Children's Home run by My3 Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2636919 1 Registered provider: My3 Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private company. It is registered to care for up to three children who have learning disabilities and who may social or emotional challenges.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living here at the time of this inspection. Inspectors spent time with all three children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of last inspection: 26 February 2025

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2636919 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/02/2025 Full Outstanding 29/11/2023 Full Outstanding 26/07/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2636919 3

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improvement to be good

Children are happy living here. Staff develop trusted and fun relationships with children, who seek their carers out when they return home from school. Children are full of smiles and laughter when they are interacting with their carers.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children’s health needs and advocate for children to get the appointments that they need. They communicate closely with professionals and parents to ensure that they are all working together to support each child. However, children have not been supported to develop strategies to manage their own health needs.

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improvement to be good

Managers are not consistently proactive in seeking opportunities to support children to make progress in all areas of their lives. One child is unable to eat or drink anything by mouth. In the extensive time the child has lived here, there has been no exploration about whether staff can support the child to progress to any level of oral intake. This means that leaders are not aspiring for children to achieve their full potential.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children to make progress in some areas. However, there are no clear goals or targets for children to work towards. Staff do talk to children about different topics, such as their legal rights, but there is no clear work with children to help them understand their changing bodies or key issues that are relevant to them.

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improvement to be good

The home is large and bright with plenty of space for children to play, individually or together. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to each child’s interests and children’s photos are displayed around their home. However, the home was somewhat unclean, and there was mould above a child’s window. The home was cleaned immediately after this was raised during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Staff know children well and understand each child’s unique communication style. Staff support children to make decisions about their day-to-day activities to ensure that they can contribute to their own care. Staff praise children for their efforts and progress and support them to build up their abilities.

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improvement to be good

The staff are incredibly passionate about their work. They genuinely love their roles and clearly take pride in the work that they do with the children. One parent said of the staff, ‘They’re brilliant with the children. They adore my child and [child’s name] adores them too.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2636919 4

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improvement to be good

Staff have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and use therapeutic approaches to support children. However, some children are routinely observed by visual and/or audio monitors overnight. It is not clear how this surveillance helps to keep children safe, and there is little evidence of challenge to reduce this. Additionally, one child, who has used a safe space bed since they moved to the home, has not been supported to make progress to sleep more independently without the restrictions this bed imposes. While the registered manager has recently considered whether this is necessary, there has been no evaluation of this in the previous twelve months or since the child moved here. Another child was unnecessarily restricted from leaving their bedroom after bedtime. These concerns amount to restrictive practice and do not enable children to enjoy as much freedom and privacy as possible in their own home.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to move in and out of the home in a positive way. Managers carefully consider whether children’s needs can be appropriately met here and consider the impact each child’s needs may have on the other children.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not often have to hold children to keep them safe. When this is done, it is used as a last resort. Records are well detailed, which enables managers to understand and appropriately evaluate the incident. Staff speak to children following incidents in order to understand how they are feeling. However, managers have not consistently spoken to staff to understand any impact of incidents on them. This has improved in more recent months.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers work well with other professionals and provide respectful challenge when needed to ensure that children have the services and resources that they need. Professionals and parents are kept closely informed about children’s progress and challenges.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is experienced and has the skills to lead the home. There have been some changes in the management team in recent months, with the experienced deputy manager stepping up to manage the home while the registered manager has taken a period of leave. Staff feel this transition was managed smoothly with little impact on the team or children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have mixed feelings about the support that they have received from management. Some staff feel very well supported, but others have raised concerns about feeling unvalued and unsafe. Staff have not consistently felt able to challenge the registered manager and feel that her approach can, at times, come across as confrontational. Inspection report for children’s home: 2636919 5 When complaints or concerns are raised, managers and senior leaders respond to these swiftly and effectively. This helps to ensure that children are safe and that staff have a supportive and collaborative working environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have not benefited from consistent individual discussions with their manager to explore their wellbeing, their development or the progress of children. While staff have received annual appraisals of their performance, these have not been individual to each member of staff, which has limited any positive impact of these appraisals. Staff do find team meetings helpful to reflect on the needs of children and how staff can support children in different ways.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have all completed their mandatory training courses and are suitably skilled to meet the needs of the children they care for. However, managers have not provided additional opportunities for staff to develop their knowledge and skills in new areas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers complete regular internal checks to monitor the care provided to children and implement actions from external monitoring. The management team completes a bi- annual review of the quality of care provided in the home. However, this does not include sufficient evaluation of practice and does not contribute to the long-term improvement of practice in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2636919 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 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)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that unless there is a specific safeguarding concern, children are allowed full access to all areas of their home, at all times of the day and night. Additionally, the registered person must ensure that any restrictions or surveillance are regularly monitored and evaluated with clear plans to reduce restrictions and surveillance if it is safe to do so. 5 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential;

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; 5 May 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2636919 7 understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a) (2)(a)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must provide a supportive and collaborative working environment for staff. Additionally, leaders and managers must create a culture that aspires for children to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff support children whose bodies are changing, to understand puberty and associated changes. 5 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)) 5 May 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2636919 8 Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff who are involved with restraints of children are spoken to following the incident.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all staff supervisions are completed in line with company policy. Appraisals of performance must be individual to each employee to support individual development. 5 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the quality of care review incorporates feedback from children, families, staff and professionals. The quality of care review should be evaluative in nature and should identify learning from the past six months. This should then be carried forward to create an action plan with clear, measurable goals. 5 May 2026

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children’s home: 2636919 9  The registered person should ensure that the home maintains a clean and well-kept environment which supports children’s physical, mental and emotional health. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 33 paragraph 7.3)  The registered person should ensure that staff are provided with a variety of training opportunities to meet children’s varied needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: 2636919 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 300 St Mary’s Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspectors

Aislinn Cooper, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Sam Baird, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2636919 11 regulates and inspects 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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