Children's Home run by Full Circle Living Ltd in Kent

Inspection report for children's home: 2777900 1 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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Registered provider: Full Circle Living Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and run by a private organisation. The home is registered to provide care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in June 2024. There has been no registered manager since March 2026. A new manager has been appointed and has applied to register.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered provider has recently appointed a new responsible individual, and Ofsted is currently checking this person has the relevant capacity, experience and skills to carry out the role.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2777900 2 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care and protection of children were found during an assurance inspection on 26 November 2025. In response to this, compliance notices were served under regulations 12 and 13. A monitoring visit was carried out on 28 January 2026 which concluded that actions identified in the compliance notices had been met.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/06/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/11/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2777900 3 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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Summary of findings

Significant shortfalls in leadership and management, including the lack of appropriate oversight and management of safeguarding incidents have led to immediate risks to children’s safety and to them experiencing poor-quality care.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers have paid insufficient attention to understanding the children’s needs and have failed to provide necessary training for staff. Care planning is insufficient and does not meet children’s needs. While the one child now living in the home, has made some progress, the gravity of the shortcomings in care and safeguarding mean that the overall welfare of this child and of any other child who may move into the home cannot, at present, be assured.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The staffing arrangements in the home are inconsistent. The core staff team is small and inexperienced and is supplemented by bank workers and agency staff. This creates inconsistency in the care provided to children. Plans for the children’s care and risk management are not made available to staff or kept up to date. This means that staff do not fully understand the needs and risks for the children, and leaves children at risk of harm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child experienced an unplanned move out of the home. This followed a period when staff did not have the skills and experience to manage the children safely alongside each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Ongoing support for the children to reduce risks is not clearly planned or recorded. One child, who has a complex life, has no records of any ongoing support being provided by staff to educate them on risks. The child is at significant risk of harm, particularly when away from the home. In addition, actions set following incidents are not routinely followed through to ensure that risks are being managed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child has made some progress. The child said that the staff help and support them. The child’s social worker said that they are making progress, missing-from-home incidents have reduced, and they have started to re-engage with education, successfully passing entry level exams.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff encourage the child currently living in the home to share their views, wishes and feelings. The child is being supported to explore their creative side through music and art and has visited a music studio.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child is beginning to form relationships with some staff. These relationships have supported them in accessing their routine health appointments and they are registered with the necessary medical services. Inspection report for children's home: 2777900 4 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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

There are significant failings in the management of safeguarding concerns. Managers were unable to provide accurate information and records regarding serious incidents. A failure to recognise and understand safeguarding concerns has resulted in a failure to ensure appropriate and timely support for children.

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

The manager and staff do not have the skills and experience to keep children safe. One child has had significant incidents of self-harm, both at the home, and when away from the home. The manager has not ensured that staff have had sufficient training and are skilled in keeping the child safe. There was an unnecessary delay in purchasing ligature cutters for use in emergencies and this equipment is locked away outside the house. Staff are not aware of the full circumstances of one incident of significant self-harm which resulted in a hospital admission. Leaders have not taken sufficient steps to gather information to understand the risks fully and to reduce the likelihood of further occurrences.

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

Risks of child criminal exploitation are not well identified, understood or responded to by the manager and staff. One child was observed by staff committing a possible criminal offence involving other children when away from the home. The staff did not take immediate action to safeguard the children. Following consultation with the manager, there were significant delays in reporting this information to the police. The child’s plan has not been updated following this incident, which means staff do not know how to reduce risks for the child in the future. The child is at significant risk of being criminally exploited and there are active risks for the child, such as having large quantities of illegal substances delivered to the home. Staff do not recognise this as a risk and the child’s plans do not reflect this. This leaves the child at significant risk of harm.

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

The use of physical intervention is rare. However, not all staff are trained in the home’s de-escalation and physical intervention approach, and staff are not routinely provided with a debrief following incidents. This limits the learning opportunities for staff to learn from incidents.

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

Health and safety concerns in the home are not promptly addressed. At the time of the inspection, broken fire doors in the home were not repaired and instead were left propped open. There is no assessment of risk for these doors, and no steps have been taken to repair them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leadership team has changed since the last inspection. A new responsible individual and manager have been appointed. They have not identified or responded to weaknesses in the service. These ineffective leadership and management arrangements have resulted in poor standards of care and shortfalls in safeguarding, staff support, Inspection report for children's home: 2777900 5 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

record-keeping and monitoring of the home. The quality assurance systems in place are ineffective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is no clear vision for the home. The model of care outlined in the home’s statement of purpose is not clear and staff have not received sufficient training to gain a full understanding of the approaches they should be taking in the care of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Poor communication during the changes to the leadership and management team have created gaps in children’s records. Access to information is difficult due to records being stored across several different electronic recording systems. The manager was unable to confirm one child’s correct legal status or access a child’s safety plan despite there being known significant risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Many key documents are awaiting completion or review by the manager. As a result, a significant number of shortfalls in practice and records had not been identified, and necessary improvements in practice have not been made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The children who have moved in have had complex lives and need skilled support. The staff team is relatively small, new and inexperienced. Only 4 staff, including 2 members of the leadership team, hold the relevant qualification for residential childcare. There is no clear plan in place to identify the skills and training requirements of the staff team to ensure that they can provide effective care to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a lack of opportunities for staff to improve their practice. Staff supervision is infrequent and does not take place in line with organisational timescales. New staff’s probation reviews are significantly out of timescales. There are missed opportunities in team meetings to cascade important information. This lack of effective support, training and guidance for staff has resulted in practice that has not supported children to make progress or to keep themselves safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Partner agencies have mixed views about the service. While some limited progress was identified and some positive views of the care received by children shared, there are also more negative views, including professionals raising significant concerns about delays in reporting incidents when children have been upset or at risk. Inspection report for children's home: 2777900 6 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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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, 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health; and 7 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2777900 7 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d)(e))

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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

In particular, requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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

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

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and 7 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2777900 8 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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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)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii)(c)(e)(i)(f)) 7 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)) 7 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 7 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2777900 9 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which details the necessary management and staffing structure, the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s statement of purpose. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff, including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s

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Recommendations

Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with information-sharing requirements relating to the children they care for. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.17)

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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: 2777900 10 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Full Circle Living Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 20 Wenlock Road, London N1 7GU

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Inspector

Cassie Martin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2777900 11 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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Inspector

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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