Children's home run by Simple Settings Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2820817 1 Registered provider: Simple Settings Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned home that provides care for up to 3 children with emotional and social difficulties and/or learning disabilities, including autism.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted on 30 August 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 3 children were living at the home.

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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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Date of last inspection:

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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Date of last inspection:

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2820817 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy living in the home. They are supported by dedicated and nurturing staff, with whom they have positive relationships. Children have progressed in terms of their emotional wellbeing, confidence and maturity since living at the home. Staff interactions with children are consistently warm, friendly and supportive, fostering a nurturing and stable home environment. Staff show genuine affection, creating a space where children feel safe and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend education and are making progress. Progress is particularly significant for one child who, before moving into the home, was not attending school. The manager and staff work effectively with external professionals to create well-coordinated plans that meet each child’s educational needs. Staff ensure that children attend school as agreed in their care plans. Staff have good relationships with children’s schools, and effective handovers between schools and the staff help to ensure that children receive continuity and consistency of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from a healthy lifestyle that is carefully supported by staff. Due to the children’s significant medical needs, staff ensure that they attend routine and specialist health appointments. They work closely with health professionals to make sure the children receive the right healthcare at the right time. Where appropriate, staff proactively seek alternative or additional support services to meet the children’s specific needs, ensuring that their health, wellbeing and ongoing development are promoted effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from imaginative, sensory-based activities that engage and stimulate them. Staff are resourceful and creative. They actively seek opportunities for children to engage in important childhood activities, such as becoming confident on play equipment, playing games and sensory play. Additionally, children have their experiences captured in a memory book with photos that capture important experiences, such as birthday celebrations, trying new activities and learning new skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the home is a safe and nurturing environment in which children thrive. The atmosphere in the home is calm and relaxed. However, one of the child’s bedrooms requires the broken bed to be repaired.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of children’s communication needs and preferred communication aids. Staff are skilled in using Widget, Makaton, Social Stories and Picture Exchange Communication System to communicate with children. However, staff do not capture the children’s voices in key documents and assessments. These records do not reflect children’s views, wishes and feelings. This limits opportunities for children to contribute to decisions about their care and have meaningful participation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2820817 3

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

Staff understand their responsibilities in respect of safeguarding children and how to report concerns. Staff receive training on safeguarding and child protection, including safeguarding children with a learning disability.

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

Risk management is effective. Staff have a good understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities of each individual child, and there are clear plans to guide their practice. Safety measures are in place to ensure that children are safe in the home, and they are helped to understand the risks.

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

Significant events are low in number and always well managed. There are detailed records of all incidents and the actions taken. Staff are trained and skilled in de- escalation, meaning that physical interventions have not been used.

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

Staff work collaboratively with other professionals, parents and family members to understand children’s complex needs. Managers and staff are strong advocates for children. Staff communicate well with relevant professionals to provide an all-round approach to children’s care.

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

Behaviour management plans provide staff with a clear account of triggers for children’s behaviour and effective de-escalation strategies. Risk reduction plans include evidence- based chronologies of children’s behaviour and guidance for staff to promote children’s positive behaviour and interaction with others. Children are provided with structure, boundaries and routines. Consequently, children are calmer, and they make better choices about their behaviour.

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

Staff help children to regulate their behaviour through using known calming or self- soothing techniques. Staff promote positive behaviour with children through offering rewards and providing children with positive choice options.

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

Children with complex health and care needs are well cared for. These are accurately identified and evaluated in their assessment and care plans. There is an effective system for safely administering children’s medication. Staff regularly liaise with health professionals to ensure that children’s lifelong conditions are managed in a safe and effective way.

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

Key-work sessions are focused on children’s individual needs and plans. In addition to planned sessions, ad-hoc key-work sessions also take place in response to changes in behaviour.

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

Leaders are acutely aware of the additional safeguarding vulnerabilities and inherent risk factors for disabled children. Learning from research is a strength of the leadership team and is shared throughout the service. This includes through staff supervision sessions, team meetings, shift handovers and internal training events. Staff understand the Inspection report for children’s home: 2820817 4 importance of an open safeguarding culture. As a result, they know how to recognise, report and act on any safeguarding concerns they may have.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers share an ambitious vision for children and for the home. They have a wide range of experience and knowledge about learning disabilities and autism. Leaders and managers understand the needs of the children well and are passionate about delivering safe care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are consistently supported by an experienced, skilled and stable staff team. The managers have high expectations of their staff and inspire them to feel empowered and fully utilise their individual expertise. Staff commented about how much they love and enjoy working in the home and how they are encouraged to take on additional responsibility to help to ensure that the home runs efficiently and effectively. One member of staff said that coming to work was ‘a pleasure’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Communication is good and team meetings are regular. These meetings are used as opportunities to reflect on practice, problem-solve and agree new ways of working with the children. In addition, when significant events occur in the home, the staff meet as a group to reflect and learn lessons from the event together.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has robust systems in place to regularly monitor the quality of care provided to the children. This supports her to understand the home’s strengths and areas for development. In addition, leaders and managers review all records of significant incidents to help them to shape future practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and managers receive regular and effective supervision. Regular team meetings provide staff with opportunities to discuss children’s progress, reflect on their practice and identify training needs. Staff feel able to share their views openly and state that they feel well supported by leaders and managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training to equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to work with vulnerable children. The provider has sourced additional training that is aligned to the needs of the children living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Records are not detailed and are written by staff in brief bullet points, lacking sufficient detail and clear explanations. For example, incident reports do not provide a full account of what happened, the actions taken or the outcomes. This makes it difficult to assess risk, identify patterns or ensure appropriate follow-up. Inspection report for children’s home: 2820817 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 children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

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;

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Requirement 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)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that the home’s records and children’s records are detailed and of good quality. 17 April 2026

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 17 April 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2820817 6 ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings.

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child; and

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(b)(iii)(d)(iii))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home continues to provide a nurturing and supportive environment that meet the needs of children. In particular, the registered person should ensure that all necessary repair work is completed to address existing damage. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2820817 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Simple Settings Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Flat 405, Oxford House, 2 Dean Path, Dagenham RM8 2FA

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Inspector

Sadia Akhtar, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2820817 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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