Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes Ltd in Suffolk

Inspection report for children's home: 2528516 1 Registered provider: Compass Children's Homes

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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 privately run home provides care for up to 6 children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

Three children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2025 and is appropriately qualified.

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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: 2528516 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/06/2025 Full Good 09/10/2024 Full Good 16/01/2024 Full Good 16/11/2022 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 2528516 3

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Summary of findings

Children living in this home receive warm and nurturing care from dedicated staff. Since the last inspection, there have been a high number of incidents. Despite this, the staff are committed to maintaining consistent care for children. Feedback from professionals and children's families is positive.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers are committed to providing the staff and children with stability and encouragement. This has meant that their time has primarily been focused on reducing shortfalls in staffing. This is due to ongoing recruitment issues and to ensure that staffing levels are sufficient to provide care and support for children with complex needs. A number of shortfalls have been identified in relation to the leadership and management of the home. If these identified areas are left unaddressed, it has the potential to impact on the overall experience of children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 4 children have moved into the home and 4 children have moved out. At the time of this inspection, 3 children were living at the home. The inspectors spent time with all of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has recently been through a turbulent period, with group dynamics that led to escalating incidents for some children. At times, this has affected staff morale. Despite this, leaders, managers and the staff have ensured that good standards of individualised support and care have been maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Following of a review of the dynamics relating to children living together, 3 children have moved on from the home because staff could not meet their changing needs. These children were supported to move on in a positive and child-focused way. Leaders and managers have reviewed and improved systems to strengthen placement planning. Since then, the initial experiences for the children who have moved into the home have been positive. This has helped children to settle into routines quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of creating a warm, relaxed and welcoming home that generates a family feel. Children have lots of space to enjoy. The children's bedrooms have been decorated in keeping with their preferences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff talk to the children in a nurturing and compassionate manner, with a sense of playfulness. Children respond with warmth and enthusiasm. Staff encourage children to build positive and meaningful relationships with one another. This has helped children to feel a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff follow a child-focused psychological model of communication and support, giving careful consideration to how the children's lived experiences affect the way they Inspection report for children's home: 2528516 4 view the world. This approach is threaded into the staff's practice and captured in the child's records. Staff are skilled at adapting their style of communicating, ensuring that they approach the children with empathy and understanding.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to enjoy activities in line with their hobbies and interests. Staff organise holidays with children and, for some children, this is their first experience of going on holiday. Staff capture memories for children in books that are thoughtfully designed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the children's participation in education, despite some of the children's reluctance to engage. Staff continue to be strong advocates for the children. As soon as children move to the home, staff seek education providers. One child has remained at their original school, which has provided them with continuity and stability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Families and professionals expressed that they always feel welcome during visits to the home and that the children experience care that is nurturing and child focused. One family member said, 'Staff are incredible.'

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

Children have complex needs, with histories of going missing from the home and vulnerabilities to exploitation. Due to children's lived experiences, they may struggle to express their feelings in ways that do not compromise their, or staff's, safety. Despite this, the staff respond to children in a child-focused and trauma-informed way. This helps to enable discussions that support children to reflect on and learn healthier ways to manage difficult emotions.

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

There have been a high number of incidents of children going missing from the home. Staff have not always responded in line with the missing-from-home protocol to help find and return children as soon as possible. Managers work proactively and effectively with external agencies, including a local police liaison officer. This multi-agency response is reducing these risks.

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

Leaders and managers take effective action to address staff practice that has fallen short of expectations. This includes carrying out investigations to identify wider learning for staff to help improve their practice.

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

Children benefit from a nurturing and structured environment where positive behaviour is actively reinforced. Staff use consequences and rewards with children as part of a wider approach to behaviour management. Staff encourage children to use alternative ways to manage their emotions, and reward them for doing so with items that are meaningful to them. Children recognise this progress.

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

Incidents of restraint are only used as a last resort. Reports are written in detail. Children and staff are given the opportunity to reflect on incidents. Leaders and managers include an in-depth analysis of the incident. They are keen to understand causes and adapt routines for children to help avoid further incidents. Inspection report for children's home: 2528516 5 During this inspection, bedroom doors were propped open. This could increase the level of risk to children and staff in the event of a fire. It had not been identified as a safety risk by staff or managers.

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

The characteristics of good leadership and management are not yet in place at this home. Although the issues have not had a significant effect on the quality of care provided, unchecked they have the potential to undermine the quality of care provided.

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

The manager is enthusiastic about her role, the staff team and the children. A knowledgeable and experienced deputy manager supports her. Together, they prioritise the wellbeing of the staff.

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

Challenges relating to recruitment has meant that staff, including managers, have worked long hours with little rest. Additionally, advice to staff given by other on-call managers has not always been helpful. It has meant that the manager and deputy manager of the home have had to remain on shift to support the staff during difficult periods. While this has not compromised the quality of care that children receive, it has meant that other areas have not had the management oversight they should.

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

Leaders and managers regularly monitor, discuss and review children's risk management plans. Plans consider children's past experiences and how they may shape the way in which children see the world. However, children's missing-from-home protocols do not include information relating to how long staff are to search for children. This means that the police are not always clear on the expectation of the staff when children are missing. Additionally, managers have not ensured that staff have read and understood the strategies contained within these plans.

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

Leaders and managers use internal audits to help improve practice. Some audits that could help to identify areas in need of development have not been completed at the frequency they should. This has meant that some gaps in recording and reporting have gone unnoticed.

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

Staff care for children using an embedded therapeutic model of support. A specialist practitioner working in the home has delivered specific coaching for staff in understanding and responding to children's changing and complex needs. The practitioner contributes to children's plans and identifies further areas of support that children will benefit from. However, some documents contain language that is child- blaming. This is unhelpful and does not reflect a child-centred approach.

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

Safer recruitment processes are followed. The staff benefit from helpful inductions with comprehensive training. For existing staff, additional training is provided. However, due to recruitment issues, staff do not always have the time to attend. The training that staff have had is not always reflected in the manager's records. Inspection report for children's home: 2528516 6 Children know how to make complaints. One complaint has been made since the last inspection. The manager investigated the complaint and provided the child with an outcome. This indicates that children feel listened to. However, records demonstrating how the conclusion was reached are not clear.

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

Staff benefit from regular supervision sessions and annual appraisals. This gives them the support to reflect and develop their practice.

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

The requirement made at the last inspection has been restated and further requirements have been raised. Inspection report for children's home: 2528516 7

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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

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

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

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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; (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vii)(d)) 9 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) 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 have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 4 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2528516 8 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

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)(c)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that doors that are designated as fire doors are not propped open. 30 June 2026

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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: 2528516 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Compass Children's Homes

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Compass Community Ltd, 3 Rayns Way, Syston, Leicester LE7 1PF

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Inspectors

Lexi Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Maisy Griggs, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2528516 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 children after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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