Children's home run by Smooth Stone Care & Education Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2593032 1 Registered provider: Smooth Stone Care & Education 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 owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to 3 children who may have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2020.

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Information about this children's home

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home.

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Information about this children's home

The provider is currently caring for one young person who has recently turned 18 years old.

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Information about this children's home

There was one young person living in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspector spoke to the young person.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2593032 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/03/2025 Full Good 22/02/2024 Full Good 29/03/2023 Full Outstanding 14/04/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 2593032 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is designed to meet the needs of the children. Careful consideration has been given to ensure that the children's sensory needs are supported through art, play and therapeutic activities. Staff are mindful of the children's visual needs when moving furniture in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's care and support plans are clear and consistent. When children move on from the home, staff prepare them through independence planning and discussions about what will happen. When the local authority changed the care plan for one child at very short notice, the registered manager responded proactively by providing detailed transition and moving on plans, which included good insight into the child's risk and behaviour management plan.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in all areas. Staff provide experiences for children through learning at home, social activities and participating in their interests. They keep memories of the time children spend in the home, and they respect children's wishes about how their memories are kept.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work in close partnership with schools. One headteacher supported the young person with a reflective summary about the young person's best interests to remain in the home beyond the age of 18 years. The headteacher describes the young person as having come on in 'leaps and bounds' academically and this is because staff wholeheartedly support her.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff consistently use trauma-informed approaches and guidance from health professionals. They work well with mental health professionals to ensure that children receive individualised and tailored support. Staff work with professionals to ensure that ongoing therapeutic support is not disrupted when children move on. Parents speak highly about grownups' support for their children. They praise their commitment and effectiveness in supporting their children to develop good self-care skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy family time. The registered manager played a key role in increasing family time for one child. Working together with a contact worker, she implemented a six-month family time plan, which enables the child to have family time more frequently for longer periods.

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

The home is wholly or mainly a children's home. In the best interests of vulnerable disabled children, the young person remains living in the home to complete education. The registered manager completes a thorough risk assessment alongside a moving on plan, care plan, and transition plan. This means that she takes action to minimise any Inspection report for children's home: 2593032 4 risks or negative effects to any children who come to live in the home. The young person said, 'I feel safe and the grownups keep me safe.'

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

Staff are skilled in the administration of medications. When medications need to be administered in school, a well-coordinated plan of transporting and recording medications is agreed. Staff understand the importance of maintaining accurate records. However, the controlled drugs book contains a notable number of admin errors and cancellations, which are unsupported by two signatures, in line with the provider's policy. This creates potential risks of administration errors.

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

Staff prioritise rewards and restorative approaches to encourage positive behaviour. When necessary, children make financial reparations for any damage they cause. The registered manager provides oversight of negative consequences to ensure that they are proportionate and fair. This results in a reduction of behavioural incidents and unwanted behaviours.

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

Children sometimes need to be held for their safety and the safety of others. Staff have the necessary skills to manage behaviours. Action plans provide clarity of appropriate strategies for staff to use. Children and staff receive debriefs after serious incidents. This helps them to understand what could have been done differently.

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

Focused discussions are held with children, which help them to reflect and learn safer ways of coping. However, one incident record has 3 different versions of events, which are not acknowledged in the management oversight. This affects the effectiveness of management scrutiny of incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is highly experienced and suitably qualified, with a proven track record of strong, effective leadership. She leads with a vision for children to experience good parenting, have fun, build positive memories, and develop the skills and confidence they need when they move on. She is well supported by a deputy manager and a skilled and experienced staff team. As a team, they create a nurturing and stable environment for children to feel safe and valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak highly about the caring and nurturing culture of the team. They describe a 'home away from home' approach where there are always smiling faces and welcoming arms. Staff value the registered manager's open-door policy. This enables them to have ad-hoc discussions about the children and the home. As a result, staff keep the children at the centre of everything they do.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a comprehensive package of induction when they come to work in the home. The registered manager uses a training matrix that helps her to identity any shortfalls. Senior members of staff benefit from supervisory training. The manager and deputy will often audit supervisions completed by seniors. This helps to manage skills, performance, and the appropriateness of agreed actions. The manager's approach to supervision helps staff. She will often use external venues to have informal chats with Inspection report for children's home: 2593032 5 them about how they cope emotionally. This helps to build strong relationships and promotes better staff wellbeing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff actively use team meetings to reflect about continuous improvements. Children are at the heart of discussions and staff reflect on the progress they make and any emerging or ongoing support needs. Staff creatively use the home's mascot, a teddy bear called Katch, to encourage communication and relationship building. Children enjoy this approach and will even remember to take him with them during fire drills. Staff carefully consider feedback from the children through their meetings, which they call 'catch up with Katch meetings'.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager uses monitoring systems to maintain oversight of the home. This includes review of the home's file audit and the home's development plan. She has also developed a bespoke tool to monitor timeliness of a review of documents, appointments, and housekeeping maintenance. The registered manager's monitoring is supported by the Reg 44 visitor. However, the registered manager has not submitted the six-monthly review of quality of care within required timescales. As a result, this requirement will be restated from the previous inspection. Inspection report for children's home: 2593032 6

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration, and disposal of medicines received into the children's home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff adhere to the home's medication policy when recording controlled medications. 30 April 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality-of-care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality-of-care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality-of-care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (4)(a)) 30 April 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that discrepancies in records have robust management oversight. In particular, when explanations regarding incidents differ, they are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 55, paragraph 10.24) Inspection report for children's home: 2593032 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: 2593032 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Smooth Stone Care & Education Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Datum House, Electra Way, Crewe CW1 6ZF

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Inspector

Tenji Wesa, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2593032 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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