Children's Home run by ESTUARY RESIDENTIAL CARE LTD in Plymouth

Inspection report for children’s home: 2819760 1 Registered provider: ESTUARY RESIDENTIAL CARE LTD

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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 home is owned by a small private provider. It can provide care for up to 4 children who may have social and emotional difficulties or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living at the home. They were all involved in the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager’s post is vacant. The responsible individual was present throughout the inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2819760 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/05/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2819760 3

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Summary of findings

Children have close relationships with staff who are invested in them and know them well. Children are listened to and benefit from a nurturing staff team. Safeguarding procedures are embedded and staff have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities. Some shortfalls in practice have been identified. These include missed opportunities to improve practice and promote best outcomes for children. Communication with families and professionals is mixed and at times staff do not work collaboratively to provide the best support to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with a nurturing staff team. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s needs. Children appear settled and comfortable with the staff team. Children approach staff for support or affection which is responded to positively by staff. Children were seen to be having lots of fun and laughing with staff. Staff understand children’s needs paying attention to body language, presentation and non-verbal cues which indicate how they are feeling.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s communication aids are easy for them to access. However, pictorial symbols which support communication are not available for all the every-day objects that they use. This makes it harder for children to express their needs quickly and can lead to unnecessary frustration.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to express their views. Staff take time to explain, observe and listen to children carefully. Children’s relationships with each other are supported well. When there was a concern about conflict between children, they were each supported sensitively. The manager considered both children’s needs well and helped them to repair their relationship.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and staff come together to share evening meals. Care is taken to support one child’s specialist diet, with food being stored carefully. Children are offered some choice around food although this is limited.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children attend school or college and are making good progress. Some professionals explained that a communication book which enables school and home staff to communicate about a child’s needs is not utilised well by the staff team. This has a negative impact on children. For example, on occasions the correct equipment has not been provided for children to help them fully enjoy activities at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have fun; the trampoline and new swing are particularly enjoyed. There are day trips out to the park, fairs and theme parks. These experiences are captured well for children in their memory books. Children can access toys in the home, although there is Inspection report for children’s home: 2819760 4 not a good variety. For example, children who enjoy role-play do not have access to age- appropriate toys and are limited by small, child-like toys. A better equipped sensory room is planned to increase children’s experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment provides a safe space for children. There is plenty of room in the home for children to come together or have time apart. The home is clean and well maintained. Photos of the children can be seen throughout which celebrate their experiences. There are some areas of damage, some of which are quickly repaired or there are clear plans in place to repair.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the risks to children and understand their vulnerabilities well. Children are listened to and supported to express their views by staff well. This helps staff have a good insight into how children are feeling. Child are also supported to an independent advocate.

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

There have been very few incidents of children going missing from the home. When children have been missing staff search for them and inform the police when needed. It is not always clear where one child is during missing episodes. However, work was completed with this child to understand the risks and no further incidents have occurred. Independent Return home conversations have been completed when children come home.

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

Physical interventions have been used. In the main, these have been to prevent children from harming themselves and are proportionate to the risk. Conversations with children do not consistently take place after restraint has happened. For children who are non- verbal, there are no recorded observations of them. This means that the impact on children at these times is not fully considered. Similarly, conversations with staff are not consistently happening. This means that opportunities for learning from the incidents are lost. This does not help to reduce the level of physical intervention used.

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

Children benefit from consistent routines; this helps to allay anxieties and makes situations predicable for them. There is a nurturing response to self-harm behaviours. Staff know how to support children and use distraction techniques to help children manage difficult feelings as quickly as possible.

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

Concerns about staff practice are investigated thoroughly. Concerns raised by children are taken seriously and reported to the relevant professionals in a timely way.

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

The home has been without a registered manager for almost 10 months. However, the previous manager remains working at the home and a covering manager has been appointed. Additional staff have been recruited to accommodate the increase in children. There has not been a need for agency staffing and the team has provided consistency of care for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2819760 5 Leaders and managers lack understanding of staff practice. There is a lack of oversight of some key incidents for children. Limited conversations with staff and children after significant events mean opportunities for learning are lost. There is some evidence of reflection within team meetings, but this varies.

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

There is limited feedback from children, families and professionals when managers complete reviews. Feedback received from professionals and families indicates a mixed response to communication. Some say this is excellent and others say that this is not happening routinely. This does not help to drive improvements for children.

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

Relationships with other professionals to support children’s needs varies. On occasion meetings have been cancelled by the home due to staffing or IT issues. This has led to delays for children in certain areas. For example, a recent meeting to support one child’s time with their family was cancelled by the home. This has meant a delay in creating a safe plan for the child to spend time with family members.

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

Staff generally say they feel supported, although this is more by colleagues than leaders and managers. Systems are in place so that staff are supervised regularly. Staff report varied quality of supervision.

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

Staff are up to date with mandatory training. However, no specific training has been identified to meet children’s particular needs. For example, staff have not had training to use children’s communication aids. Senior staff have provided some resources and guidance for the team.

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

Team meetings take place regularly. Safeguarding matters are discussed and staff are reminded about processes. However, actions identified through meetings and audits are vague and without timeframes.

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

Children’s documents are not always up to date. This means that the guidance to the team is not the most relevant and may be confusing.

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

Children’s moves into the home are carefully considered. However, professionals and family members report that opportunities were not taken up to share known strategies to support children. This lack of working together can mean additional frustration and delay for children to settle and flourish. Inspection report for children’s home: 2819760 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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 promotes their welfare.

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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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for 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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received. 31 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2819760 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h)

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Requirement Due date

In particular this means that staff are provided with the training to meet the children’s specific needs, especially in relation to any communication needs. In addition, leaders and managers must have oversight of the care provided and use learning and feedback systems to inform improvements.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and 31 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2819760 8 within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this means that following any physical intervention, conversations (or observations of children) must take place with staff and children about the measure used to understand the impact of the intervention and to identify any areas to improve practice

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that each child is provided with support to communicate their views, wishes and feelings and participate as fully as possible in all aspects of daily care and planning. Communication aids should be readily available to children and allow children to request every-day references and objects that are important to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.6)  The registered person should ensure that the home has effective working relationships with each child’s placing authority and with the other key people in each child’s life. The home should work in collaboration with key professionals and family members to share strategies and practicalities so that children’s needs are met. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3)  The registered person should lead a team which provides high quality care for all

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Recommendations

children living in the home. Specific guidance on the care a child needs should be made clear to all staff. Children’s documents should be up to date and provide the latest advice for staff to follow. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

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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: 2819760 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Estuary Residential Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Glass House, Alderley Park, Congleton Road, Nether Alderley, Macclesfield, Cheshire East SK10 4TG

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Inspectors:

Nickie Doney, Social Care Inspector Darren Wickens, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2819760 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors:

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Inspectors:

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Inspectors:

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