Children's Home run by Achieving for Children Community Interest Company in Windsor and Maidenhead

Inspection report children's home: 2858260 1 Registered provider: Achieving for Children Community Interest Company

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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 local authority-owned home operated by Achieving for Children Community Interest Company. The home is registered to care for up to 4 children. There was one child living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The home and the manager were registered with Ofsted in November 2025.

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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: this is the home's first inspection since registration.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none. Inspection report children's home: 2858260 2

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Summary of findings

Overall, the child has received nurturing and thoughtful care that has improved their sense of security. The child is making meaningful progress, supported by a stable and caring home environment. Staff are generally effective in keeping the child safe; however, some staff lack the skills and confidence to manage more complex behaviours, such as aggression. Leaders and consulting therapists provide guidance and reflective support, though this can sometimes lead to mixed messages about staff roles, boundaries and behaviour management. Staff receive an appropriate induction, but specialist training linked to children's specific needs is not always timely, which can limit staff confidence and consistency in supporting children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living at the home has developed positive, trusting relationships with staff, underpinned by the provider's chosen secure base model. Staff are skilled at providing emotional support to the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The strength in relationships and the highly individualised care are recognised by professionals, including the social work team and the independent visitor, who consistently report that staff know the child well and respond appropriately to their needs. This quality of care has had a positive impact on the child's experiences and their progress from their starting points. For example, the child now refers to the children's home as 'home', and shows increased emotional openness, including speaking about their past, trusting staff with their feelings and sharing their creative writing. The child tells professionals that they want to remain living at the home, even though, during periods of difficulty with boundaries, they express a wish to leave. Staff respond to the child with calm consistency, reinforcing the message that they care for them and believe in them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to explore and celebrate their identity. Staff provide culturally appropriate care and actively support the child to embrace their heritage. Family time is promoted and supported well, strengthening important relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are able to meet the child's general health needs, including supporting their mental well-being. The child is registered with all relevant primary health services. Following sensitive encouragement, the child has begun to access more specialist therapeutic support, demonstrating growing insight into the benefits of this intervention.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

However, the child's overall experience is not consistently reflected in the quality of written records. Records relating to incidents, key-work sessions and care planning are not always written in a child-focused way. Documentation does not consistently capture the impact of events on the child or clearly identify next steps and agreed actions. This Inspection report children's home: 2858260 3 limits the effectiveness of records in helping the child to make sense of their experiences and progress while living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child's needs were carefully assessed before moving into the home, and there is a strong multi-agency approach to planning and supporting children's admissions to the home. However, staff struggle to compensate for the absence of comprehensive external services, when these are not available as planned. This places increased demands on staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals report that the provider was transparent about the level of need that staff could safely manage, and a comprehensive multi-agency support package was agreed before the current child moved in. Professionals continued to work collaboratively following the child's admission, demonstrating a commitment to joint working. However, elements of the agreed external support were not implemented as planned. In particular, specialist education provision did not materialise. While staff have identified effective and creative activities to support the child's educational needs, the absence of the expected support has placed additional pressure on staff, alongside managing significant behavioural needs.

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

Staff are skilled in applying the provider's secure base model, using positive and consistent relationships as the foundation for keeping children safe. Trusted relationships enable the child to engage with staff guidance and boundaries in a reflective and meaningful way, which supports the development of safer choices and positive behaviours.

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

Staff and the registered manager provide strong advocacy, escalating concerns appropriately and prioritising the child's safety. Communication with the child's family is well managed, with clear boundaries and a collaborative approach. As a result, the child is learning to reflect on their behaviours and risks. For example, following consistent messages from staff and a family member about internet safety, the child independently recognised that having a smartphone was not safeguarding them, and so they chose to hand it in without pressure from staff.

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

Risk assessments and support plans provide clear, practical guidance for staff on how to safeguard and support the child currently living at the home. These documents promote thoughtful, non-judgemental practice and help staff to avoid making assumptions about behaviour or intent. The risk assessments are up to date and are used effectively as live management tools, enabling staff to respond appropriately to emerging risks and changes in behaviour.

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

Since registration, the home has experienced a high number of incidents due to the child's complex needs, including episodes of the child going missing from home. Staff respond promptly, actively searching for the child and working collaboratively with the police, social workers and family members to establish the child's whereabouts. Inspection report children's home: 2858260 4 Following incidents, staff provide support that helps the child to re-engage safely and reflect on risks.

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

Physical intervention is rarely used and only as a last resort to safeguard the child or others. However, not all staff are confident in using restraint to manage unsafe behaviour. The registered manager recognises this and is working proactively with the team to improve confidence and consistency, with a focus on improving staff skills in using the provider's preferred de-escalation and trauma-informed approaches.

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

While staff show flexibility and commitment in responding to the child's complex needs, they are not fully equipped to manage complex behaviours, such as aggression. Staff report varying levels of confidence in managing complex behaviours and risks, with differing views on whether all staff can meet the needs and consistently manage the behaviours of the child currently living at the home.

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

There are discrepancies between the leadership team and the consultant therapists regarding the type and level of needs that current staff can appropriately manage in this children's home. The matching of the staffing skillset with the child's complex behaviours has not always been fully achieved in practice by the provider. The registered manager has demonstrated thoughtful reflections about staffing difficulties and the referral process and has a clear plan to address this shortfall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced and skilled registered manager, who is well supported by an equally experienced responsible individual who has a strong understanding of children's individual needs. Leadership in the home is effective, stable and child-focused.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Both the registered manager and deputy manager demonstrate high aspirations for children and are strong advocates for their rights and welfare. They place children's needs firmly at the centre of practice and work proactively to ensure that children receive consistent and nurturing care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager leads by example, setting clear expectations for practice and behaviour. Leaders actively promote a reflective and learning-based culture. Incidents, feedback and outcomes are reviewed thoughtfully to support learning and continuous improvement. This approach strengthens accountability and ensures that practice remains focused on what is in the best interests of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff show a strong commitment to providing children with stability, safety and emotional security.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have completed up-to-date induction training and they report that this has provided a strong initial foundation to support children's needs. The induction training ensures that staff understand their roles and responsibilities and that they can deliver consistent care when joining the home. Inspection report children's home: 2858260 5 Staff demonstrate commitment to their professional development; however, opportunities to further develop specialist skills relevant to the individual needs of children living in the home are limited or sometimes delayed. This is due to staff accessing corporate training provision alongside local authority colleagues, rather than accessing a bespoke training programme specific to children's residential care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision from their managers, alongside group and individual therapeutic consultation. This enables staff to reflect on their own feelings about incidents and how these affect their interactions with children. Staff have provided positive feedback about the support they receive. However, inconsistencies between the registered manager and therapists' views result at times in conflicting guidance about the roles of the staff, their professional boundaries and their responses to risk and unsafe behaviours. These discrepancies undermine staff confidence, compromise the effectiveness of practice and do not fully support a consistent therapeutic approach in line with the provider's ethos.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The physical environment of the home is well maintained, welcoming and child-friendly. It reflects the child's personality, interests and achievements, helping to create a sense of ownership. The home also benefits from an annexed accommodation facility, which is intended to provide continuity of care and supported living arrangements as children move towards independence, supporting positive transitions and long-term outcomes. Inspection report children's home: 2858260 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 registered person must ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (2) (c)) 1 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child's assessed needs as recorded in the child's relevant plans. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff supervision and support enable staff to reflect and act upon how their own feelings and behaviour may be affected by the behaviour of the children they care for. In particular, the registered manager should ensure that both leaders and consulting therapists provide staff with consistent advice and support, enabling them to build nurturing relationships with children, implement effective boundaries and manage children's behaviour in line with the provider's ethos and values as set out in the Statement of Purpose. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 39, paragraphs 8.14 and 8.15)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they and staff record information on individual children in a way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third- party information. Information about the child should always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children's home: 2858260 7

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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 children's home: 2858260 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Achieving for Children Community Interest Company

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 44 York Street, Twickenham TW1 3BZ

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Inspector

Claudia Poienar, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2858260 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 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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