Children's home run by Searchlight Care Services Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC362170 1 SC362170 Registered provider: Searchlight 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 privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to 3 children with social and emotional difficulties due to experiencing trauma. At the time of inspection, one child was living in the home. The child spoke with the inspectors.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2024. She is suitably experienced and holds a leadership and management qualification. She currently manages 2 homes.

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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: SC362170 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/03/2025 Full Good 29/11/2022 Full Good 11/05/2021 Full Good 28/10/2019 Interim Not judged Inspection report for children’s home: SC362170 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between the child and staff are positive. Staff place the child at the centre of all decisions made in the home and understand the child’s lived experiences. This creates an environment where the child feels safe, secure and able to talk with staff about any worries they may have.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Monthly journals created by staff are shared with the child. These focus on celebrating their achievements and include photos of various activities that they have enjoyed, such as trips to the local climbing wall. This re-enforces the child’s sense of accomplishment and recognition of their own progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed to supporting and encouraging the child to be as independent as possible. For example, they have a daily independence planner, which focuses on supporting the child to gain skills in cooking and household tasks. This helps to prepare them for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Partnership working between staff and education professionals is strong. This enables them to work together to overcome any barriers the child may face. This ensures that the child receives the right support and helps them to achieve their educational targets. As a result, the child is now in full-time education and is making significant progress. One teacher said: ‘I am really impressed with them, we have coordinated strategies.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Health needs are well met. Staff support the child to attend medical appointments and talk with them about adolescent development and the importance of good routines. Additionally, staff advocate for the child when there is a need for the involvement of specialist services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is well maintained overall. There are good-quality furnishings, lots of games and toys to play with and photos of the child and people who are important to them. However, steps in the garden are damaged and have the potential to impact on the child’s safety. Furthermore, the staff smoke in the garden. This does not create a pleasant outdoor space for the child or promote positive role modelling.

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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. When the child raises concerns, the manager takes these seriously, ensuring the child feels listened to. Managers and staff reflect on their practice and make changes to improve the child’s experience of living in the home.

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

Regular multi-agency meetings take place between the home’s therapist, social worker, educators and staff. These meetings are used to review the child’s progress, their current risks and to discuss support strategies in place. This helps staff to respond safely and Inspection report for children’s home: SC362170 4 effectively to the child’s needs. As a result, there are a low number of incidents, and there is no use of physical restraint.

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

Staff know the child well, which helps them to understand how to respond to the child’s emotional needs. The child has a sense of belonging and feels understood. This reduces the likelihood of them going missing from home and ensures their safety.

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

Staff are creative in supporting the child to navigate difficult situations or conversations. They use role play to help prepare the child for a range of real-life interactions. This gives them a safe space to practise conversations and understand how people may react differently.

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

Staff use consequences to support children to consider their actions and choices. On occasions when consequences are used, they are not always restorative or relevant to the child’s actions or behaviour. This limits the opportunity for the child to fully understand their decision-making and gain meaningful learning from these experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced registered manager and deputy manager. They understand the home’s strengths and weaknesses and are child focused. The staff enjoy working in the home and speak highly about the managers and the support they receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are used to have open discussions, reflect and develop staff practice. The involvement of the home’s therapist has strengthened these discussions and ensured that staff practice is guided by specialist advice. The team regularly takes part in learning activities, focusing on the home’s therapeutic model, and have embedded it into practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision takes place regularly. This provides staff with a space to have open conversations about how they are feeling, discuss their personal development and share any worries they may have. This helps to create an open and honest culture.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff complete training focused on the child’s individual identified needs. This enables staff to provide the right support to help the child. As a result, the child is receiving care that meets their needs and promotes their progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has monitoring systems in place to help her review the quality of care the children receive. However, these systems are not always effective. For example, one staff member’s safer recruitment checks were not fully completed prior to their employment. This has the potential to reduce the manager’s oversight to assess whether an individual is suitable to work with children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC362170 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the garden is well maintained and free from hazards, and that the staff smoking area is repositioned. 16 April 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children and staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38) Inspection report for children’s home: SC362170 6

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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: SC362170 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Searchlight Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Marcus House, Parkhall Road, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent ST3 5XA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Denver Underwood

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Inspectors

Kirsty Truesdale, Social Care Inspector Nusarat Bibi, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC362170 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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