Children's Home run by Positive Outcomes Childcare Ltd in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2783632 1 Registered provider: Positive Outcomes Childcare Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It provides care for up to 4 children who have experienced social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager started in September 2025 and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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This monitoring visit

A monitoring visit at this children’s home was completed following an increase in safeguarding notifications reported to Ofsted.

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This monitoring visit

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home. This child was spoken to and said that she felt well supported by staff. Two other children remain living in the home. Leaders and managers have made the decision that they are no longer able to care for both children. One child is due to move out of the home. They recognised that children are not making the expected progress from their starting points.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that staff have taken appropriate action to safeguard children. For example, on one occasion, a child used a lighter and set fire to items in his bedroom. Staff responded to this and removed the lighter. However, no additional checks had been put in place that evening to ensure that this did not happen again. Furthermore, no work was completed with the child to help them understand the risks. Consequently, managers and staff are not adequately reducing the risk of harm.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers do not take sufficient action to address staff’s poor practice. When children raise concerns about staff practice, information is shared with the local authority designated officer, and managers complete an investigation. However, when learning outcomes are identified, these are not completed by staff who continue to provide care to children. Furthermore, children are not informed of the outcomes of the investigation and provided with reassurances that they have been listened to. This does Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2783632 2 not demonstrate that children’s voices are valued and is a missed opportunity to improve care practices.

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This monitoring visit

Safeguarding arrangements in the home are poor. Children who are known to be at risk of exploitation do not have the support from staff to engage in meaningful work to help them understand harmful behaviours. In addition, when staff complete room checks to remove hazardous items, staff do not complete reflective work with children to discuss their concerns. As a result, children do not develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from damaging or harmful behaviour.

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This monitoring visit

Staff lack professional curiosity and fail to ensure safe arrangements for children who use the internet and mobile phones. During the inspection, managers and staff said that children communicate with each other using their mobile phones. Records indicated that children use their devices to organise leaving the home together without permission. Despite knowing this risk, there are no effective strategies in place to support staff to respond and minimise the risk. This lack of oversight and intervention leaves children vulnerable and fails to demonstrate safe and responsive care.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that staff have the skills to respond to children’s behaviours. Behaviour management strategies have been ineffective, and the police have been called out to support staff. In addition, record-keeping provides conflicting and inaccurate information, and management oversight of records has been ineffective and lacks the registered manager’s scrutiny. These inadequacies potentially leave children vulnerable.

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This monitoring visit

Children have written risk assessments. However, these fail to provide staff with the most up-to-date information, guidance and strategies. For example, one child’s assessment required staff to monitor the child’s phone. However, this did not take place. Staff do not have the required information to understand children’s vulnerabilities and what action to take to protect them from harm.

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This monitoring visit

Since the last inspection, there has been an increase in incidents of children going missing from home. Sufficient action is taken by staff to follow the missing-from-care protocol and report this to the police. However, staff do not always record the steps taken to prevent children from leaving the home and discuss children’s choices or explore how they have spent their time away from the home. Leaders and managers have failed to identify and rectify the shortfalls in practice. This is a missed opportunity to understand children’s vulnerabilities and provide responsive care.

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This monitoring visit

Management oversight in the home is inadequate. Monitoring and review systems are ineffective, and shortfalls in staff practice, recording and reporting have not been adequately addressed by leaders and managers. This means that important information is not captured, and manager oversight of systems to keep children safe is not effective. Managers acknowledge shortfalls and indicate they are determined to rectify them. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2783632 3 Following this visit, compliance notices under Regulations 12 and 13 have been issued. Ofsted will undertake a further unannounced visit to monitor the home’s progress. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2783632 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/10/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2783632 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 with the given timescales.

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Requirements Due date

*The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirements Due date

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

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Requirements 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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Requirements Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirements Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirements 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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Requirements Due date

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

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Requirements Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirements Due date

The registered provider must ensure that they adhere to the steps set out in the compliance notice. 20 March 2026

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Requirements Due date

* The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— 20 March 2026 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2783632 6 helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirements Due date

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

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Requirements Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirements Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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Requirements Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirements Due date

The registered provider must ensure that they adhere to the steps set out in the compliance notice.

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Requirements Due date

*These requirements are subject of a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should ensure that children are offered a wide range of activities both inside and outside of the home, where appropriate, and are encouraged to participate in those activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.5)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2783632 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Positive Outcomes Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Agriculture House, Southwater Way, Telford, Shropshire TF3 4NR

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Inspector

Sophie Hills, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2783632 8 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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