Children's Home run by Blossom24 Healthcare & Training Limited in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2842320 1 Registered provider: Blossom24 Healthcare & Training Limited

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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 privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to 2 children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There were 2 children living at the home at the time of the inspection. The children contributed to the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a registered manager.

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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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Date of last inspection:

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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Date of last inspection:

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2842320 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Inspection report for children’s home: 2842320 3

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Summary of findings

Children have been living at this home for the past two months. They have settled very well and are already making good progress in many areas of their lives. Staff understand the children well. This includes their specific additional needs and the ways they communicate. Children have fun living here. They are enjoying new experiences. Staff and the manager work closely with children’s family members, schoolteachers and social workers. The manager provides good support to the staff. She has good oversight of their practice. This ensures that children experience good care, help and protection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A warm, homely environment has been created for the children. The home has been decorated and furnished to a high level. It is personalised to meet the needs of the children. This includes their bedrooms, a sensory room and a creative play area in the garden.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and are making good progress. This includes with aspects of personal care, communication skills and relationships with others. A family member said, 'Everything is very positive. They show him a lot of love and care. You can tell he is very comfortable there and he is happy.'

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children moving into the home is well planned. This includes moves that require a shorter timeframe. A clear transition plan is created alongside family members and other professionals involved with the child’s life. They are mindful of the child’s additional needs and how they experience changes. Creative photo diaries record a child's memories during their move into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's care plans are clearly written. They are a good guide to staff for knowing the children and their individual needs. There are additional 'all about me' sheets that are a quick reference to the child's likes and dislikes. These also have comments about the child's personality, such as talking about a child's friendly nature and wonderful smile.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the individual ways that children communicate. This includes the use of some words, pictures and symbols, gestures and expressions. They are clearly recorded in the child's care plan and in the communication passport and ‘all about me’ sheets. Social stories are used when staff spend one-to-one time with children. They include short video clips. These hold a child's attention at a level they will understand and enjoy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education and learning are central to the children’s lives. Children attend full-time schooling. This is supported with home to school communication books. There are personal education and home learning plans in place. Learning that supports children’s Inspection report for children’s home: 2842320 4 school targets is recorded in home learning logs. Staff ensure that learning is fun for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health needs of children are well met. This includes appointments with doctors, opticians and dentists. When specialised support is required, it is sourced by the manager. This includes the local community paediatric team.

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

Staff understand risks to children. This includes the additional vulnerabilities of children with learning disabilities. Historical information of risky behaviours is provided to staff. Risks are identified for each child. Known triggers and preventative strategies are clearly recorded. Staff know how to care for children in a way that mitigates risk.

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

Children's behaviours that are difficult to manage are known to staff and how they should respond to keep children safe. These are recorded in a positive behaviour support plan. There is also a 'how you can help me’ sheet for each child. This informs the staff’s support to children when they are distressed.

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

Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding children with learning disabilities. It includes how children communicate that they are not feeling well or are unhappy. There are clear safeguarding policies and procedures in place which are known by staff. They know who they can raise any concerns to. This is aided by clear workflow charts on safeguarding and whistle blowing.

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

Staff are supportive when children are presenting with harmful behaviours. The manager has ensured that walls in areas of the home benefit from padding. Bright boards are creatively placed to look like a feature rather than just a function. However, they are protecting children who use harmful behaviour when distressed.

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

Children do not go missing from the home. Staff are aware of the significant risk to the children should this happen due to their additional learning needs and a lack of understanding of danger. There are protocols in place and clear procedures for staff to follow if a child does go missing.

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

Each child is always supported by two staff members. This helps children to feel and be safe. A good level of help and protection is provided during both day and night.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides good leadership to the home and knows the children extremely well. She speaks very warmly about them. She has ensured that children are making good progress whilst enjoying living here and having fun. Staff like working at the home. They speak positively about the children, other staff and the manager. Inspection report for children’s home: 2842320 5 The manager knows the strengths of the home and areas she wants to develop further. There are good home and workforce development plans in place. The manager values the strength of teamworking taking place and how well staff know and meet the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a good induction which prepares them well for their role. It includes training and specific induction supervision. Following this, the manager ensures that staff receive monthly one-to-one supervisions with her. These are reflective sessions. They discuss the children and their needs as well as the staff member’s wellbeing and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monthly team meetings are held by the manager and includes night staff meetings. They are productive, and staff contribute to the agenda. The manager has plans to add research topics to these meetings to aid further staff development. There are also team debriefs which are smaller meetings between the manager and staff on duty. These focus on staff practice and identify areas for further development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has not ensured that any changes to the statement of purpose are shared with Ofsted in line with regulations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual supports the manager very well. This has been appreciated by the manager. This includes regular visits to the home and monthly one-to-one supervisions. The manager also feels well supported by her team and the managers of the provider's other homes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A comprehensive range of monitoring and quality assurance tools are used regularly which includes weekly and monthly manager audits. There is also a thorough monthly audit completed by the responsible individual. The manager uses feedback from other professionals and the independent visitor. She also completes staff competencies. She spends daily time with children and staff. This gives her good oversight of the care and protection of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2842320 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, 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

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 31 July 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: 2842320 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blossom24 Healthcare & Training Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 33A Wrenbury Rd, Duston, Northampton NN5 6YG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Thandiwe Murambiwa

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Inspector

Shaun Caplis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2842320 8 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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