Children's Home run by Potensial Limited in Dorset

Inspection report for children’s home: 2825317 1 Registered provider: Potensial 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 managed by a private provider and can provide care for one child who may experience learning disabilities as well as social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager and the home have been registered with Ofsted since July 2025. This is the first inspection, and one child has been living at the home since registration. They were present during the inspection and spent time with the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is registered for two homes in the provider group.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

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

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

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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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2825317 2

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improvement to be good

The child living in the home is enjoying positive experiences and is making some progress. Their individual needs are understood, and the support provided when they moved in reflected their complex circumstances. Staff have built trusting relationships with the child, which helps them enjoy moments of fun and comfort. The child enjoys time outdoors, including water play, and staff support this well. They also enjoy swimming and time in local parks.

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improvement to be good

The child’s environment is restricted and does not provide the freedom or homeliness expected in a nurturing family style setting. The child is limited to one main area of the home, and these restrictions are not regularly reviewed or clearly justified. The child does not have free access to toys or everyday items, despite high staffing levels. This reduces opportunities for play, learning and personal choice. The child uses the word ‘keys’ to request items, showing how normalised locked storage has become in daily routines.

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improvement to be good

The child enjoys regular and meaningful time with their family, including weekly visits and overnight stays. Staff support these relationships well, and family connections are reflected in the home. However, the child’s cultural and religious needs are not fully met. Although staff follow the family’s guidance about food, wider opportunities to help the child understand and celebrate their background have not been developed. Planned activities were not completed to celebrate the recent religious festival, and the family’s knowledge has not been fully used to improve the child’s experiences.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the child’s health needs, including those linked to their disability. However, support from health professionals is inconsistent. This has led to mixed progress, with some positive steps around medication but delays in important assessments. Early joint work was strong but has not been maintained, which slows the pace of support and does not show enough ambition for the child’s development. The child’s communication tools are not used consistently, which limits their ability to understand their day and express themselves. Planning and discussions do not always focus on the child’s goals and lack aspiration, leaving gaps in education, health support and opportunities for independence. Furthermore, escalation processes are not used effectively to advocate for the child or strengthen practice.

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improvement to be good

The manager and partner agencies planned the child’s move thoroughly. Their coordinated approach kept the child safe and reduced the impact of change, including recruiting familiar staff to maintain the child’s existing bonds and routines. This Inspection report for children’s home: 2825317 3 supported a settled move, shown in the absence of behaviours previously seen when the child experienced distress during previous change.

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improvement to be good

The staff understand the child’s risks well and take appropriate action to keep them safe. The child’s known behaviours are recognised, and staff provide warm and sensitive care. However, practice in the home is now replicative of a risk averse culture. Staff do not demonstrate sufficient ambition or drive to support the child’s development in line with their potential.

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improvement to be good

There has been one incident of physical restraint with the child. The manager reviewed this with the staff involved, and it was considered proportionate, but the child was not supported to participate in a discussion. Their complex needs appear to have prevented any attempt by staff to engage with them, and there is an overall absence of measures to ensure they are participating in feedback about their care or to have systems to support their views or complaints being heard. These issues, along with inconsistent recording, were not addressed effectively through management oversight or evaluation of practice.

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improvement to be good

There is not consistent care from staff, and there is no therapeutic plan in place to guide them. These gaps limit staff insight and reduce opportunities to reflect, learn and develop their practice for this child. The child’s plans are poor in quality, contain inaccuracies about their daily experience, and are not kept up to date. They lack clear, measurable goals and do not support consistent or purposeful work that would help the child make progress.

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

The registered manager is experienced and communicates well about good practice. However, they have not provided the level of oversight and presence needed to ensure the home runs well. The decision to appoint a home manager who is not registered has created confusion about roles, responsibilities and accountability. As a result, key tasks have not been completed. For example, the registered manager asked for a memory book to be created for the child, but this was not progressed despite its importance.

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

The manager does not have systems that assure them of the timely completion of supervision with staff. Additionally, supervision minutes do not consistently show reflective practice or clear actions to support improvement.

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

The manager has identified weaknesses in the quality of team meeting minutes, including a lack of challenge, limited reflection and incomplete follow-up on issues such as medication practice.

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

The registered manager accepts full responsibility for the lack of progress, and senior leaders also recognise their role in ensuring better oversight. These weaknesses had not been identified earlier, despite some being raised through external monitoring. Inspection report for children’s home: 2825317 4 In the absence of robust and responsive leadership within the home, the use of paper- based recording systems limits the ability to analyse information remotely or to scrutinise patterns and trends data. Furthermore, the systems are not robust, with some information missing and some handwritten notes difficult to read. There are organisational plans to resolve the issue. However, the urgency required to address either the quality of recording or systems issues were not recognised before inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2825317 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 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; and promotes their welfare.

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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 home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met;

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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)(b) (2)(e)(f)(g)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that they spend sufficient time in the home to effectively oversee its day- to-day running. The registered person should also have systems in place to quality assure the consistency and quality of care, and to identify patterns or trends. This information, alongside expert oversight and assessment, should be used to develop and drive care and practice within the home. 30 May 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2825317 6 In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that they are fully engaged with the professional network supporting the child, and that multi-agency forums take place regularly enough to share the child’s progress and the needs of the child and the home. This should support the delivery of care that enables the child to reach their full potential, including in education and health. The registered person should use escalation processes when the child’s needs are not being effectively met. 30 May 2026

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff— 30 May 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2825317 7 understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding; and

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make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice;

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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

meet the needs of each child; and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that the care is delivered by a person who—

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Requirement Due date

has the experience, knowledge and skills to deliver that care; and is under the supervision of a person who is appropriately skilled and qualified to supervise that care. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(iv)(vii)(viii)(ix)(c)(i)(ii) (3)(b)(c)(i)(ii)).

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that the home environment reflects a homely, rather than institutional, décor while continuing to meet the child’s health and safety needs. The registered person should also ensure that individual care and behaviour plans promote consistent care and are outcome focused, with objectives that are specific, measurable, realistic, relevant and timebound. Finally, the registered person should ensure that the child’s ethnicity and religious and cultural identity are promoted and protected.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 30 May 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2825317 8 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; is necessary and proportionate; is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should review the use of locks and other restrictions to ensure that they are necessary and proportionate. This review should include clear recording of the purpose of each restriction, the dates of review, and the actions taken to reduce or remove the measure. The registered person should also ensure that staff support the child to develop an appropriate level of independence both within and outside of the home, and that the culture in the home becomes less risk averse.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of their time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. In particular, ensure each child has a memory book containing photos, tickets and captions that provide context. When possible, children should be actively involved in creating and updating their books to celebrate achievements and preserve positive memories of their time in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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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: 2825317 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Potens, 68 Grange Road West, Birkenhead CH41 4DB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Bettina Jeppesen

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Inspector

Ashley Arkless, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2825317 10 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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