Children's home run by Salford City Council in Salford

Inspection report for children’s home: SC040509 1 SC040509 Registered provider: Salford City Council 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 the local authority and provides care for up to 3 children who may experience emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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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 children spoke to the inspector about their experiences of living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered provider has recently appointed a new responsible individual.

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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: 17 September 2024

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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: SC040509 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/09/2024 Full Good 04/07/2023 Full Good 31/05/2022 Full Good 23/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC040509 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 2 children have remained settled living in the home, with a third child moving into the home shortly prior to inspection. When moving in, staff ensure that all the children are supported and prepared for changes. Children are welcomed in a thoughtful and sensitive way. Staff plan effectively and complete additional training if needed to support children’s needs prior to their arrival. All 3 children say that they enjoy living in the home, with one child stating that living in the home is ‘sublime’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well understood by staff, who support children to attend all routine health appointments and access any additional services they may require. The emotional and mental wellbeing of children is at the forefront of staff practice, and staff work closely with children’s mental health services to provide a consistent and caring response in line with children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote and encourage children to achieve in their respective educational settings. The children are attending school or college full-time. Staff take an active interest in children’s education and promote learning in the home. Where any concerns are identified with a child’s educational provision, staff actively challenge wider professionals to explore different options that better meet children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to learn and develop their independence skills in line with their age and stage of development. Staff use incentives and consistent encouragement to build children’s confidence and increase their skills. Children are helped to learn how to use public transport, cook and budget in preparation for leaving the home. However, children could benefit from further support and opportunities to build on their independence in the home, providing children with more similar opportunities as their peers, such as having a key or spending time on their own.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained overall, and some communal areas have been redecorated since the last inspection. However, some areas of the home require further improvements to ensure that children live in an environment that more closely reflects a family-style home.

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

Staff value children’s views and encourage them to contribute towards their own plans. This provides staff with guidance and knowledge around how children wish to be supported and helps develop staff practice. As a result, significant incidents in the home have reduced, and staff know how to respond and better support children to keep safe.

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

Children do not go missing from the home and say that they feel safe and supported by staff. Older children spend time independently outside of the home and have appropriate safeguards and boundaries in place, including check-in calls with staff and agreed Inspection report for children’s home: SC040509 4 coming home times. All children have missing from home risk assessments, and staff know what to do should a child not return or leave the home unexpectedly.

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

Incidents in the home are well managed, and staff are successful in following children’s plans and de-escalating challenging situations. The use of physical intervention is rare, with only 2 instances since the last inspection. Children are always supported following any intervention. Staff reflect as a team to identify any areas for development after any incidents of restraint. However, on one occasion, the record of the actual intervention was not clear enough to fully evaluate the intervention used.

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

Consequences are rarely used. However, when used, they are proportionate and support and encourage positive behaviour of children. Children and staff discuss consequences to develop children’s understanding, and their views are clearly recorded. However, on one occasion, 2 consequences given to a child in quick succession did not include any reflections or discussions with staff around the effectiveness or impact of the consequences given.

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

Safer recruitment practices have improved within the home since the last inspection. The registered manager has full oversight of newly recruited staff, with all safer recruitment guidance sufficiently followed and met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced and ever-present manager who is supported by an equally dedicated deputy manager. They place children’s wellbeing and safety at the forefront of their practice. They work closely to develop and sustain an open and supportive culture across the staff team. Staff say that they are happy working in the home and that they are well supported by the manager and leadership team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training and practice development is a priority for the manager, and staff are given a variety of opportunities to learn and develop new skills. All staff are identified learning ‘champions’, with each member of staff given a role and responsibility to promote learning in the home around their specific area, such as safeguarding, equality and diversity or LGBTQUIA. Staff share knowledge and research in their chosen area and use this to promote a well-informed and consistent approach when supporting children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision has improved in the home since the last inspection, and staff say that they find supervisions helpful. The manager uses supervisions to share good practice and to effectively and sensitively address any areas for improvement. Supervisions are detailed, well recorded and child-focused.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has effective and far-reaching systems in place that support her oversight and management of the home. She ensures that children’s views are regularly captured and used to make improvements across the home and staff team. Professional and familial views are also used to support staff development, with one family member saying, ‘It’s been a weight off my shoulders since [name of child] has lived there. Staff always listen to me and keep me updated. I couldn’t ask for anything more.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC040509 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all imposed consequences are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and effective. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations’, Page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should ensure that children are supported, where appropriate, to develop their independence skills in the home, learning how to spend time in the home independently and have responsibility for a key in line with their age and risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations’, Page 17, paragraph 3.27)  The registered person should ensure that all records of physical intervention are clearly detailed to support effective review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations’, Page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that all areas of the home are maintained to a high level and reflect that of a family-style home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home

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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: SC040509 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Salford City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, Chorley Road, Swinton, Manchester M27 5DA

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Inspector

Justina Henry, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC040509 7 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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