Children's Home run by New Leaf Social Care Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2806300 1 Registered provider: New Leaf Social Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

It provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living at the home and were spoken to.

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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: 4 November 2025

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2806300 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/11/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2806300 3

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Summary of findings

Children are not yet receiving consistently good care. They have warm and positive relationships with staff and are generally confident to share their views. However, leaders and managers do not always act quickly or effectively in response to children’s wishes, risks or changing needs. Risk management plans, incident records and safeguarding oversight are weak, which limits the ability to respond consistently and keep children safe. Staff do not receive enough reflective support or specialist training to meet children’s individual needs. Children’s identity needs, family relationships and long-term care planning are not sufficiently promoted. As a result, children’s progress and experiences are limited.

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls in safeguarding arrangements and weaknesses in managerial oversight compromise the quality of care children receive. Care plans are not always clear or consistently implemented, which leads to inconsistent responses from staff. Some staff do not have the guidance they need to respond confidently to children’s needs. Consequently, children’s experiences and progress are not yet good enough.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to share their views and generally feel confident to do so. Children’s meetings provide a positive forum for them to express their wishes and feelings. However, when children raise concerns or say what would help them, action taken is not always clear. Children do not have advocates and therefore do not have a strong voice in their care.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from nurturing relationships with staff who know them well. Staff speak about children with warmth and are committed to creating a family-style environment. Professionals say that children are making some progress and are generally doing well. However, for one child, fractured family relationships are not being supported through timely multi-agency involvement. This continues to have an emotional impact on the child.

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improvement to be good

When children identify what would help them to progress, leaders and managers do not always act quickly enough. The manager escalates some issues to placing authorities, but this lacks consistency. As a result, children experience delays in accessing age- appropriate opportunities and taking safe risks. These delays limit children’s development and hinder their ability to make progress. This has also contributed to an incomplete understanding of one child’s pathway plan. As a result, leaders are not yet able to advocate effectively for the child’s future planning or long-term outcomes. Inspection report for children’s home: 2806300 4 Children understand the importance of their identity and say they want to know more about their who they are and their backgrounds. However, this is not clearly reflected in their care plans, and it is not evident how staff are helping children to explore their identity, personal histories or life stories. Leaders and managers can describe how they

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improvement to be good

intend to improve this work, but meaningful progress has not yet begun. This means an important part of children’s emotional development is not being supported.

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improvement to be good

The use of 2 separate risk management documents with conflicting information creates confusion for staff and does not provide clear guidance about how to respond to children’s behaviours. New plans are not embedded or finalised, and existing plans do not reflect children’s current risks. As a result, important information and strategies to support children in times of crisis are missing.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand safeguarding procedures. There have been no physical intervention incidents or allegations since the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

Missing-from-home incidents have reduced, and improved protocols give staff clearer direction. However, on one occasion, managers failed to address why there was a delay in reporting a child missing from home. This limits learning from practice.

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improvement to be good

There are identified risks for one child associated with sexualised behaviour. Managers have failed to share all relevant information about this risk with partner agencies. This increases risk for children when they are at school.

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improvement to be good

Debrief discussions following incidents do not take place consistently, which reduces opportunities for staff to learn and improve their practice. Two serious incidents, involving a ligature event and a disclosure, were not sufficiently recorded. This makes it unclear what follow-up action is taken. Although the local authority is informed, there is limited evidence of outcomes, learning or updates to children’s care plans. These 2 incidents were not reported to Ofsted.

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improvement to be good

Care practices for children who harm themselves need improvement. Some staff do not have the knowledge they need to respond safely to ligature incidents. There is no clear plan to address or improve this, which increases risk.

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improvement to be good

Consequences for unwanted behaviour are not always proportionate or appropriate. For one child, an example of this caused shame unnecessarily. In the circumstances, a supportive educational approach would have been more effective than a consequence.

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improvement to be good

Staffing arrangements do not always follow children’s care or safety plans. On one occasion, 2 male staff worked together despite plans stating that this should not happen. This demonstrates weak management oversight and inconsistent implementation of agreed safety strategies. Inspection report for children’s home: 2806300 5

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

Workforce development is not yet a priority. There is not enough focus on staff reflection and learning opportunities. Staff do not regularly explore children’s behaviours, understand their underlying needs or consider how their own practice impacts progress. Professional supervision is not used well enough to promote reflection, learning or professional development.

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

Staff complete a wide range of training events. However, this training is not bespoke to meet the needs of the children currently living at the home. For example, staff have not received sufficient training in autism or in responding to sexualised behaviours. This limits their ability to provide informed and consistent care.

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

The manager understands the areas for development. Problems with the online recording system affect management oversight and monitoring. Leaders and managers have not taken effective action quickly enough to address these weaknesses. As a result, serious incidents are not monitored robustly, and the actions taken in response are not always clear.

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

Leaders and managers challenge the local authority when improvements are needed. However, this advocacy is not consistent or sustained. For one child, delays in reviewing restrictions on phone access, time in the community and unsupervised family time resulted in unnecessary limitations. These restrictions are not reviewed regularly enough, which hinders the child’s opportunities to have positive experiences and make progress.

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

Leaders and managers have not shared, or provided children, families or stakeholders with the opportunity to share, feedback regarding the quality of care provided. The Ofsted point-in-time surveys were not shared with the relevant parties. This is therefore a missed opportunity to improve practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2806300 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure children have clear and consistent risk management plans in place that give staff the understanding of how to support children with their behaviours and any risks. Where there is a risk to children, effective and immediate action should be taken to ensure their safety. 3 July 2026

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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

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 3 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2806300 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff should be trained and skilled to care and support children’s individualised needs. The manager should have an effective system in place to ensure clear monitoring of children’s records so effective and timely action can be taken where required.

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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

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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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

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 6 (2)(b)(ii)(v)(vi)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s backgrounds and identities are understood and supported in plans and in their day-to-day 3 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2806300 8 support. Ensure staff support children to have their plans reviewed in line with their progress and to be able to experience age-appropriate risks safely, and to prepare for independent living.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure notifications are shared with Ofsted in a timely manner. 3 July 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure they actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. This also includes ensuring that the point-in-time surveys are distributed to all relevant people so they have the opportunity to provide feedback. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person must ensure any sanctions used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. They should be proportionate and without shame to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: 2806300 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Leaf Social Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Kirankumar Banker

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Inspectors

Eleanor Quanbrough, Social Care Inspector Hannah Shoreson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2806300 10 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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Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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