to a high standard throughout. Staff ensure that the home provides a safe, pleasant and nurturing space for children to live.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children can personalise their bedrooms to their individual tastes and enjoy having their own space as well as making use of the communal areas in the home. Throughout the home, there are personal touches that children have added. The child living there has really enjoyed the opportunity to help to decorate the home for Christmas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to engage in activities and outings that they have an interest in. The child is being supported by staff to develop their independence skills, for example though shopping and cooking for themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with effective support and encouragement around their education. Staff have supported one child to attend a college interview for their post-16 options. They were successful in obtaining a place on their desired course.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to enjoy relationships with the people who are important to them. Staff host celebration events at the home, and children are able to invite friends and family members. Children have positive experiences and create lasting memories. For example, the child has had a sleepover with their friends at the home, which has been a positive experience for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled at building strong and positive relationships with children. Children are therefore able to identify trusted adults that they can confide in. This helps them to feel safe. Staff support children to manage difficult feelings. This has helped children to better understand their responses to their emotions and develop some strategies for managing these positively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before children move into the home, the manager considers their needs alongside those of the children already living in the home. However, they do not fully consider the skills and experience of the staff team. This had some negative impact on children’s experiences during the time that one child lived at the home.

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

Staff know the child well and are able to talk to them about how to keep themselves safe. The number of times one child went missing from home significantly reduced as a result of this support.

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

When children go missing from home, staff follow the guidance in children’s care plans to keep them safe and ensure that all relevant persons are kept updated. Staff always attempt to follow children or contact known places that they may be. For example, when Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 4 one child went out of the area, staff travelled to the suspected location and then stayed overnight to support with finding them.

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

Staff receive training that helps them understand the potential risks to children online. Staff talk to children about the risks of using the internet, and this helps to keep children safe when they are online and using social media.

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

Staff advocate effectively for children and ensure that they know how to make a complaint, for example via a digital platform easily accessible in the home. Managers respond to children’s complaints in a timely manner.

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

Staff know how to talk to children about how they are feeling, and they give them strategies to help them when they are upset. As a result, there have not been any incidents of physical intervention or self-harm since the last inspection.

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

Staff positively manage safeguarding through the relationships that they have with children. Children feel able to speak to staff if they have concerns, enabling staff to respond appropriately when a child is at risk or when they may need additional support.

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

The manager does not promptly address concerns regarding staff practice. On one occasion, the manager did not complete a timely internal investigation into an allegation against a member of staff. This limits opportunities for learning and for staff practice to be improved.

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

The manager does not consistently notify Ofsted when serious safeguarding incidents take place. This compromises the external oversight of the home.

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

The manager is appropriately qualified and committed to providing positive experiences for children. The manager understands the home’s and staff team’s strengths and areas for development. He has taken some action to address the shortfalls identified. However, at the time of the inspection, these had not embedded fully.

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

The manager has some monitoring systems in place that are effective. Since the last inspection, a new recording system has been implemented. However, this did not fully support the manager’s oversight of the care children receive. The manager has since reverted back to previous monitoring systems, which are more reliable. Nevertheless, gaps remain in the manager’s monitoring and oversight of the home. There is limited evidence of monitoring by the responsible individual, although an external practice educator is employed to deliver clinical supervision to the registered manager and to then give feedback to the responsible individual.

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

Staff do not always receive regular supervision. When supervision does take place, this does not effectively consider the developmental needs of staff and the oversight of the experiences of the children living within the home. This means that staff do not always feel well supported and fully equipped to respond to the children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 5 There is a lack of contingency planning for when the registered manager is unavailable. Staff do not always feel that there is enough management oversight in the home, particularly for newer members of staff. This has an impact on staff feeling confident when managing difficult situations. This has meant that significant incidents have not always been responded to and reported appropriately.

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

Only the registered manager and deputy manager hold the relevant qualification. The staff team is inexperienced, and there have been several changes to the staff team in the last few months. This means that children have experienced some inconsistency in the care that they receive and the staff that support them.

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

Staff are provided with training to equip them with the skills to undertake their roles. However, at the time of the inspection, many of the staff team were still newly appointed, and therefore, the positive impact of this training on the care that children receive cannot be fully understood. For example, when children become upset or angry, some staff do not yet have the skills and knowledge to be able to respond appropriately to calm the situation. On one occasion, this meant that a situation escalated for a child, as staff were unsure how to manage the situation without managerial support. Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 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 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

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 1 February 2026

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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

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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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)(b)(c)) 1 February 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only offer to provide a home for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the child coming to live in the home will have on the existing group of children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 7 (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s record of the event includes a

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Recommendations

description of the action taken and the outcome of any resulting investigation following any allegations made. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.14)

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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: 2789871 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Highgate House Walsall Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bluebird Care Walsall, 28a Willows Road, Walsall, West Midlands WS1 2DR

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Inspectors

Helen Dickens, Social Care Inspector Sarah Berry, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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