Children's Home run by Highgate House Walsall Limited in Walsall

Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 1 Registered provider: Highgate House Walsall Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is suitably qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were 2 children living at the home. One child was seen and spoken with during the inspection.

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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: 18 November 2025

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/11/2025 Full Good 25/02/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 3

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Summary of findings

Children have positive relationships with staff and are also encouraged to maintain relationships that are important to them. Children are helped effectively to share their views, with advocacy. However, these strengths are undermined by shortfalls in practice, safeguarding and monitoring. Children are not consistently supported to establish positive routines and staff do not take a proactive approach to address this. Safeguarding practice is variable, with delays in developing clear safety plans, inconsistencies in staff responses to risk, and gaps in the reporting and follow-up of incidents. In addition, monitoring and management oversight are not yet effective, and there are weaknesses in staff development and the evaluation of practice. This limits the staff’s ability to promote sustained improvement for children.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home. Children are welcomed warmly and staff manage their move into the home sensitively. However, leaders do not fully explore staff’s skills and experience to assess and understand if children’s needs can be met well. There are gaps in staff training that limit their understanding of children’s needs and risks that are relevant to them.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not yet been able help children to have consistent daily routines, and staff have not been creative in trying to address this. This is impacting on children’s ability to reach their full potential. For example, children often sleep late and miss their education time.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are largely understood by staff. Children have begun to settle into the home, resulting in them wanting to engage in therapeutic support to help with their emotional wellbeing. However, children do not consistently attend routine health appointments. Staff do not sufficiently explore the reasons for children’s reluctance or refusal to attend, which limits opportunities to address barriers and to support children to have improved health outcomes.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to share their views and take an active part in their care planning. Staff advocate well for children, and there is a strong emphasis on empowering them. This means that children feel valued and listened to, and also supports children to form positive and trusting relationships with staff. One child said, ‘The manager is like my best friend and I feel supported by staff.’

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improvement to be good

Children are encouraged to spend time with people who are important to them. In addition, staff help to facilitate meaningful time with friends and family. For example, Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 4 children often have friends to sleep over and enjoy activities with them. This helps children to maintain their identity and relationships, and their sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a homely and welcoming environment. Their bedrooms are nicely decorated and personalised, reflecting their individual identities. The home also displays photos of children’s experiences, creating a warm, family-like atmosphere.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not always clear about their roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding. At times, there have been missed opportunities to report concerns when children have gone missing from the home. In addition, staff do not consistently follow children’s plans when they are missing or adhere to safeguarding protocols. This has reduced the effectiveness of staff’s response to risk in some areas. While these concerns have been identified by leaders, the registered manager has not taken sufficient action to address these concerns or to strengthen staff practice, oversight and accountability.

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improvement to be good

During periods when safeguarding concerns are more frequent, leaders have delayed developing robust safety plans and providing clear, consistent guidance for staff to follow. This has negatively impacted on staff’s ability to ensure that children are safeguarded when accessing the community unsupervised with people who pose a risk to them. More recently, leaders have put safety plans in place which provide clearer guidance that helps to promote the safety of children. This is increasing consistency in staff’s approach which is contributing to a reduction in the number of concerning incidents.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers take appropriate actions when children have made allegations relating to historical events, and these are reported to the relevant safeguarding agencies. However, the outcomes and feedback relating to these allegations have not been consistently shared with children. This limits opportunities for children to understand what has been done with the information they have shared, and to understand any resulting actions.

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improvement to be good

There has been one incident where staff used physical restraint to manage behaviour. While staff and the child were spoken with afterwards, leaders did not respond appropriately to the child’s account, which differed to that of the staff. This concern has not been managed in line with appropriate safeguarding procedures, and the manager’s oversight has not had a positive impact on this.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to increase their understanding of risks and how to keep themselves safe through regular, informal conversations with staff. Staff also refer children to specialist external agencies to enhance their awareness of risk. There is a strong and collaborative approach with other professionals to support children who are vulnerable to exploitation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 5

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

The home is managed by a suitably qualified manager who also manages another home within the same organisation. The manager’s monitoring systems are not effective. This results in gaps in staff practice that limit the quality of care provided to children. The responsible individual’s oversight is also limited, and they do not have a clear view of the registered manager’s development or their oversight of practice. While the manager has some awareness of strengths and areas for development in the home, and have identified some actions to improve oversight, these are not yet embedded.

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

Children are supported by a small and stable staff team. Staff are provided with a range of training for their role, which is centred around children’s needs. However, not all staff have completed the necessary training. This impacts staff’s ability to understand children’s individualised needs and adapt therapeutic approaches to support them.

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

Staff take part in regular supervision sessions with leaders. Records are detailed and of good quality. However, there is a lack of oversight of staff’s personal development, which does not support them to strengthen their skills.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been some improvements in how managers notify Ofsted about serious events. However, there are still times when these are not provided as required.

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

The home has monthly visits from an independent person. The independent person does not always receive feedback from children, staff or other professionals, and leaders do not support them to gain this feedback. This limits their ability to make a thorough and impartial assessment of safeguarding arrangements and the quality of care provided to children. As a result, this monitoring process does not fully capture the experiences of children’s care, and limits evaluation and the opportunities to recommend meaningful changes to practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that effective strategies are in place to support children in establishing positive daily routines, including attending education and health appointments. Where strategies are not effective, these must be promptly reviewed and adapted to better meet children’s needs. 21 June 2026

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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

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; 21 June 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 7 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risk assessments are reviewed in a timely way and provide clear guidance for staff. In addition, the registered person must ensure that staff understand this guidance as well as their role in reporting and managing safeguarding incidents.

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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, 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, the registered person must ensure that staff have the appropriate skills, experience and qualifications to meet children’s needs effectively. In addition, the registered person must ensure that they have robust monitoring systems to evaluate the quality of care children receive and drive continuous improvement. 21 June 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 8 This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

satisfy the requirements in paragraph (5)(a) to (c); and

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the responsible individual must ensure that they have effective oversight of the management of the home, including regular monitoring of the registered manager’s progress and development in their role. 21 June 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)  The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. In addition, the registered person must support the independent person in gaining feedback from stakeholders to support the independent person’s rigorous assessment of the welfare and safeguarding of

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Recommendations

children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that the outcome of investigations following any allegations made by children are shared with them without delay. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.14) Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 9

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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: 2789871 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Highgate House Walsall Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bluebird Care Walsall, 28a Willows Road, Walsall WS1 2DR

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Inspector

Joanne Humphreys, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2789871 11 to 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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