Children's home run by Coventry City Council in Coventry

Inspection report for children’s home: SC033056 1 SC033056 Registered provider: Coventry City 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 a residential short- break service for up to 4 children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 24 children were accessing the service; 2 children were staying at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspector spoke to one child and spent time with other children with communication difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2026. She is suitably experienced and is working towards a level 5 leadership and management qualification.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC033056 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2024 Full Good 26/04/2022 Full Good 25/05/2021 Full Good 10/02/2020 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC033056 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children come to stay at the home, staff speak with their families before their stay to gather all relevant information. They take care to personalise each bedroom, with hand ‑ painted named canvases, family photos and individualised bedding. This supports children to feel welcomed, reassured and comfortable during their stay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a wide range of enjoyable and engaging activities. They spend time in the local community, have opportunities to go on holidays and enjoy attending the home’s singing group. Staff also provide a variety of toys tailored to each child’s individual interests. Children have fun, develop confidence and benefit from positive social experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Interactions between children and staff are consistently warm, caring and nurturing. Staff show a genuine interest in each child and are attentive to their individual needs. Children are visibly relaxed, comfortable and at ease with staff. These positive relationships create a reassuring environment where children feel safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate a strong understanding of how each child communicates. The home is equipped with a wide range of communication resources, including visual symbols and voice communication books. These resources ensure that all children can express themselves and that they feel heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s health needs. They work with a range of health professionals to ensure that each child’s health plan is comprehensive, accurate and regularly reviewed. They have access to clear and practical guidance for managing specific medical conditions, including epilepsy, and manual handling. This supports safe practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents speak highly about the care that children receive and enjoy the home’s regular coffee mornings. This gives them the opportunity to meet other parents and get to know the staff better. One parent said, ‘They have given [name of child] the opportunity to grow up, be independent away from the family and meet new people.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite this good progress, children do not have access to all areas of the home. Access to the kitchen is restricted at times. The manager has not completed an assessment to demonstrate that this measure is necessary or proportionate to the perceived risk. In addition, CCTV is used in the garden area where children play. The manager has not considered what impact this has on children’s privacy or emotional wellbeing. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033056 4

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

Managers carefully consider which children spend time together during their stays, focusing on children’s shared interests and their individual needs. This thoughtful planning helps children to build positive friendships with each other and supports their safety.

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

Staff speak confidently about their safeguarding responsibilities and know how to escalate concerns should they need to. When worries about children’s safety arise, the manager responds quickly and takes appropriate action. She works with families, social workers and other professionals to ensure information is shared. When needed, investigations are completed so concerns are fully understood and appropriate action is taken.

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

Staff understand children’s behaviours and associated risks. Risk plans provide clear strategies to help staff respond appropriately when children are unsettled or finding things difficult. Staff reflect on incidents to improve their practice, and they talk with children to help them understand their behaviour and make safer choices.

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

Children’s achievements are celebrated by staff with personalised certificates and verbal encouragement. Children spoke proudly about their achievements and enjoy taking their certificates home to show their families. This builds children’s confidence and reinforces a strong sense of achievement.

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

Medication management in the home is not consistently effective. There have been 5 medication errors since the last inspection. The manager recognises the seriousness of this and has introduced retraining and competency checks. However, despite this, there have been further errors, showing that these improvements are not yet fully embedded in practice. No children have come to harm due to these incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy manager work well together, with a strong child ‑ focused approach. They know the children well and are committed to meeting their individual needs, supporting progress and ensuring children have an enjoyable stay.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is experienced and stable. They speak highly of the support they receive and enjoy working in the home. This helps maintain a positive and supportive environment for children. One member of staff said, ‘I am heard, and they [leaders and managers] never fail to praise us when we do things right. It truly makes a big difference to know our efforts are noticed.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide staff with regular supervision. These sessions are supportive and give staff the opportunity to reflect on their practice and discuss the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a wide range of mandatory and additional training. Also, the manager delivers additional training in team meetings on key topics. For example, there has been Inspection report for children’s home: SC033056 5 reflection around how equality, diversity and inclusion are promoted in the home. This demonstrates that the manager and staff develop their knowledge and skills to help them in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has effective monitoring systems in place to help her review the quality-of- care children receive. She has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033056 6

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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 registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that children receive medication as prescribed and that any learning following medication errors is embedded in practice. 26 March 2026

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 26 March 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033056 7 In particular, the registered person must ensure that the use of locks on the home’s kitchen door is assessed as proportionate and the least restrictive option.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure observation, monitoring or surveillance of children does not remove reasonable privacy and should allow as much privacy as is possible. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 19, paragraph 3.36)

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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: SC033056 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Coventry City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Po Box 7097, Coventry CV6 9SL

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Sharon Essex-Billings

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Inspector

Kirsty Truesdale, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC033056 9 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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