Children's Home run by Aston Children’s Care Ltd in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC453726 1 SC453726 Registered provider: Aston Children’s Care Ltd

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to 4 children with social and emotional difficulties. Since the last inspection, 2 children have moved in and one child has moved out. 4 children were living in the home at the time of the inspection

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2025 and is suitably qualified.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A new responsible individual has recently been appointed. Ofsted is checking this person has the relevant capacity, experience and skills to carry out the role.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

p.1

outstanding

Date of last inspection: 16 September 2025

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC453726 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/09/2025 Full Good 02/07/2024 Full Good 18/07/2023 Full Good 30/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC453726 3

p.2

Summary of findings

Children are making significant and sustained progress from their individual starting points. Staff adopt a highly effective therapeutic approach to care. They demonstrate strong levels of skill and understanding. As a result, children develop positive, secure and trusting relationships with staff, which enhance their sense of safety and wellbeing. Safeguarding practice is robust and well embedded. This contributes to low levels of incidents and helps keep children safer. Staff understand children’s individual needs and work collaboratively with partner agencies to provide coordinated, consistent care.

p.3

Summary of findings

Some minor shortfalls were identified in information-sharing between leaders and external partners. However, these have not impacted on the quality of care or outcomes for children, who continue to receive safe, effective and nurturing support.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children receive loving, nurturing care from dedicated staff who are persistent and committed to providing therapeutic care tailored to children’s individual needs. All children are making significant progress across all areas of their lives since moving into the home. Managers and staff create a positive and playful atmosphere in the home, with strong relationships between staff and the children. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to reflect their interests, helping them to develop their sense of identity and belonging.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

When children move into the home, they are warmly welcomed. They receive personalised child-friendly written information, which is narrated by an animal character, about the home and what they can expect from staff. Every child also receives a teddy bear of the character to remind them of their arrival and time in the home. Children speak positively about the care they receive from staff, reflecting the nurturing relationships and emotionally stable environment that has been created for them. When children move on from the home, this is thoughtfully planned to help children to adapt to their new living arrangements. The child who has left the home has moved to a foster family, in line with their care plan, emphasising the progress they made while living in the home. Staff are highly committed to achieving positive endings for children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff have a strong understanding of the children’s health needs and actively promote a healthy lifestyle. They encourage physical activity, support healthy routines and encourage age-appropriate independence. These factors result in noticeable improvements in children’s overall wellbeing. Child-centred approaches to care and collaborative clinical input enable staff to provide responsive and emotionally attuned care.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff understand children’s emotional wellbeing and any additional needs very well. They demonstrate a reflective approach and work collaboratively with the provider’s therapy Inspection report for children’s home: SC453726 4 team to adapt strategies to empower children to express their worries and share their views. This supportive approach helps children to confidently raise concerns. For example, the introduction of ‘worry teddies’ provides an innovative and accessible way for children to communicate how they feel. Progress in this area has been significant, resulting in positive outcomes for children and, in some cases, the successful ending of previously needed support from external services.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children spend meaningful time with people who are important to them. The staff team consistently go above and beyond to support families, ensuring that children experience positive and nurturing time with people who matter to them. Therapeutic input is also provided to families, helping them to better understand their children’s current needs and promoting a consistent, collaborative approach to care. In addition, children attend weekly clubs and community groups, where they have formed friendships. These opportunities help children to develop a sense of belonging and build positive social connections within their community.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All children attend school and are making progress in education. Leaders work swiftly and collaboratively to get children into school provisions when they arrive. Staff actively support children’s education with encouragement and structure, and they promote a positive attitude to learning. This approach is effective and children are successful in their learning.

p.4

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

Safeguarding practice is robust and child focused. Incidents are rare because staff build positive relationships with children and intuitively know how to respond to their needs. As a result, physical intervention is rarely necessary and only used as a last resort. Children’s views are fully explored after any such incident and staff reflect on practice so they can continue to offer children safe, attuned care.

p.4

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

The manager maintains a proactive approach to managing location-specific risk by frequently assessing available information and ensuring that staff have up-to-date guidance so they can respond effectively. This good practice approach to safeguarding reinforces the home’s strong commitment to keeping children safe and well supported.

p.4

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

Staff have a strong understanding of each child’s individual needs and associated risks. They spend meaningful time with children to help them to recognise potential risks and to develop strategies that promote their own safety and wellbeing. Staff lead by example, using everyday opportunities to explore and reinforce safe behaviours in a calm and supportive way. This consistent approach helps children to build confidence, develop resilience and make safer choices both in the home and in the wider community.

p.4

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

Staff implement consistent daily routines and structures. As a result, children can predict what will happen next, which gives them a strong sense of stability. This also helps them build trusting, predictable relationships, understand staff expectations and develop essential life skills. This approach is supported by incentive charts and reward systems that promote positive behaviours and help children see their progress. Inspection report for children’s home: SC453726 5 There is a robust and collaborative approach to working with safeguarding partners to manage allegations. Leaders take effective and timely action and ensure that all concerns are thoroughly investigated so that children remain safeguarded. Leaders maintain clear oversight and demonstrate strong accountability, working transparently with external agencies to achieve appropriate outcomes. This proactive approach helps to ensure that risks are well managed and that children’s safety and wellbeing remain

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified manager who strives to provide high- quality care for children. She leads by example and is also focused on the development of staff. Staff say they feel supported and enjoy working in the home.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are supported by a stable and consistent staff team who know them well. Staff receive regular supervision and training that is tailored to meet the specific needs of the children in their care. In addition, staff benefit from further development opportunities through team meetings and dedicated sessions with clinical therapists. This ongoing professional development enables staff to deepen their understanding of children’s needs and continually adapt their practice to respond effectively to any changes.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff work effectively with other professionals involved in the children’s care. All professionals acknowledge how well the staff care for children and how much progress children are making as a result. In addition, they all compliment the effectiveness of communication.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

On one occasion, the manager did not share with other professionals all information relating to an investigation of an allegation. This did not impact on the outcome of that investigation.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are effective monitoring systems in place that support leaders to evaluate the quality of care provided to children. These systems enable leaders to identify areas for development, and learning is used to strengthen practice and improve children’s experiences. The independent person visits the home regularly but does not always share their reports in a timely way. This slightly delays the manager in taking forward actions to improve care and experiences, but the manager does address these as soon as she is able to. Inspection report for children’s home: SC453726 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all information is shared with safeguarding partners when supporting investigations into allegations. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.15)  The registered person should ensure that the independent person provides their report to the provider and regulator in a timely way. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

p.6

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: SC453726 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aston Children’s Care Ltd

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 147 Stamford Hill, London N16 5LG

p.7

Responsible individual:

Registered manager: Manasapriya Manivannan

p.7

Inspector

Joanne Humphreys, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC453726 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.

p.7

Inspector

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 . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8