Children's Home run by Platinum Services for Children (Residential Care) Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: 1222089 1 Registered provider: Platinum Services for Children (Residential Care) 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 and operated by a small private company. It provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties with associated complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2016. He is suitably experienced and holds a level 5 leadership and management qualification.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of inspection, four children were living in the home, and all children spoke with the inspector as part of 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

Date of last inspection: 30 September 2024

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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: 1222089 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/09/2024 Full Good 18/09/2023 Full Good 02/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 08/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1222089 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves into and out of the home are managed sensitively. Before moving in, children spend time with staff to build relationships. When leaving, they receive personalised memory books of their time in the home. One child who moved out has stayed in touch with staff and the children. This creates a sense of belonging and emotional security.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Interactions between staff and children are nurturing and warm. Children said they felt safe and that staff are fun and caring. One child said, ‘They gave me a home and care for me. I appreciate them.’ This creates an environment where children feel able to speak to staff about any worries they may have.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are accessing education and making good progress in their learning. Staff work closely with educational professionals and advocate strongly when there are any barriers to children’s learning. For one child, the home has worked closely with professionals to identify a more suitable education placement. One teacher said, ‘Staff are very responsive to [name of child’s] needs and work well with the school’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with family and friends. They welcome families into the home and provide practical help, such as transport and supervising contact, where needed. This strengthens children’s relationships with those who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in weekly chats, where staff explore their views, wishes and feelings. They receive a personalised response from managers to any requests. Staff have made a helpful video to support one child’s understanding of care review meetings. This helps children to feel listened to and promotes a sense of inclusion.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to therapy services that support their emotional well-being. Staff identify when children need additional support and arrange specialist services, such as speech and language assessments and sensory assessments. However, for one child, recommended visual now-and-next boards to assist with focus and transitions have not been implemented.

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

Staff understand children’s risks. They talk to them about risks such as online safety and provide educational resources such as videos and quizzes. This supports children to make safer choices and improves their knowledge.

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

Staff act promptly to protect children from exploitation. When a concern arose for one child, they identified this and implemented robust safeguarding strategies. There is close partnership working with the police and professionals. This helps to ensure that risks are managed effectively. Inspection report for children’s home: 1222089 4 Staff speak confidently about their safeguarding responsibilities and know how to escalate concerns should they need to. When concerns are raised about staff, these are taken seriously. Managers work with professionals and investigate concerns to ensure that children are safe.

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

When children’s whereabouts are unknown, staff act promptly to locate them and return them to the home safely. Managers provide additional training on missing-from-home risks. For example, staff carried out a practical exercise where they followed clues in the local area to locate an imaginary child. This strengthens staff’s ability to use professional curiosity in real situations.

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

When staff use physical intervention, it is to keep children safe. Managers have oversight of all incidents and ensure that staff and children have opportunities to reflect and explore strategies to help prevent a reoccurrence. However, when there have been incidents between children, restorative work has not always taken place, and this has had an impact on some children’s relationships with each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s manager is child focused and passionate about children’s care. He is supported by two deputy managers. Together, they provide strong leadership that promotes children’s safety and well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak positively about the support they receive from the manager. One staff member said, ‘He moves mountains to ensure that children’s time in the home is a wholly positive one.’ This creates an environment where staff feel valued and motivated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular, effective supervision takes place with staff. This supports them to reflect on their practice and identify any areas for development. Additionally, monthly team meetings are informative and are used to have open discussions about the children and improve staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a wide range of mandatory and additional training. Training is specific to the needs of the children living in the home. For example, the manager has provided training on attachment theories. This helps staff to deliver the home’s therapeutic model.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals are extremely positive about the home and the care children receive. One social worker said, ‘They have a strength-based and nurturing approach. There is good communication’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has monitoring systems in place to help him review the quality of care in the home. However, these systems are not always effective. Actions from the home’s fire risk assessment have not been fully addressed, and some fire doors do not meet fire regulations. Additionally, there are shortfalls in the home environment, including some Inspection report for children’s home: 1222089 5 damage to furnishings in children’s bedrooms and areas of the home requiring redecoration. Inspection report for children’s home: 1222089 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff implement strategies identified by specialists in relation to one child’s emotional and behavioural needs. In addition, the registered person must ensure that children are supported to maintain positive relationships with each other. 1 January 2026

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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;

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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. 1 January 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 1222089 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably.

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(vii)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that the children’s bedrooms have good quality furnishings, and that any damage to the home is quickly rectified, including damaged paintwork.

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager should ensure that all fire doors meet fire regulations and that fire actions set out in the home’s fire risk assessment are carried out. 1 January 2026

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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: 1222089 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Platinum Services for Children (Residential Care) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Union House, 111 New Union Street, Coventry, West Midlands CV1 2NT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Leonard Pattinson

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Inspector

Kirsty Truesdale, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1222089 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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