Children's home run by Keys Child Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2841183 1 Registered provider: Keys Child Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It offers care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 4 children were living in the home. All the children spoke to the inspectors about their experience of living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2025 when the home was registered. This is the first inspection.

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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: 2841183 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in this home experience safe, loving and nurturing care from a staff team that understands their needs well. Three of the 4 children moved together with the same staff team to this new house. All children said that they love the new house and were proud to show off their bedrooms, shared living space and the gardens. Children enjoy spending time together and with staff in the home and regularly enjoy cinema nights and meals together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children make good progress in their learning in their respective education settings. Children attend school full time and have excellent attendance. Children are encouraged to fully participate in their learning and staff provide flexibility so that children can engage in a variety of after-school clubs and are able to spend time with their friends. Staff work closely with schools to provide continuity of care and communicate well with teaching professionals. One teacher said, ‘Staff are brilliant and always communicate effectively. We have daily handovers so that we all are working off the same page and giving the same message to [name of child].’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well known and understood by staff who support children to attend any routine appointments or specialised services that they may require. Staff work alongside health professionals to ensure that there is a consistent approach to supporting and addressing children’s health and wellbeing needs. Children are also encouraged to take part in regular physical activities and eat a balanced diet, to support their overall physical health and wellbeing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to take part in a wide variety of activities outside of the home. Children enjoy clubs, pamper groups and going to football clubs, which allows them to spend time with their friends outside of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When appropriate and safe to do so, staff support children to see their families and spend time with people who are important to them. One child’s family member said, ‘I cannot fault the staff. They are really flexible and supportive of our relationship and their communication is excellent.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to take on some age-appropriate responsibilities, in line with their age and development, such as keeping their rooms tidy and helping with some household chores. However, children are not supported enough to develop their independence in line with their peers, age and development. There is no clear plan for children’s independence and how staff will support children to take age-appropriate steps towards this.

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

Staff know and understand children’s risks well and share a consistent and nurturing approach to helping children develop safer and more positive behaviours. As a result, children’s risks have consistently reduced and significant incidents in the home are rare. Inspection report for children’s home: 2841183 3 Children’s views are considered in their risk assessments and care plans, with children saying how they wish to be supported by staff, which then informs the strategies that staff use. Children say that they feel listened to and that staff help them to keep safe.

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

Incidents of physical intervention in the home have decreased. Physical intervention is only used as a last resort, to prevent harm, and is always appropriately used and recorded. Children are supported following any physical intervention, their views gathered clearly and further work completed to develop their understanding of resolving conflict in a more appropriate way.

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

Children do not go missing from home and do not present with any significant safeguarding risks. However, all children have risk assessments in place and staff know how to respond should a child be missing from home. Regular direct work is completed with children to help them understand how to keep safe and recognise risks before they occur. Children have safe and appropriate safeguards in place around their online activity and respond well to consistent boundaries around their use of devices.

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

Consequences are not used in the home. Staff use discussions and direct work following any incidents to support children to learn from incidents as part of their development. Staff use rewards and incentives to promote and encourage positive behaviours. Children respond well to regular and consistent praise and acknowledgement from staff in the form of verbal praise, certificates and small treats which staff use to recognise children being kind or helpful.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced and knowledgeable manager who has developed an open and supportive culture in the home. Staff say that she is approachable, kind and helpful and that they enjoy coming into work because of the warm and open atmosphere in the home. Children identify the manager as someone that they trust and would go to for help and support if they had any worries.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that team meetings are held regularly and are used as an opportunity for staff to share good practice, reflect on areas for development and raise any concerns. Team meetings are also used to address any learning needs as a group, with the manager often using quizzes and games to evaluate staff knowledge.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervisions are used to develop staff learning and skills, while remaining focused on the children and staff practice. Staff say that they find supervisions helpful and that they are supported by the manager to develop professionally and advance in their careers if they wish to. The manager ensures that any areas for development or learning are appropriately addressed in supervisions and that actions are reviewed with individual staff members.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established systems in place which support her overview of the home. She ensures that regular and relevant direct work is completed with children, which supports their overall progress, and that children’s needs are well met by the staff. However, the manager needs better oversight of staff training, as not all staff received Inspection report for children’s home: 2841183 4 timely training relevant to all children’s needs, including staff who are new to the home and those who have transferred from other homes within the organisation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2841183 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the child.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all staff are trained in a timely manner in all identified areas of children’s needs. 16 April 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are supporting children to develop their independence in line with their peers, age and development. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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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: 2841183 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen B63 4AH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Thomas Cappleman

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Inspectors

Justina Henry, Social Care Inspector Vicky Byron, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2841183 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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