Children's home run by Cherry Trees Care Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2676061 1 Registered provider: Cherry Trees Care Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home was registered with Ofsted in April 2022 and is privately owned. It provides care for up to 3 children who may have experienced childhood trauma and have social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2025.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2676061 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/03/2025 Full Outstanding 12/03/2024 Full Outstanding 01/11/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2676061 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living at the home. The inspector spoke to one child and one child who had moved on after 3 years at the home. This child experienced a planned move to supported accommodation in line with their care plan. Staff provided comprehensive support to enable the child to settle into their new home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make exceptional progress emotionally, behaviourally and socially. Children’s progress far exceeds expectations based on their starting points. There is evidence of significant change in children’s lives because of the excellent care that staff provide. Staff provide highly effective care through a therapeutically informed approach. Staff understand the needs of children who have experienced trauma. Children achieve stability, enabling them to flourish. One child has been at the home for 4 years and the newest child has lived at the home for over one year. Children achieve a solid sense of security. A social worker said: ‘[name of child] has had a chance to progress with feeling secure and settled. Previously, they experienced disruption, which resulted in [the child] being very confused, unsettled and worried.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff are loving and nurturing towards the children. The home has a family-living style captured in a family tree which consists of the adults and children at the home. Staff are highly committed to the children and help them to reach their potential. In turn, children develop warms bonds with staff. These relationships are long-standing and consistent; for example, staff have maintained contact with a child who moved on from the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff demonstrate exceptional commitment to maintaining and strengthening children’s family relationships. They provide highly skilled emotional support, helping children to process and manage their complex feelings that arise from challenging family dynamics. When parents are unable or unwilling to attend family time, staff go far beyond expectations by proactively visiting parents to encourage engagement. Staff build positive relationships with extended family members, ensuring that children experience meaningful family time and develop a social network. In addition, staff welcome children’s brothers and sisters to visit the home. This helps to enhance children’s emotional wellbeing and sense of belonging.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff go beyond standard expectations to nurture friendships and social connections. They actively support children to build and maintain positive peer relationships, including liaising with parents of friends to facilitate safe and meaningful social time for children. For example, staff arranged a trip and a holiday for one child with friends, transforming the child’s experience from isolation. The child’s independent reviewing officer said: ‘This child now has friends, whereas they used to be very isolated.’ This approach demonstrates that staff care and prioritise children’s social development and provide positive experiences. Inspection report for children’s home: 2676061 4 Staff fully support children’s educational attendance. Staff take one child to college and work closely with professionals to ensure the children’s needs are met. One child successfully moved from a specialist school to college. For another child, school incidents

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

have reduced, as the child has become more settled.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff fully support children’s interests. Children participate in a wide range of activities, such as swimming, bike rides, badminton, holidays and trips with friends and families. Staff capture these memorable events in memory books and boxes, which helps to enhance children’s self-esteem.

p.4

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

Staff understand children’s risks and previous traumatic experiences. Staff adopt highly attuned practice, offering individualised support that enables children to understand and control their emotions effectively. As a result, incidents are rare, and children show remarkable emotional resilience. A professional said: ‘[Child’s name] is much better at managing strong emotions. Outbursts are now much less of an issue.’

p.4

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

Staff provide forward-thinking, proactive support to children. Staff teach children age- appropriate skills, such as online safety and awareness in the community. Staff prepare children for adulthood and equip them with practical skills, such as cooking, using public transport and applying for jobs. The home has funded driving lessons for one child, further supporting their life skills.

p.4

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

Staff support children to feel calm and rarely use physical interventions. There have been 2 occasions when restraint was used when a child was new to the home. Restraint was necessary and proportionate to prevent harm. Debriefs were completed and the child was offered a chance to express their emotions. Staff involved were spoken to and learning was identified. There has been no further use of restraint, with the child becoming increasingly settled.

p.4

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

Children rarely leave the home without adult permission. When children go missing, staff share protocols with the police with updates on children’s presentation, clothing and contact numbers. This has supported the safe return of children to the home. Staff request return home interviews and use the learning from these conversations to prevent further incidents. For example, staff and the social worker worked closely together to agree overnight stays for one child at a friend’s home, which has reduced episodes of going missing.

p.4

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

On one occasion, a staff member did not follow a child’s behaviour management plan, resulting in the child making an allegation. The manager kept the child safe, and the staff member was suspended. The manager completed internal investigations and shared the information with the social worker and local authority designated officer (LADO). However, the information was not shared promptly with the social worker, LADO and Ofsted. The child was informed of the outcome of the investigation, which helps Inspection report for children’s home: 2676061 5 them to feel listened to. Planned development work with the staff member could not be completed as they resigned.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is run by an experienced manager who is working towards the relevant level 5 qualification for residential care. The manager is highly ambitious and committed to improving outcomes for children. She is supported by the area manager and responsible individual. They lead by example and have high expectations for staff. The local authority contracts manager said: ‘[Children’s home name] provides a strong, stable home which is local for our children.’

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager leads a culture of inclusiveness, and children participate meaningfully in the running of their home at all levels. Staff listen to children and consult them on various issues, including food, home decor and activities. The managers involve children in the recruitment of staff and they contribute to interview questions. Managers are thoughtful and consider children’s individual needs when recruiting staff. For example, there was a deliberate effort to recruit a male member of staff so that a child who had not previously experienced positive relationships with males could benefit from positive male role models.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager demonstrates exceptional leadership and collaboration, working seamlessly with a wide range of professionals to ensure children’s needs are met. Feedback from stakeholders is consistently and overwhelmingly positive, reflecting the manager’s strong partnership working with other professionals. The local authority contracts manager said: ‘If there are any concerns or decisions to be made around the child, they contact me immediately, and we convene a stakeholder meeting with the social work team to provide robust support.’ For example, one child successfully transitioned from a specialist school to college and another child received comprehensive support for their mental health needs.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers lead a consistent, stable team that is committed to the children. The home does not use agency staff and children are cared for by consistent staff who understand their needs. A social worker said: ‘The staff are warm and friendly towards the child and they [the child] appear to have good relationships with many of them. The turnover of staff does not appear to be too high, which helps relationships form and there is a great level of consistency of care offered by the management team.’

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers provide staff with excellent training. Staff complete the organisation’s mandatory training. This includes training in the therapeutic model used. Staff undertake training specific to needs of children living at the home, such as self- harm and neurodiversity. This helps the staff to understand children better. Leaders and managers offer additional training to staff as they progress and assume specific responsibilities at the home, such as skills for life and safeguarding. Inspection report for children’s home: 2676061 6

p.5

Recommendation

 The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

p.6

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: 2676061 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cherry Trees Care Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/O DPC, Stone House, 55 Stone Road Business Park, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST4 6SR

p.7

Inspector

Priscilla Koroka, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2676061 8 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8