Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 1 SC008269

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Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A large private provider operates this home. The home is registered to provide care for up to 3 children who have experienced childhood instability, resulting in trauma and associated complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2024. He holds the relevant level 5 qualification.

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Information about this children’s home

2 children are living at the home, who were present 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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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

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

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/03/2026 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/03/2025 Full Good 21/03/2024 Full Good 14/03/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 3

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Summary of findings

Children are experiencing stable home environments and are making steady progress from their starting points. They are supported by the staff, who know them well and show care and nurture towards them.

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Summary of findings

Children access a range of activities and are supported with their health and education needs. Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities and children are settled in the home. They regularly review risk assessments and plans. However, on some occasions, they have not always been consistent in their practice in implementing children’s plans.

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Summary of findings

The manager is supportive of the staff team and has good relationships with other professionals. Staff receive a wide range of training to meet children’s needs and receive regular supportive supervision.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children speak positively about the staff and the care they receive. Observations show that communications between staff and children are warm and nurturing, with shared laughter. This creates an environment where children have fun and feel able to speak with staff about any concerns they may have.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well and offer activities that reflect their hobbies and interests. They support children to be as independent as possible, helping them to gain new life skills and preparing them for adulthood. One child said, ‘They [staff] have helped me to learn how to iron, clean and cook. I didn’t know how to do this before I moved here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well met. They attend all routine appointments and have access to specialist services, such as the child and adolescent mental health services. Staff speak with children sensitively about maintaining healthy lifestyle choices, including the risks of vaping. Additionally, they provide children with helpful educational information. This helps children to make safer choices about their health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Partnership working between staff and educational professionals is strong. This enables them to work together to overcome any barriers to learning children may face. This ensures that the children receive the right support and helps them to achieve their educational targets. One child has made significant progress in their education and has clear aspirations for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain meaningful relationships with family, friends and other people who are important to them. Staff promote and facilitate regular family time, recognising the value of these relationships for children’s emotional wellbeing. Also, they support children with these arrangements, and where necessary, staff supervise to ensure that it remains safe and in line with children’s plans. Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 4 Children benefit from living in a warm, welcoming environment. The home is suitably personalised, with photographs displayed throughout, helping children to develop a sense of belonging. A range of fun and engaging activities are also available for children to enjoy. However, door alarms on children’s bedrooms are not consistently reviewed. This limits oversight to ensure that such restrictions remain necessary and proportionate.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. When a child’s whereabouts is unknown, staff look for the child and work closely with local police to locate them. They are welcomed back into the home and have independent return home interviews. This helps staff to understand why children go missing, support them to reflect on their experiences and reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

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

There have been no incidents requiring physical intervention. Staff understand children’s risks and ensure children have opportunities to discuss behaviour support strategies that work best for them. Additionally, children have individual incentive reward charts and, alongside praise, this promotes positive behaviour.

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

Staff speak confidently about their safeguarding responsibilities and know how to escalate concerns should they need to. On one occasion when a child raised a concern, the manager escalated this by working with the child’s social worker and the local authority designated officer to resolve the issue. This helps to keep children safe and gives them the reassurance that their concerns are taken seriously.

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

When children hurt themselves through self-harm, staff, overall, respond well. They work closely with other professionals to share emerging risks. They speak with children about their emotions and ensure they receive the required medical attention. However, on one occasion, staff did not complete an environment safety check following an incident of self-harm, this increases risk as dangers in the environment may not be identified.

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

Online safety is discussed regularly with children. Staff use quizzes and have open discussions with children, to help develop their understanding and knowledge about online safety. Risk assessments contain the relevant information that give staff the guidance and advice on how to keep children safe. However, on occasions, staff do not always complete daily mobile phone checks as outlined in one child’s risk assessment, resulting in missed opportunities to identify any harmful content.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed to providing good-quality care to children. He knows the children well and understands their lived experiences. There is a stable staff team, whose members feel well supported in their roles. They speak positively about the children and the progress they are making. Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 5 The manager and staff ensure that children’s voices are heard. They speak with children regularly about their feelings and individual goals. This helps to ensure that children feel listened to and involved in decisions about their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is good multi-agency working with other professionals. They speak positively about the support children receive and said the manager advocates well for children. One social worker said, ‘They have been amazing. They [manager] are very child focused.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings and supervision take place on a regular basis. These provide a space for staff to reflect on practice, discuss the children’s needs and explore their own development. Additionally, the manager uses scenario-based questions to create a culture of collective problem-solving and reflection. This helps to improve staff practice and gives them an opportunity to share their experiences and knowledge.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a wide range of training that is specific to the needs of the children living in the home. However, not all staff are able to speak confidently about the home’s therapeutic model. This has the potential to impact on their ability to deliver care as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has monitoring systems in place to help him review the quality of care children receive. However, these systems are not always effective, because not all staff consistently follow children’s individual risk plans. Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 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 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

This specifically relates to ensuring that staff read, understand and follow actions set out in children’s risk assessment when considering children’s online safety and self-harm risk. 16 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; 16 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

This specially relates to ensuring that staff understand and deliver the home’s therapeutic model and that monitoring systems in place identify inconsistencies in staff practice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any modifications to the environment of the home must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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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: SC008269 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6LR

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Inspectors

Kirsty Truesdale, Social Care Inspector Salma Ahmed, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC008269 9 regulates and inspects 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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