Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Today

Inspection report for children’s home: SC044745 1 SC044745 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. It is registered to provide care for up to six children who may have experienced childhood instability, resulting in trauma and associated complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since October 2024. He is suitably experienced and holds a level 5 leadership and management qualification.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is situated in a remote area. This home is located on the same site as a school. This is registered with Ofsted separately and was not inspected as part of this 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: 3 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: SC044745 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/09/2024 Full Good 14/05/2024 Full Inadequate 18/04/2023 Full Good 05/07/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC044745 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children were spoken with as part of the inspection. They are positive about the staff, describing them as ‘fun’ and ‘caring’. They feel confident to speak with staff if they have any worries. These positive relationships help to keep children safe and ensure that children feel heard and are valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of fun activities. They spoke with enthusiasm about trips to the go-karting track and playing pool with staff. Personalised memory books are made by staff and capture these special moments. This helps children to build positive memories of their time living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed to supporting children to develop their independence skills. For example, one child has completed a detailed independence booklet, which focuses on supporting the child to gain skills in cooking, household tasks and budgeting. This good support is helping the child to prepare for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Ensuring that children spend time with family is prioritised and promoted by staff. They help children to arrange and provide practical support to enable them to attend and enjoy fun activities with their loved ones. One parent said, ‘Staff are very friendly. They let us have our family time, but they are also there to support if needed.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children attend the on-site school, which is part of the same organisation. There is good partnership working between staff and education professionals. As a result, children’s attendance is good, and they are making progress with their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well met. Staff have arranged specialist support to help one child to understand the risks of vaping and smoking. They have consulted with specialist health professionals to explore alternative support. As a result, the child’s desire to smoke and vape has decreased.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s experiences of moving into and out of the home are mixed. Most children have experienced positive moves, with opportunities to meet staff before moving in. However, for one child, there was a lack of professional curiosity during the assessment process. Staff could not meet the child’s needs, resulting in the child experiencing a sudden, unplanned move. This practice does not promote stability for children. Furthermore, children living in the home experienced disruption during this time.

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

Staff speak confidently about their safeguarding responsibilities. They know how to escalate concerns and understand the home’s whistle-blowing policy. Inspection report for children’s home: SC044745 4 Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s individual risks. They talk with children about these and provide educational resources to help children to develop skills to make safer choices. For example, following concerns about fire safety, some children attended a fire awareness course.

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

Risk assessments incorporate behaviour support strategies, enabling staff to respond effectively when children are upset or unhappy. Strategies to support behaviours are explored with children, who play a key role in identifying and sharing what works best for them.

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

When physical intervention is required, it is used as a last resort to keep staff and children safe. All incidents involving physical intervention are reviewed by the manager. Opportunities are provided to both children and staff to talk about incidents and reflect and learn from them.

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

When children go missing from home, they experience a well-coordinated response. Staff work with the local police to ensure that children return to the home as quickly as possible. Children are given the opportunity to speak with an independent person to discuss the reasons why they went missing and to understand their experience while away from home. There has been a decrease in missing-from-home incidents for one child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced manager manages the home. He knows the children well, and staff speak positively about the support they receive from him. One staff said, ‘He is one of the best managers I have worked for; open, honest, approachable and down to earth.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide staff with regular supervision. These sessions are supportive in nature and provide staff with the opportunity to reflect on their practice and discuss the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a wide range of mandatory and additional training. The manager upskills staff during team meetings. Topics discussed include closed cultures and how to keep children safe online. This demonstrates that the manager and staff develop their knowledge and skills to help them in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are good working relationships with professionals who support children. One social worker said, ‘The care that they afford is fantastic.’ This approach ensures that children benefit from well-coordinated and consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has systems in place to review the quality of care children receive. However, these systems are not always effective. Damaged furniture in one child’s bedroom and a lack of cleanliness in both children’s bedrooms had not been Inspection report for children’s home: SC044745 5 identified. This means children are not receiving the support they need from staff to maintain their private and personal space. Inspection report for children’s home: SC044745 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (10)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered person ensuring that children’s needs are thoroughly assessed before moving into the home and that children have a positive experience of moving on from the home. 29 December

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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.

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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

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)) 29 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC044745 7 This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that the children’s bedrooms have good-quality furnishings and personalisation and that staff support children to keep their bedrooms clean.

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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: SC044745 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6LR

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Inspector

Kirsty Truesdale, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC044745 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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