Children's home run by Silver Birch Care (Residential Services) Limited

Inspection report children's home: 2837954 1 Registered provider: Silver Birch Care (Residential Services) 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

It provides care for one child who experiences social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in July 2025. This is the home’s first inspection. At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2837954 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has moved in since the home opened. The child is settling in and building positive relationships with staff. One member of staff bought a guitar for the child and is teaching them how to play. Staff take the child to activities, such as bowling and go- karting. These experiences help the child to have positive memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is not in education and external professionals are looking for a school for them. Staff at the virtual school praised the registered manager for advocating for the child’s education. While a school place is being identified, the child attends educational activities and reads educational books. Staff are also helping the child to apply for the army cadets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to attend their health appointments regularly. The child also receives regular support for their emotional health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child sees their family regularly. Staff have a group chat with the family on smartphones to update them on the child’s day. This helps the family to feel involved in the child’s life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has several opportunities to share their views. They have an advocate, and they regularly discuss topics such as friendships, boundaries and healthy eating with the staff. There are weekly meetings with staff, that are sometimes led by the child. These meetings provide an opportunity for the child to reflect and learn about societal issues, such as homelessness.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is welcoming and clean. The child’s achievement certificates are displayed in the lounge. Staff support the child to clean their room, with access to the internet used as a positive reward. The child is also supported to cook. These activities contribute to developing the child’s life skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One staff says that ‘boundaries are a pillar of the house’. Staff are consistent in implementing boundaries and the child understands the reason for this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s care plan is not child-focused and lacks detail about their interests. Records of the child’s progress on developing independence are not well recorded. The placing authority’s care plan was unavailable during the inspection, and this had not been escalated effectively by leaders.

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

Safeguarding concerns are well managed, with multi-agency and family input. The child’s risk assessment provides staff with strategies to keep the child safe in the home and in Inspection report children's home: 2837954 3 the community. The child does not go missing from the home; they are constantly supervised by staff.

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

When incidents occur, staff respond with empathy and they explain to the child why there are concerns for their safety. Staff understand the impact that incidents have on the child. They have reflective debriefs with the child to help them to feel listened to and valued.

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

However, while immediate responses are supportive, staff are not always consistent in reviewing the consequences that they give to the child. As a result, it is not always clear whether the consequences are effective in supporting the child’s understanding of the concern or in promoting positive behaviour.

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

Physical interventions are used as a last resort and are proportionate, with appropriate support provided to both the child and the staff. However, when the chid makes allegations and the local authority designated officer (LADO) is involved, records do not always fully reflect meeting discussions or outcomes. This limits the assurance that processes are consistently followed.

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

Leaders and managers care about the child. However, management oversight is inconsistent. On inspection, the leaders were unable to evidence that a staff member had been safely recruited. The manager carries out monthly monitoring, however, this is not effective in ensuring that all records in the home are organised and up to date.

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

Team meetings take place; however, the recording of these meetings lacks detail and is not a helpful tool for staff to revisit the topics discussed. Staff have regular supervision, but there are no discussions about safeguarding; discussions about the child are inconsistent and previous actions are not always reviewed.

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

Some staff are not clear that they can contact Ofsted or the LADO directly if they have safeguarding concerns. This lack of awareness creates a risk of delay in notifying the appropriate external agencies about serious incidents.

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

Leaders and managers demonstrate some strengths. All staff have completed training required by the service that is specific to the child’s needs. Staff also receive a thorough induction to prepare them to care for children.

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

Staff enjoy working in the home and supporting the child. They feel that they work well together as a team and are consistent with their practice. One staff described the home as a ‘family’. The child’s advocate noted that the staff have good knowledge of the child and are supporting them well. Inspection report children's home: 2837954 4

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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, 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 registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which - include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child and are kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the child's care plan is child friendly and includes important information about the child.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must also ensure that the child's records reflect their time in the home and that they are organised and up to date. 30 March 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff supervisions include regular discussions about safeguarding, the child in the home and ensure that any actions from the previous supervision are monitored. 30 March 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form, are kept in an accessible manner - other records (see regulation 37)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that, when a child makes an allegation against staff, the records reflect the discussions and meetings that take place. 30 March 2026 Inspection report children's home: 2837954 5 The registered person must also ensure that team meeting minutes are comprehensive and reflect the discussions that take place.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand whistleblowing and allegation procedures. The registered person should ensure that staff are aware of external agencies that they can contact when they have safeguarding concerns. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 43, paragraph 9.15)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences are reviewed to ensure that children understand the concerns around their behaviour. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice, including adhering to regulation 33, schedule 2. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.1) Inspection report children's home: 2837954 6

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Children's home details

Registered provider: SILVER BIRCH CARE (RESIDENTIAL SERVICES) LIMITED

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: S B C H House, 212 Ballards Lane, London N3 2LX

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Inspector

Chelsea Agyeman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2837954 7 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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