Children's home run by Protea Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2502918 1 Registered provider: Protea Care 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 is a privately run home that can care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties. There were two children living at the home at the time of the inspection, both contributed. One child has moved; their experience was considered within this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a registered manager.

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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: 2502918 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/03/2025 Full Good 05/12/2023 Full Good 04/01/2023 Full Good 06/07/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2502918 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience warm, nurturing and child-centred care that supports their positive progress. Staff are committed to the children and enjoy caring for them. Children feel safe with staff. Staff know the children extremely well and use this understanding to provide individualised support. They create a homely, relaxed environment by engaging in everyday routines alongside the children, such as brushing their teeth together or wearing pyjamas during evening activities. Staff also use personalised strategies, including meaningful songs to help motivate children with their morning routines. This is also used as a strategy for one child to indicate when they feel ready to talk. This helps children feel understood and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s important relationships. They actively support children’s family time and recognise the emotional significance of these connections. This helps children maintain a sense of identity and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to build and sustain friendships outside the home. Staff work with parents and partner agencies to assess risk and put appropriate plans in place which help children to spend time with friends safely. Children appreciate these opportunities and they contribute positively to their social development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to explore new hobbies and interests. One child has begun cross-biking and is thriving in this new activity, while another recently attended an airshow, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Children have also benefited from shared holidays over the past year, which have helped to build confidence, enhance social skills and strengthen relationships between them and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Regular, individual key-working sessions help children to reflect on their experiences and consider the steps they need to take to reduce risks and continue making progress. These sessions are tailored to each child’s needs and contribute meaningfully to their emotional development and understanding of their circumstances.

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

One child has been regularly missing from the home. Staff and managers have engaged in frequent consultation with key professionals, demonstrating a strong and effective multi-agency response. The actions taken by the home have evolved in line with the information available at the time, providing evidence of a dynamic and responsive approach to managing this risk. This well-coordinated practice strengthens the safeguarding arrangements for the child.

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

However, records of missing-from-home episodes do not always include time-stamped actions, which makes it difficult to track the sequence of events and evaluate the Inspection report for children’s home: 2502918 4 effectiveness of staff responses. This limits the home’s ability to fully review safeguarding practice and ensure that it remains robust.

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

Return home interviews are not consistently completed for the child who goes missing. This reduces opportunities to understand the reasons behind the child’s missing-from- home episodes, gather the child’s voice and use this insight to shape risk management and care planning.

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

Physical interventions have been used rarely and only when necessary. On the two occasions where intervention occurred, records show that they were proportionate and used as a last resort. Reporting is clear and demonstrates good management oversight.

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

Individualised risks for children have been identified promptly and managed well. Staff understand the strategies required to keep children safe, and the manager has sought advice from relevant professionals to guide planning and decision-making. Nevertheless, risk assessments do not fully reflect recent incidents, and some updates are still required to ensure that they remain accurate and informative for staff.

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

Staff have also responded appropriately to incidents of one child showing aggression towards others. Clear strategies are in place to manage this behaviour, and leaders maintain oversight to ensure that these approaches remain effective and are reviewed regularly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides strong, child-centred leadership and demonstrates a clear commitment to promoting positive outcomes for children. She knows the children extremely well and shows genuine care, warmth and insight into their individual needs, which contributes significantly to the positive culture within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the home’s areas for development. She has clear plans in place to drive improvement, demonstrating reflective practice and a proactive approach to strengthening the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel very well supported by the manager. They say that she is accessible, responsive and consistently available when they need guidance. Staff speak positively about the emotional and practical support they have received, noting that both the registered manager and the responsible individual have been particularly supportive during difficult personal circumstances.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, which they find helpful in supporting their practice and development. Team meetings take place routinely and are well structured. The agenda remains child focused, incorporates safeguarding throughout and provides clear direction on staff responses to identified risks. Team meetings are also used effectively as a learning forum for staff to develop their skills and understanding relating to the children’s individual needs and risks. This contributes to improved consistency and quality of care for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2502918 5 When a child recently moved into the home, leaders and managers ensured that thorough information-sharing and careful transition planning took place with relevant agencies. They also considered the compatibility between the children already living in the home and the child moving into the home and the risks involved, and used these

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

considerations to inform care planning and risk management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff help children to develop their understanding of diversity and equality. Children engage well with this work, and it helps them to build tolerance, acceptance and appreciation of differences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regulation 44 reports are not received in a timely manner and do not consistently capture or reflect children’s wishes and feelings about what it is like to live in this home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2502918 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to leaders and managers ensuring that reporting of when children are missing is time-stamped so managers can review, monitor and evaluate safeguarding responses.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to leaders and managers ensuring that return home interviews are consistently requested and clearly recorded when they happen.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to ensuring that children’s risk assessments are up to date and include all known risks. 27 February 2026

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 27 February 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2502918 7 (Regulation 13 (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers should ensure that Regulation 44 reports are received in a timely manner and include consistent views from children about their experiences of living in this home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2502918 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Protea Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Howard Roth & Co, 317 Horn Lane, London W3 0BU

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Inspector

Becky Thompson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2502918 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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