Children's Home run by Collective Care Limited in Thurrock

Inspection report for children’s home: 2833800 1 Registered provider: Collective Care 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 is a privately owned home that provides care and support for up to 4 children with learning disabilities. At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted at the same time as the home, in June 2025.

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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: not previously inspected

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2833800 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children develop highly trusting relationships with staff. Interactions are nurturing, loving and filled with positivity. Children were heard laughing, singing and showing affection toward staff. These caring relationships between staff and children, along with a beautiful environment, provide children with a strong and secure basis in which they thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Since the home opened, 4 children have moved into the home, and 1 child has moved out. At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living at the home. The inspector spent time with all the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children are all new to living in a residential children’s home. Staff thoroughly understand children’s past experiences. Staff are gentle, genuine and authentic in their approach. They take their roles in children’s lives very seriously. Staff are unquestionably committed to helping children make exceptional progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have highly complex needs and need a high level of support from the staff to meet all their day-to-day needs. The children have made exceptional progress from their starting points, in all areas of their lives, because of the attuned care they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children benefit from excellent care and a stable foundation. The staff follow an embedded therapeutic model of support. Playfulness is at the core of the staff’s interactions with children. This approach is threaded within staff practice and captured in incredibly detailed and bespoke plans. These plans recognise children’s strengths and journeys.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have made significant progress with their attendance to school. Managers and staff fully understand the importance of routine and structure for children. As soon as children move to the home, staff actively seek education providers. Two children have remained at their original schools, and this has provided them with continuity and stability. Another child had not accessed formal education before moving to the home. Staff continued to escalate and challenge professionals to secure the support the child needed. They now attend full-time education. The staff are incredibly proud of the children’s progress and achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s cultural and identity needs are thoroughly respected and sensitively supported. One child’s parent said, ‘The care for [child’s name] is incredible. They [staff] make it their priority, and go above and beyond, to understand and respect their cultural needs. This means so much to us a family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Professionals provided unanimously positive feedback about the quality of care, excellent communication and exceptionally positive impact on the children’s lives. Parents and professionals collectively said that the care children receive is excellent. Inspection report for children’s home: 2833800 3

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

Proactive and creative safeguarding practice is thoroughly embedded within the home. Leaders and managers have created a deeply reflective culture among the team. Staff have a clear awareness of the role they and others play in ensuring that children’s safety is a priority.

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

Highly effective planning minimises risks inside and outside of the home. Children’s plans are child focused, incredibly detailed and regularly reviewed. The risks children face are exceptionally well understood and have significantly reduced.

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

Staff work tirelessly to secure the best possible outcomes for children. Children have excelled because of the support networks around them. One child has complex and long- term health needs. Before moving to the home, they had not had the opportunity to have their needs fully assessed and met. Since moving to the home, staff have arranged and supported the child to attend a range of appointments. Staff have secured specialist equipment for the child, and this has helped the child build on their physical strength. This multi-agency approach has meant the child’s health and quality of life has significantly improved. One professional said, [Child’s name] is thriving because they live in this home.’

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

Staff know children incredibly well, and they are helped to express their emotions in child-focused ways. Staff are highly skilled at adapting their approaches, helping children feel heard and understood. Staff provide forward-thinking and proactive responses to children. As a result, the children feel safe and secure, and they have learned to use healthier and safer ways to communicate their feelings.

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

The children benefit from a nurturing environment where positive behaviour is actively reinforced. Staff do not use consequences but instead use child-focused incentives to encourage positive behaviour, engagement and the building of independence skills.

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

When staff practice has fallen short in relation to a medication error. Leaders and managers have taken robust and timely action to identify learning and retrain staff. Changes to staff practice have been thoroughly embedded. This has meant no further errors have followed. Staff learn from mistakes without fear of judgement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is highly experienced and suitably qualified. The leaders and managers are skilled and knowledgeable. They are ambitious and committed to improving outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a particularly good understanding of children’s needs, along with the support that they need to achieve. As a result, staff feel confident and equipped to perform their roles exceptionally well. Inspection report for children’s home: 2833800 4 Professionals said that staff build positive relationships with external agencies. Managers advocate for the children and encourage local authorities to support the children in receiving quality care and to provide opportunities for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers fully consider staff’s experience and training to ensure they have the skills to support children with extremely complex needs before they move in. Managers respond to staff’s requests and arrange for ongoing training to ensure their knowledge remains up to date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers maintain effective oversight of the home, along with a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. Leaders and managers can evidence exceptional progress for all children based on their starting points. This helps to support the leaders and managers with knowledge of children’s lived experiences and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said they feel well supported, and managers are approachable and present. Staff receive regular and good-quality supervision, and this helps them to explore important topics and reflect on their everyday practice. However, staff are not always provided with a copy of their supervision record. Not all staff the inspector spoke with were aware they received formal supervision. This means staff may not always prepare for or use the meeting to its full capacity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s review of the quality of care details the progress children have made. However, the manager does not evaluate fully the impact of support provided to children by staff. This prevents the manager from fully understanding the benefit of the support that staff provide for children and from providing ongoing development. The independent reviews of the home do not regularly seek feedback from professionals, staff and where appropriate, family members. Opportunities to share feedback could provide valuable developmental opportunities along with offering further opportunity to share any concerns. Inspection report for children’s home: 2833800 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions be shared with the staff member receiving the supervision. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)  The registered person should ensure that the quality-of-care report evaluates the impact of care by staff to children. Independent scrutiny of the home should include feedback being regularly sought from professionals, staff and, where appropriate, family members, to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55 paragraph 10.24)

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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: 2833800 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Collective Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/O Collective Properties 28–42 Clements Road, Office 223a Olympic House, Ilford, Essex IG1 1BA

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Inspector

Lexi Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2833800 7 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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