Children's home run by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council

Inspection report for children's home: 2811602 1 Registered provider: Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is operated by the local authority and provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living at the home. Both were present and spoke with the inspector.

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Information about this children's home

Since the home was registered in June 2025, the previous registered manager and responsible individual have left.

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Information about this children's home

The new manager and the responsible individual have applied to register with Ofsted. At the time of the inspection, their applications were in progress, and the manager and responsible individual were awaiting assessment of their suitability and fitness to carry out the role.

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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: 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: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2811602 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team provides children with a welcoming, warm and nurturing home environment. Children's bedrooms and the living areas of the home resonate with a sense of individuality, achievement and special interests. Children's photographs, games, artwork and belongings fill the space and clearly reflect the individual hobbies, interests and achievements of each child. The decor, maintenance and organisation of the home clearly suggest that those who live there are important, valued and respected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff want the best for the children who live there. Relationships between staff and children are warm and affectionate. Their positive relationships are clear to see. Children like spending time with staff and enjoy living there. As children grow in confidence, they access new social circles and enjoy a range of new activities. Children take part in activities that they enjoy with staff. This provides children with the opportunity to gain new experiences and have fun. For example, both children have joined local football teams and have been involved in baking cakes to raise money for charity. One child is also starting piano lessons.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Internal care planning processes are structured and well recorded. Staff complete internal placement plans to a good standard. These plans detail clear targets and enable staff to track children's progress and achievements. Children's internal care plans detail longer-term aims and mirror statutory care plans. This promotes good-quality and consistent care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff understand the importance of education. They work in partnership with schools and the placing authority to find children a suitable provision that reflects their learning needs. They are currently supporting one child to reintegrate into education. While this child has faced challenges with their education and has had periods of disengaging, the manager and staff are persistent with the child in motivating them to want to learn and in finding ways to engage them. This helps children to maintain a daily routine that supports their academic needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager ensures that staff are skilled and equipped to meet all children's needs. This enables the staff to prepare and support children well so that their moves into the home are smooth and successful. Children receive high-quality care that makes them feel valued and secure. Children are positive about living in the home and say that the best things about it are how the staff look after them, the activities and their bedrooms. These positive relationships and experiences have resulted in children developing a sense of security and belonging, something that they have never experienced before.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to maintain regular contact with their families when this is safe and appropriate. They provide practical and emotional support to maintain and develop these relationships. This means that children are not isolated from those who are important to them. Inspection report for children's home: 2811602 3

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

Managers and staff are clear about their responsibilities to protect children. Staff understand the child protection policy and know how to report a safeguarding concern. The manager has an effective system in place for recording, reporting and monitoring safeguarding concerns. Liaison with professionals is effective. Information is shared swiftly with professionals to avoid delay and to ensure that children are protected from harm. The manager takes guidance from these professionals, and they work together to ensure that children are safe. Safeguarding records are comprehensive. They detail the outcome of any concern, as well as further actions that adults need to be aware of.

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

When children go missing from home, staff follow the joint protocol effectively. Searches conducted by staff and persistent attempts to make contact show children that they are cared about. Proactive collaboration with the local authority and police supports children to return home safely. Missing-from-home incident records are clear, enabling thorough monitoring of these events by the manager.

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

Restraints are used as a last resort and are necessary and proportionate. Staff physically intervene when children become unsettled and show behaviours that place themselves or others at risk of harm. Staff understand the reasons behind such behaviour and provide good support to children afterwards. This helps children to move on from the incident. The recording of these incidents is not in line with regulation. Despite the manager having oversight of these, she has not identified in her oversight the shortfalls in staff practice, and, as a result, recording errors have been repeated. The manager has plans to deliver training on this at the next team meeting.

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

The manager and staff demonstrate a good understanding of children's vulnerabilities and potential risks posed to them. However, the written risk assessments are not always updated and do not give clear direction to staff regarding online safety, missing-from- home incidents or peer-on-peer conflict. This does not ensure that children are protected from harm. The manager did take prompt action during the inspection to rectify this.

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

On the whole, children living in the home get on well with each other. On occasion, there have been incidents where children have hurt one another, resulting in a breakdown in their relationship. While some action has been taken to address these concerns, such as key-work sessions, this could be improved to support children to better manage these relationships and develop an understanding about acceptable behaviours. During the inspection, the manager implemented restorative meetings to support with this and organised restorative practice training for the team to strengthen its knowledge and understanding in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report for children's home: 2811602 4 Since the home was registered in June 2025, there has been a period of instability from the management and staff team. However, during this period, no children moved into the home, so there has been no impact on children. A new manager and responsible individual are now in post, and the leadership of the home is now a strength. The management have welcomed in a whole new team and have supported them with a clear development pathway for their personal development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate about the service and advocating for children's views. She, alongside the responsible individual, role models a nurturing and therapeutic approach to children's care. Together, they form a formidable team. They keep children at the heart of all they do. They are fully involved in children's lives. They are clear about the progress children are making and have high aspirations for what they can achieve. They are enthusiastic in their efforts to be a trusted person for children. This makes them excellent role models for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers' monitoring systems are embedded into practice, which ensures that they have a good oversight of the home and take action to address issues as they arise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff morale has been mixed over this period. Staff recognise that the inconsistencies in the management contributed to this. Staff now speak positively about working at the home and the positive impact that the new leadership team has made in such a short period of time. The managers are now well regarded, and they are nurturing towards the team. This means that staff work in an environment where they feel well supported. One staff member said, 'They are so supportive and approachable. They are building my trust back up quickly. They are so committed and dedicated to their role and to the children.'

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a wide range of training that informs their practice and meets children's individual and diverse needs. Team meetings and supervision sessions take place monthly and are used as a place for reflection and learning. Important issues are tracked and discussed, and children are at the centre of all practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has developed effective working relationships with placing social workers and other external professionals. Professionals are overwhelmingly positive about the home and the quality of care given to the children. Inspection report for children's home: 2811602 5

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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 (1) 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; and

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that risk assessments are kept up to date and provide clear guidance for staff to safeguard children. They must also ensure that children are better supported to manage relationships between each other to prevent them from harm. 29 March 2026

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child's behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration; 29 March 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2811602 6 details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that restraint records are kept in line with Regulation 35.

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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: 2811602 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Council House, Manor Square, Solihull B91 3QB

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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Cameron Bradley- King

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Inspector

Marianne Grandfield, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2811602 8 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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Inspector

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