Children's home run by Coda Care Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2738394 1 Registered provider: Coda Care Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is privately operated. It can provide care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager. An acting manager is overseeing the home and has yet to apply to register with Ofsted.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were 2 children living in the home. The inspector spoke to both children.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 14 January 2025

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2738394 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/01/2025 Full Good 03/01/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2738394 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled and happy in the home. Children have trusting relationships with staff and say they enjoy living there. Both children are making progress. The home environment is warm and welcoming and feels like a family home. Children freely access the living areas and kitchen and spend time with staff downstairs or doing their own thing in their bedrooms. Children’s bedrooms are decorated in line with their wishes. One child has a pet hamster in their room that they really love, and this helps them feel at home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is prioritised in the home and children are making progress. Children are supported to attend sixth-form interviews. When children are out of education for a number of years, they are helped to engage with tutors who come to the home to work with them each day. Staff have helped one child’s education by joining in with games with the tutor and making it a fun, collaborative experience.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into the home, there is a thorough assessment process to ensure that the staff can meet the child’s needs, and that the children are compatible to live together. When children move out of the home, even in difficult circumstances, staff ensure that children have a positive ending to their time there.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to develop their independence skills. This has been done spontaneously until recently. However, there are now plans to ensure that this is done in a planned way. One child who is preparing to leave the home later in the year is learning how to budget, cook independently, catch the train and carry out household tasks. The child said they enjoy cooking for themselves and carrying out these tasks.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged by staff to spend time with friends and to take part in activities that they enjoy. One child who finds it challenging to spend time with peers has completed many hours of voluntary work, including helping in a soup kitchen on Christmas Day. The other child went on holiday to Italy recently and spent time at the Ferrari museum because they love cars.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff take children to see their family members or support them to speak with them by other means if they are not able to see them in person. Staff help children to get in touch with family members who they have not been in contact with for some time, if that is something they wish to do.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well met, and they are supported to attend appointments with medical professionals when necessary. When children struggle with their emotional wellbeing, staff introduce resources to help children to cope, for example using a weighted blanket when children have anxious feelings. Furthermore, staff support engagement with mental health professionals, and there is also an in-house psychiatrist who is starting to work with the staff, with plans to work with the children directly. Inspection report for children’s home: 2738394 4 Staff are not always knowledgeable about the life stories of the children in their care, even when they have lived in the home for a long time. Furthermore, life-story work is not available for children and this has not been followed up with children’s social workers. The children have very limited memory books to help them remember their time in the home and the ones that they do have are not well prepared, meaning

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

children do not have records of important moments in their lives.

p.4

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

Children are kept safe in the home. Safety planning is clear and the most up-to-date risk assessments evidence a reduction in risky behaviours. When staff have been concerned about children’s safety, this has been raised with the relevant agencies and risk management meetings have been sought as a matter of urgency.

p.4

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

Clear routines and boundaries help children feel safe and these are in line with their needs and stages of development. When children struggle with mental health challenges, staff know what to do to support them and careful thought has been given to the measures needed to safeguard children, while also causing them the least distress. Staff take time to get to know the children well and understand how to help them.

p.4

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

Staff keep children safe online by having oversight of what they are accessing on devices. When children have accessed harmful content about gender, staff have worked with them to help them to have a balanced view. This has helped one child to make important progress in their understanding.

p.4

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

Missing-from-home episodes have reduced, and effective safety planning ensures that the risk to children going missing has lessened over time. Safety plans are updated when there are any incidents and changes are made if they need to be. However, there has been a recent incident where one child was able to leave the home without staff knowing. The manager has reviewed this and taken action to address this concern. In another incident where staff did not follow missing-from-home procedures correctly, the subsequent investigation was thorough and staff were supported to have additional training and supervision to improve their safeguarding practice.

p.4

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

Physical intervention is not used frequently, and where it has been necessary it has been proportionate to keep the child safe. Whenever an incident occurs, there is a thorough reflection by the member of staff and oversight by the manager. The child is routinely spoken with following any physical intervention, but this has usually been by a member of staff who has been involved in the intervention. This does not allow children to speak freely about any concern they may have. The new manager has recently amended this practice.

p.4

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

Door alarms have been in use for one child since they moved into the home several years ago, even though there is no ongoing risk that would warrant this. The use of door alarms has not been kept under regular review. This has already been addressed by the Inspection report for children’s home: 2738394 5 new manager and the child’s bedroom door alarm has been switched off. However, the review process is not yet embedded in practice.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has had 3 managers since the last inspection. The registered manager left their role in October 2025. The current manager has only been in post for one month. Although there have been changes, the home has benefited from continuous oversight and support from the responsible individual and deputy manager. The changes that have taken place have had a limited effect on the care of the children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager is ambitious and enthusiastic for change and staff are already benefiting from his experience and knowledge. He has lots of ideas about things he wants to put in place to make improvements to the management of the home and has started to implement these, but at this stage it is too soon for anything major to have taken place. Staff say the new manager has had a positive effect since he started working at the home.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have had regular reflective supervision sessions and have benefited from ongoing training. Where there have been evident gaps in staff skills, managers have identified appropriate training and have ensured that this has been completed. Some staff lack confidence in their practice. The new manager is confident that he can address this through supportive supervision.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of patterns in children’s behavioural incidents. Measures have been used to address these, such as implementing changes to the rota to ensure that the same staff member is not always responsible for dealing with incidents. This is helping staff share the demand that their roles can bring.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Complaints are taken seriously and children understand how their complaint has been dealt with. One child has been supported to make complaints against other agencies following unsatisfactory support. This helps children know that their views are important.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment processes are in place and new staff have a thorough induction. Staff say that they enjoy working in the home and that managers are approachable and supportive. There is a supportive and open working environment, where staff can express themselves and their views are respected. The management team shares an ethos of care for the children in the home which filters through the team. Inspection report for children’s home: 2738394 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff know that the importance of understanding who we are and where we come from is recognised in good social work practice, for example through undertaking life-story work or other direct work. Staff should play a full role in work of this kind. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 16, paragraph 3.14)  The registered person should ensure that staff keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 62, paragraph 14.5)  The registered person should ensure that any modifications to the environment of the home are only made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs,

p.6

Recommendations

be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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: 2738394 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Miller Roskell Ltd, 17 Victoria Road East, Thornton- Cleveleys FY5 5HT

p.7

Inspector

Amy Groom, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2738394 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