Children's Home run by SANQ Children Services in Dudley

Inspection report children's home: 2750621 1 Registered provider: SANQ Children Services

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this children’s home. It is registered to provide care for up to 3 children who may have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in February 2024. A new manager started in May 2026, she is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there was 1 child living in the home, they were present during the inspection and shared their views about the care they receive.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children's home: 2750621 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/05/2025 Full Good 21/08/2024 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2750621 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a high-quality home that is well presented, homely and welcoming. The views of the children were considered in choosing decor for the home. Furthermore, children are able to personalise their own bedrooms, and in doing so are able to express their individuality. This supports children in developing a sense of belonging to the home, which, in turn, helps children to feel at home and settled.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children speak highly about living here. One child told the inspector, ‘I really like it here, I get on well with everyone, the staff are really kind.’ Children have positive relationships with staff, who know them well. As a result of these positive relationships, children are open with staff and seek support when they are worried and upset. Staff treat children with respect and talk to them with positive regard and offer encouragement and appropriate emotional warmth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers ensure that staff are skilled and equipped to meet all children’s needs. This enables the staff to prepare and support children well, so that their moves into the home are smooth and successful. Although two children's placement ended where notice was served, this was due to an escalation in unsafe behaviours, which impacted the other children living in the home, all options were exhausted prior to this. Managers supported the children throughout the transition process. Following this, managers have reflected on this completing a critical analysis exploring what went wrong and how they could improve practise to avoid this happening in the future. One child successfully moved on to live independently. Over their one year living in the home they were provided with essential life skills which supported their transition. They were supported to develop independence skills at a pace that suits their needs and abilities. They developed skills,

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

such as being able to budget money, travel independently, complete laundry tasks and preparing basic meals. These opportunities enable children to take on appropriate levels of responsibility to develop life skills for the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are expertly addressed. The staff work in partnership with medical professionals effectively, and they respond to the evolving care needs of the children. They use information and guidance, alongside research, to help them modify their practice for the benefit of the children. This enables the children to have stability, security and consistent care from a team that fully understands their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to stay in touch with people who are important to them. Staff support family visits and recognise the importance of these relationships. Children are supported to have their friends over to visit and have sleepovers.

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

Managers and staff are clear about their responsibilities to protect children. Staff understand the child protection policy and know how to report a safeguarding concern. Inspection report children's home: 2750621 4 The manager has an effective system in place for recording, reporting, and monitoring safeguarding concerns. Liaison with professionals is effective. Information is shared swiftly with professionals to avoid delay and to ensure that children are protected from harm. The manager takes guidance from these professionals, and they work together to ensure that children are safe. Safeguarding records are comprehensive. They detail the outcome of any concern, as well as further actions that staff need to be aware of.

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

When children go missing from care, staff follow the joint protocol effectively. Searches conducted by staff and persistent attempts to make contact show children they are cared about. Proactive collaboration with parents, local authorities and police supports children to return home safely. Missing-from-care incident records are clear, enabling thorough monitoring of these events by the manager.

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

Restraint is used appropriately and only where necessary. All staff are trained in the home’s chosen method of restraint and incidents are regularly reviewed. Staff physically intervene when children become unsettled and show behaviours which place themselves or others at risk of harm. Staff’s wide-ranging behaviour strategies are cohesive and successful in de-escalating situations. Staff have an empathetic approach irrespective of behaviours that may present as a challenge to them. This helps children to develop trust in the staffs and their ability to keep them safe. The manager provides scrutiny of all incidents and measures of control to ensure that their use is fair and proportionate.

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

Staff educate children about risk. Children take part in keywork sessions and engage in conversations to address identified risks and raise their awareness about topics of concern. This direct work includes dangers of going missing from home, exploitation and online safety. This positive work enhances children’s knowledge of risk and allows them to take the lead in their learning.

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

There have been challenges with peer relationships in the home. The manager regularly reviews the risk of bullying between children and puts measures in place to reduce these risks. Staff proactively follow children’s plans to address concerns. Children are supported to engage in restorative work to repair relationships and staff also use shared interests and hobbies to promote and maintain a positive relationship between children in the home. Because of this, children are educated about healthy relationships and how to resolve conflict in a positive manner.

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

Consequences given to children are now restorative in nature and in line with the home’s ethos and the children’s ages and understanding. The manager has completed upskilling sessions with the staff team to improve this practice.

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

There are now safe systems in place for storage, administration and disposal of medication. One child was administered the wrong medication, despite this after seeking professional medical advice there was no impact to the child. The manager has taken learning from this, upskilling the team and implementing new protocols to improve practice. As a result, there have been no further concerns identified. Inspection report children's home: 2750621 5 Complaints made by children are not always responded to or addressed in line with the company policy. It is not clear what actions have been taken to address children’s concerns and how they reached the desired outcome. As a result, this does not ensure that children’s concerns are taken seriously and on occasions children have expressed that they do not feel safe living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has experienced a period of instability in relation to the management team; this has impacted on the staff team and children. Senior leaders have heavily supported the home during this period to ensure effective oversight and consistency. A new manager was appointed in February 2026. She is an extremely dedicated, enthusiastic and conscientious manager. She is passionate about the service and advocating for children's views. She keeps children at the heart of all she does. The manager shows great ambition for the home and where it aims to be. This ethos is now shared with the staff and children, resulting in good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager has been a significant protective factor for the home. Managers’ monitoring systems are embedded into practice, which ensures that they have a good oversight of the home and take action to address issues as they arise. They are consistently reflecting on practice and looking at lessons learned to improve the quality of care and experiences children receive. Since the new manager has started her role, she has quickly been able to recognise shortfalls that have occurred and taken swift action to address these such as upskilling sessions and identified further training. This has massively improved practice and the quality of care children have received.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff now speak positively about working at the home and recognise the positive impact that the new manager has had in the home. The manager is well regarded, and she is nurturing towards the team. This means that staff work in an environment where they feel well supported. One staff member said, ‘She is brilliant and consistently encourages us to reach our full potential. She has been instrumental in supporting the team’s development. Her leadership style is both motivating and approachable, and she maintains a strong, trusting relationship with all the children, each of whom feels comfortable and supported in her presence’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, which addresses children’s care and any practice or performance concerns. Team meeting discussions are reflective and provide a comprehensive overview of the progress made by children. This allows all staff an opportunity to discuss children’s progress, generate ideas and have a consistent approach to the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a wide range of training and development opportunities that inform their practice and help them to understand children’s individual and diverse needs. Inspection report children's home: 2750621 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

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the procedure must provide that no person who is the subject of a complaint takes any part in its consideration or investigation, except at the informal resolution stage if the registered person considers it appropriate.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that no child is subject to any reprisal for making a complaint or representation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must supply to HMCI, at HMCI's request, a statement containing a summary of any complaints made during the preceding twelve months and the action that was taken in response to each complaint. (Regulation 39 (1)(2)(3)(4)(5))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children's complaints are responded to in line with the company policy. 01 May 2026

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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: 2750621 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: SANQ Children Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Regus, Edmund House, 12-22 Newhall Street, Birmingham B3 3AS

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Inspector

Marianne Grandfield, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2750621 8 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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