Children's home run by Unity Residential Care Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2590342 1 Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services 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 operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since April 2025 and is registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection there were 3 children living in the home, all of whom were spoken with during this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection, and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 3 December 2024

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2590342 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/12/2024 Full Outstanding 06/03/2024 Full Good 05/12/2022 Full Good 08/12/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2590342 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff are highly committed to the children and provide them with stability. This helps children to develop a sense of belonging and permanence. When children move into the home, the staff welcome them with open arms and help them to settle in quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make consistent and sustained progress in all aspects of their lives due to the excellent support they receive from managers and staff. Children have positive relationships with the adults who care for them and say that they love living at the home. Children’s life chances are enhanced by the support they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children attend school, college, tutoring sessions and work experience and they are making significant progress in their education from their starting points. Staff communicate openly with children’s teachers and support workers and respond promptly when children need extra support. They also share relevant information with teachers about children’s friendships so that school staff are aware of potential issues and can support children accordingly. The manager advocates for children if there are delays in identifying appropriate education for them. This mitigates against children falling behind with their learning and enables them to make the progress that they are making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager recognises when children’s behaviours are linked to unmet health needs and ensures that they get the help that they need. Children’s mental and physical health improves significantly due to the support from staff to enable them to engage with specialist services. Children also learn to take responsibility for their own health appointments, in line with their age and stage of development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff encourage children to have a healthy lifestyle, teaching them to swim while on holiday and joining them at the gym and on bike rides. Staff work with the children to create a menu that includes a wide variety of foods including from other cultures. Children learn how to plan for and cook healthy meals, which they enjoy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff support children to plan for their future in a way that meets their individual needs. One child who needed additional help and motivation has learned about how to be more independent. Another child is now much more proactive and confident in contacting their social worker to discuss their plans for moving on from the home. Children express their views freely and staff help them to consider all their options and make informed decisions about their future. Staff are proud of children’s progress and achievements, as are the children themselves.

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

Staff understand children’s risks well. They follow children’s plans to prevent and reduce risks to children. Children contribute to their support plans. These plans reflect children’s views about what support from staff works best for them. This collaborative approach is Inspection report for children’s home: 2590342 4 having a positive effect on children’s behaviour. Children rarely go missing from home and they do not need to be physically held for their safety, due to their trusting relationships with staff, who are consistent in their responses to children.

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

Staff support children to understand their risks and vulnerabilities and help them see how their behaviour can be viewed by others. Consequently, children’s risks have significantly reduced. Children learn how to be safe online, stop vaping and manage their emotional health better. Highly effective plans and creative interventions help children to understand and to reduce risks in a meaningful and lasting way.

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

Managers and staff respond to challenging incidents sensitively and with honesty. They do not shy away from difficult conversations with children regarding their behaviour. Staff provide effective advice, information, and support to children. They take opportunities to talk to children, support them to process their distress when they are upset and show appropriate disapproval to guide children when they need this. Staff display an excellent understanding of how to communicate with children and have the knowledge and confidence to take advantage of opportunities to educate and support the children.

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

Children feel confident in coming to staff to talk things through that they are worried about or do not understand, and value the support and advice that staff provide. When concerns arise, external professionals support and provide direction to managers when investigating and responding to concerns. Collaborative working safeguards children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides a comfortable predictable and safe environment for the children and staff. She has high aspirations for the children and for the team and she is committed to making lasting positive change for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a thorough understanding of the strengths of the home and the areas for development. She attributes the progress that children make and the settled nature of the home to the positive relationships that staff have with the children. The manager prioritises both formal and informal training and development opportunities for the team. This enables them to remain knowledgeable and skilled through new learning and research.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff wellbeing is at the forefront of every supervision session with staff saying they feel supported and genuinely cared for by the manager. Appraisals are meaningful and include bespoke learning and development plans for each member of the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Systems to monitor staff training are used effectively by managers. Staff access additional training when new learning needs are identified. The manager maintains records of the specialist training and development work each member of the team has completed. Additional support is available for staff who struggle with completing their Inspection report for children’s home: 2590342 5 qualifications. Staff are well trained and have access to specialist training to help them support the children in their care more effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff love working at the home and praise the manager’s commitment and enthusiasm to provide the excellent care and nurture for the children. Staff comment on the close-knit team and how well they work together, and the meaningful relationships they have with the children. They speak about the manager and deputy being role models and mentors for them and the excellent support that they have in completing their work, training, and qualifications. Staff said that the home ‘genuinely feels like a home rather than a workplace.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A couple of plans for one have not been provided by the child’s local authority. The manager has escalated this, but the escalation has been limited, leaving plans being absent or out of date. The manager has ensured that information gained from meetings is added to children’s in-house placement plans so that their records remain current. Importantly, she ensures that any arising actions from care planning meetings are addressed, limiting the effect of the missing local authority plans. Inspection report for children’s home: 2590342 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)) 26 April 2026

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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: 2590342 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Lymevale Court, Lyme Drive, Parklands, Stoke-on- Trent ST4 6NW

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Emmaline Scoular

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Inspector

Kirstie Sutherland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2590342 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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Inspector

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