Children's home run by Warrington Borough Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2855785 1 Registered provider: Warrington Borough Council

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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 home is owned and operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

There have been 3 children living in the home during this inspection period. One child moved in prior to registration. One child was living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

During this inspection, the child spoke to the inspectors.

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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: 2855785 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff support children well. They are ambitious for children and help them make progress in all areas of their lives. Staff involve children in planning for their futures and developing independence skills, which increases children’s confidence and resilience. Since registration, 2 children have made moved out of the home, one after only a short time. One child moved in 6 weeks before the inspection. Staff are supporting them to engage in education, new interests and age-appropriate household tasks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s individual needs, which helps them to meet the children’s needs well. Children have positive relationships with the staff who care for them. One social worker said that staff provide the ‘perfect balance of being warm and nurturing while maintaining boundaries’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of education. Children have made progress in relation to their starting point. One child is now attending school every day and developing their interest in equine care. Two children who have since moved out of the home did not attend a suitable education provision, but staff were committed to keeping them engaged in education and found bespoke courses and sourced a home tutor.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain good physical and emotional health. There is an on- site mental health support service which provides specialist therapeutic input to the children. A psychological assessment and formulation underpin the care plans and risk assessments for every child. This gives the staff additional support and deepens their understanding of each child’s emotional and mental health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s achievements are celebrated by staff and rewarded with positive experiences and activities, such as having manicures and visiting theme parks. One child who moved out due to reaching adulthood celebrated this milestone with a surprise 18th birthday party attended by family, friends and professionals and a personalised ‘Journey’ book that documented their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious and staff create a nurturing environment. Communal areas are well maintained. However, one child’s bedroom does not reflect the high standards seen in the rest of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to children. There are a variety of ways in which children can express their views, feelings and wishes. This helps them feel included in decisions about their home and care. Children know how to complain. The manager ensures that children are aware of the outcome of any complaint. Inspection report for children’s home: 2855785 3 Staff are committed to providing consistent care and stability to the children. However, one child only lived in the home for 6 weeks, which was not a positive experience for the child. Although the manager reflected with the in-house clinician, she did not complete a full reflective analysis of practice learning. This is a missed opportunity for the manager to learn and inform future decision-making.

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

Children feel protected from harm and risks have significantly reduced for children since moving in. There is strong multi-agency working in place. This ensures that staff understand the complex and high risks the children face. Additionally, any learning informs the detailed risk assessments to ensure that staff are consistent in their approach. This means that risks are managed well and make children feel protected from harm.

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

Staff are not risk averse. One social worker said that staff were ‘instrumental in reducing restrictions’ for one child. Children are supported to take risks appropriate to their age as part of their development. They are encouraged to learn from any incidents when things do not go to plan through conversations with staff.

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

Each child has a detailed, individual missing-from-home plan. Staff follow these plans consistently. Staff are persistent when locating children, contacting known associates and visiting likely locations. Their determination leads to children returning home quickly. When the children return, they are welcomed back warmly by staff.

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

Children benefit from a nurturing and structured environment where positive behaviour strategies are promoted. All staff are aware of how best to support the children to manage their emotions. Physical restraint is only ever used as a last resort. However, there have been occasions when physical intervention has not been successful and staff called for police involvement to manage the children’s behaviour. On one occasion, a child experienced being detained overnight by the police. As a result, the child was at high risk of criminalisation.

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

The manager maintains robust oversight of incidents, scrutinising practice and records carefully. She considers the child’s viewpoint and explores their feelings and motivations. Any required improvements to staff practice are delivered promptly. Any investigations into allegations are appropriately managed. The manager follows safer recruitment processes when recruiting staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably experienced and qualified. She is ambitious and forward thinking. The manager has introduced staff workshops and the effective use of research and peer audits of practice and processes which have all contributed to improved outcomes for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2855785 4 There is a stable staff team, and most staff are experienced and qualified in childcare. Staff complete a robust induction and a wide range of specialised training, such supporting children who self-harm, and understanding autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This ensures that all staff have the knowledge, skills and experience to support children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The use of agency staff has been minimal. When this does happen, the manager ensures that agency staff who are familiar work alongside experienced staff to provide consistency for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel well supported by the management team and enjoy working in the home. One staff member said that working at the home is ‘exceptionally rewarding and I feel wholly supported by my colleagues and management.’ Managers recognise the emotional impact the work may have on staff and facilitate debrief sessions led by clinical staff following significant incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are regular and well attended. Managers and staff are supported through regular and effective supervision sessions that provide staff with the opportunity to focus on children’s experiences, needs, plans and feedback. The manager has already identified that supervision sessions would benefit from being more reflective and has recently delivered a training session to staff to implement this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff maintain strong, effective relationships with families and multi- agency partners. Professionals speak highly of the positive impact they have on the children who live there. One independent reviewing officer said that staff ‘prepared [name of child] really well for independence.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff ensure that professionals are kept up to date with the children’s progress and incidents as they occur. Weekly multidisciplinary risk and care planning meetings are facilitated. This ensures that staff are responsive to any changes to secure positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that she has good oversight of records in the home and benefits from external monitoring by the independent person. Inspection report for children’s home: 2855785 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they use all information and their professional curiosity to further assess all risks and the impact of a child moving into home on other children and staff.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that evaluation systems are in place to reflect on decision-making and identify future learning and development following a child’s unplanned move from the home. 3 April 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s bedrooms are personalised and well maintained. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that unless absolutely necessary, children are not arrested or charged with offences resulting from behaviour expected due to children’s needs as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.40) Inspection report for children’s home: 2855785 6

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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: 2855785 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Warrington Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Time Square, Warrington WA1 2NT

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Inspectors

Caroline Bates, Social Care Inspector Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2855785 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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