Children's home run by Semi-independent House Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2510315 1 Registered provider: Semi-independent House Limited

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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 by a private provider and is registered to care for 3 children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living at the home. One child spoke with the inspector and observations of one child were undertaken. One child has recently moved out; the child contributed to the inspection by talking to inspector on the phone.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2025.

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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: 2510315 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/03/2025 Full Good 30/01/2024 Full Good 29/11/2022 Full Good 14/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2510315 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff support children to maintain meaningful time with their families and understand how important these connections are for children. One professional said that without the dedication of the manager and staff, children would not have developed their family relationships to the extent that they have.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled at home and have lived there for a long time. One child has recently been supported to move back to the care of their family. The manager ensured a robust transition that met the needs of the child. Feedback from the child, parent and social worker was positive about this move and the support offered.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place emphasis on education for children. The manager has a good understanding of the educational needs of children. They work closely with professionals to support the child when they have struggled to engage with education. The manager aspires for children's futures and encourages them to believe that they deserve the best for their futures. Staff encourage children to engage with education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children's health and wellbeing, including by going to the gym together, which children enjoy. This promotes children's physical and emotional health. Staff understand the mental health needs of children and offer good support to them. Staff support children to go to fun activities outside of the home, including trips to the seaside, theme parks and holidays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and leaders enjoy celebrating special times with children. Children's birthdays are important and staff ensure that they receive the gifts they want. The manager enjoys baking a special cake for each child on their birthday, showing children how valued they are.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress towards independence. Staff support children to develop their independence skills in a variety of ways both in and away from home. Staff give regular support, so they understand how well they are doing. This helps children to feel confident in their abilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with regular children's meetings, and children are offered advocates to further support them. Staff ensure that the voice of the child is captured and that feedback is acted upon. As a result, children feel listened to and more involved in their care.

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

Staff have developed positive and trusting relationships with children. There have been no allegations made by children, no use of physical intervention and there was only one Inspection report for children's home: 2510315 4 occasion where a child went missing from home. When this has happened, staff followed procedures. Staff understand what to do should a child go missing from home.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children's needs and the potential triggers for children related to their behaviour. Plans to support staff to care for children are robust and updated following incidents.

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

Staff benefit from regular, therapeutic, reflective practice with an external professional. This supports staff to seek advice and guidance to strengthen their care of children. After incidents, staff take time to speak with children about what happened, helping them to reflect and feel supported. On one occasion, staff took action that was not in line with the needs of the child and an incident occurred. The manager had good oversight of this and implemented reflective practice with the staff.

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

Staff give children consequences that are proportionate, clearly recorded and supported by reasoned rationale. Staff take time to help children understand why a consequence has been given and what they can learn from the experience. This ensures that consequences remain constructive and support children's ongoing development to understand the effect of certain actions.

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

Staff and the manager work closely with professionals to support the care of children. For one child where there were risks related to device use, the manager worked proactively to support a plan to allow the child to access devices in a safe way. However, checks of devices in line with plans for the child are not consistently recorded by staff. Furthermore, staff practice related to discussions around internet safety are not regularly recorded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a manager who is invested in the children and cares deeply about their wellbeing and progress. The manager's commitment is recognised by others, with several professionals sharing that she offers exceptional care and dedication.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff morale is good and staff feel well supported by each other, particularly by the manager. Staff benefit from regular team meetings and supervisions. When necessary, the manager has introduced development processes for staff, which have helped them to strengthen their skills quickly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have undertaken training specific to needs of children, which supports their practice. However, there are several staff who do not have the relevant qualification and are out of timescales for completing this. Staff are enrolled on their qualification and there have been some challenges related to training providers. The manager has oversight of this and has taken action to address this shortfall and offers staff time to work towards their qualification regularly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children gave positive feedback about the manager and core staff. One child and their parent said that the use of bank staff meant there was a lack of consistency. The Inspection report for children's home: 2510315 5 manager is mindful of this and has made efforts to arrange staffing so that the same individuals work in the home whenever possible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is well supported by the operations manager, who reports to the responsible individual. However, the responsible individual has not been present in the home since the last inspection and does not evidence the oversight she has of the home in line with regulatory requirements. Inspection report for children's home: 2510315 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b)) 4 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that the responsible individual evidences oversight of the home. 4 May 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2510315 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home's policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that is helpful to the child and records should be clear and up to date about phone checks and discussions about internet safety, in line with children's plans. (Guide to Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children's home: 2510315 8

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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: 2510315 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Semi-independent House Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 51 Ploverly, Peterborough PE4 6HZ

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Inspector

Lorna Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2510315 10 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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