Children's Home run by Inspire Care (UK) Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC487764 1 SC487764 Registered provider: Inspire Care (UK) 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

The home is owned by a private company and is registered to provide care for up to 2 children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023 and holds the level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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Information about this children’s home

During the inspection the inspector observed staff interactions with children and spoke to one child to obtain their views of the home.

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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: 10 October 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC487764 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/10/2024 Full Outstanding 08/06/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC487764 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s overall experiences of living in the home are good. The 2 children currently living in the home have settled well and are making good progress in all areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection 2 children have moved in, and one child has moved out. Staff work hard to ensure that children’s moves in and out of the home are positive despite difficult circumstances. Careful planning is undertaken to ensure that staff can meet the needs of children before they move in. This has included making necessary adaptations to the home and undertaking additional training. One child’s move out of the home was unplanned and ended abruptly following police involvement. Despite the sudden ending, staff visited the child after their move into a new home and sent individual letters and shared positive memories of them to help minimise the impact of further rejection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff value and understand the importance of children’s education. Both children are in school and have good attendance. Staff provide activities within the home that compliments children’s formal education. When children move in, staff work alongside their educational colleagues to ensure transitions between schools are seamless and there are strategies in place to provide children with the best chance of achieving.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are proactive in supporting children’s relationships with the people who are important to them. Staff work hard to overcome hurdles and build positive relationships with family members. One child has gone from having no direct family time to having regular in person meetings, which have been a huge success. These positive experiences help children to feel that they are loved and belong.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy participating in regular activities and new experiences. These are carefully planned and one child was able to experience a holiday for the first time. Staff slowly introduced the child to sand, a caravan and activities they would likely encounter on holiday to ensure its success. These experiences help to build children’s confidence, create positive memories, and enable them to have fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s environment is furnished to a high standard. Photos of the children are displayed throughout the home, which provide a homely feel. The children’s bedrooms are personalised and there are items including books and toys that are relevant to the children’s age and understanding. Also, one child owns and cares for their own pets, harnessing their love of animals. This provides children with a home that they can be proud of and enjoy living in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff work hard to ensure that children’s views and wishes are captured and acted on. For one child, the manager undertook independent research to support and help to improve the child’s communication. Also, communication aids were brought in to help the child make choices about their day-to-day life. Children and Inspection report for children's home: SC487764 4 staff are encouraged to contribute, which helps to give children confidence to speak up and be heard. One child said that they ‘love living the home,’ that they ‘like all the staff’ and rated it ‘10 out of 10’ when asked about their experiences.

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

Staff speak positively about the children and incorporate therapeutic approaches when providing care. Children are happy in the company of staff. One child said that there were people they would go to if they had any concerns which helps them to feel safe and secure.

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

Staff understand the importance of structure and routine in children’s lives and are consistent in implementing them. This helps children to feel settled and, as a result, significant incidents are generally low. This consistent approach helps children to feel safe and promotes their well-being effectively.

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

Staff understand when children are distressed. They are patient and empathetic in trying to prevent situations from escalating. When physical intervention is used, it is done so as a last resort to help keep children and others safe. Children and staff are given the opportunity to reflect on and discuss incidents. In addition, there is effective management oversight, which helps to ensure the use of physical intervention is safe, appropriate and proportionate.

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

Children are helped to maintain positive peer relationships. There have been several incidents in which one child has been targeted by their peers. Whilst staff complete restorative work with children to help them understand the impact of their actions, records do not consistently capture the impact for the child who has been targeted. While the child has not come to any significant harm, this represents a missed opportunity to better support all children and ensure that strategies in place are adequate to safeguard them.

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

Staff have a good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and are confident in raising concerns. Concerns relating to staff practice are appropriately managed. Action is taken to ensure the relevant professionals are informed and a thorough investigation takes place. However, on one occasion, staff did not report concerns promptly which delayed action being taken to safeguard the child. This was quickly picked up by the registered manager and work was undertaken with all staff to support their learning and to reduce the risk of this happening again.

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

Staff know the action they must take if children go missing from the home. Clear protocols are in place to support staff. While these are usually followed, on one occasion they were not. When the child went missing, the police were notified. However, staff did not attempt to follow or search for the child despite concerns for their welfare. The rationale to support this lack of action was not clear and had the potential to compromise the child’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report for children's home: SC487764 5 The home is led by an ambitious and caring registered manager, who has high expectations for the children and staff team. She leads by example and has embedded a strong learning culture in the home. The manager undertakes independent research which she incorporates into the ethos of the home to support positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is a strong advocate for children. They are unwavering in their challenge of other agencies to ensure that children receive the support they need. This tenacious approach helps to improve children’s outcomes and experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by the registered manager. They are provided with regular training and development opportunities. Supervision sessions and team meetings are also used to good effect to provide further learning and reflection. This helps to support ongoing improvements in the delivery of care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager maintains good oversight and takes decisive action to improve the quality of care that children receive. For example, when staff practice has fallen short of the expected standards, it is quickly addressed. Any learning identified is shared with staff to help improve and maintain standards.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals speak highly of the registered manager and staff team. They say that communication is good. One professional said, ‘Staff are fantastic. [Name of Child] has made huge progress, they are settled, are building relationships, have good routines and have made progress in their ability to communicate.’ Another said, ‘The staff have a very good understanding of [Name of Child’s] needs and are equipped to manage it well.’ Inspection report for children's home: SC487764 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, 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child's relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities and report all concerns without delay. Also, that there is effective reporting, assessment and review of children’s safeguarding incidents to ensure they are effectively safeguarded. 31 March 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC487764 7 In addition, the registered person must ensure that staff are clear on what action they should take when children are missing from the home.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they work with the placing authority effectively to ensure that, where possible, children’s moves out of the home are planned effectively and that children are supported and prepared for leaving both practically and emotionally. (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including quality standards', page 57, paragraph 11.9).

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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: SC487764 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Inspire Care (UK) Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Keystone Chartered Accountants, 263 Nottingham Road, Nottingham NG7 7DA

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Inspector

Louise Naylor, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC487764 9 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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