Children's Home run by Supporting Futures Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 1 Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties and/or display sexually harmful behaviour and who may have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 3 children were living in the home. All 3 children were spoken with during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in October 2019.

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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

Date of last inspection: 14 October 2025

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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: 2548403 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/10/2025 Full Good 17/12/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/10/2023 Full Good 15/11/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 3

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Summary of findings

Children receive warm, nurturing care from a stable staff team and report feeling safe, happy and well supported. Staff promote children’s education, health and emotional wellbeing effectively, while providing a welcoming home environment. Leaders and the manager are ambitious and drive improvements through effective oversight.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build warm, trusting relationships with children based on mutual respect. They provide a welcoming home where children say they feel happy and valued. Staff treat children with kindness, dignity and respect.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work effectively with a therapeutic provider to deliver specialist support that meets each child’s individual needs. However, they do not consistently incorporate the therapist’s recommendations into children’s support plans. As a result, staff may not always have clear guidance to ensure that therapeutic strategies and responses are implemented consistently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children access education suited to their individual needs. Children attend a range of provisions, including full-time school, home tuition and alternative education. Where suitable placements are difficult to secure, the manager works proactively with placing authorities and virtual schools to ensure that children’s educational needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively support children’s physical and emotional health. They ensure that children attend routine health appointments, access specialist services when required, and receive support from staff who have appropriate training to meet their individual health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to take part in a wide range of activities that reflect their interests, develop their social and academic skills, and strengthen their involvement in the local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children said they can speak openly with staff and the manager if they have any worries. When children wish to express their views to their placing authority, staff help them access independent advocacy so that their voices are heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff carry out regular, meaningful direct-work sessions with children. These sessions help children prepare for significant life events, reflect on difficult experiences, and identify and manage their emotions. The sessions also have a therapeutic focus and complement the sessions carried out by the therapist. Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 4 Staff carefully plan children’s moves from the home. When children move to semi- independent living or closer to family, staff support them sensitively based on their individual circumstances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a warm and welcoming home. Staff have created a positive outdoor space with hammocks, toys and games that children enjoy using. Children personalise their bedrooms, and photos displayed throughout the home help to promote a strong sense of belonging.

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

Staff maintain a safe environment for children. There have been no safeguarding concerns or allegations during this period. Staff have appropriate safeguarding training and have the knowledge and confidence to respond effectively should concerns arise.

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

When children move into the home, they are welcomed sensitively, even when circumstances are challenging. The manager carefully plans children’s moves and carries out assessments to determine whether the staff can meet their needs. However, these assessments do not fully consider the compatibility of children already living in the home or evaluate whether staff have the specific skills and experience required to meet each child’s needs.

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

Staff use physical intervention only when necessary to keep children and others safe. They ensure that any interventions are reasonable and proportionate, and they support children and staff to reflect afterwards. Although the manager identifies possible triggers for children’s behaviour, they do not evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention itself, which limits opportunities for learning and improvement.

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

Staff respond calmly and appropriately when children experience difficulties. They use positive relationships to de-escalate situations and seek support from external professionals, including mental health services, when necessary. The manager maintains effective oversight of incidents, reflects on staff practice and identifies learning to improve future responses.

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

Staff maintain detailed support plans for children. However, these plans contain excessive historical information, making it difficult to identify current needs and priorities. Plans also lack clear strategies to reduce restrictive practices and identified risks. In addition, some language used in the plans is stigmatising and does not reflect a child-centred approach.

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

Staff celebrate children’s achievements and promote positive behaviour through praise, restorative approaches and positive reinforcement rather than imposed consequences.

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

Leaders and managers operate effective safer recruitment processes. They carry out thorough pre-employment checks, provide comprehensive induction programmes and monitor new staff through structured probation periods. When agency staff are required, Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 5 managers use familiar workers wherever possible to provide consistency for children and ensure that all appropriate recruitment checks are carried out.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an experienced registered manager who leads the home with ambition and passion. She is committed to achieving positive outcomes for children and maintaining high standards of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers use internal and external monitoring effectively to evaluate practice, identify areas for development and drive continuous improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers respond appropriately to complaints from external professionals. They investigate concerns impartially, consult relevant agencies and provide clear outcomes to those raising concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from a stable, consistent and diverse staff team. Staff know children well, speak positively about them, and actively promote their self-esteem, emotional resilience and personal development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders ensure that staff receive a wide range of training to provide them with the knowledge and skills needed to meet children’s individual needs. They deliver training both in-house and through specialist external professionals where appropriate. However, staff have not received training in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or global developmental delay, despite these being identified needs for some children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers hold monthly team meetings, which are well attended and valued by staff. These meetings provide opportunities to share information, reflect on practice and support ongoing staff development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide staff with regular supervision sessions that focus on practice, children’s progress and staff wellbeing. Annual appraisals also assess staff’s fitness to perform their role, supporting professional development and continuous improvement. Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 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

Specifically, the registered provider must ensure that support plans clearly detail the therapeutic recommendations to ensure that staff provide consistent care to children.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered provider must ensure that information detailed in children’s support plans and risk assessments is current, relevant and is easily accessible. 31 July 2026

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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, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that, when a child moves into the home, the information used to assess the 31 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 7 suitability of the home to meet the child’s needs is accurately reflected in their plans. This should include consideration of the impact of the placement on children already living in the home, as well as staff skills and experience to meet children’s individual needs.

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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 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff have all the necessary training to meet children’s individual and specific needs. 31 July 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information about individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and effective. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36) Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 8

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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: 2548403 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Supporting Futures Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sinclair, 300 St Marys Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 0NQ

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Inspectors

Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Jayne Lord, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2548403 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 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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