Old Rectory Cottage

Inspection report for children's home: SC429011 1 SC429011 Registered provider: Keys Care 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 is a privately owned children’s home that is registered to care for up to 3 children up to the age of 18. There were 2 children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The position of registered manager is currently vacant. The current service leader is in the process of registering with Ofsted.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC429011 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/06/2025 Full Good 14/05/2024 Full Good 13/06/2023 Full Good 01/11/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC429011 3

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Summary of findings

Staff consistently meet the children’s needs and develop positive relationships with them. Children are supported to access specialist services and resources, which contributes to a better understanding of their individual needs. Children are making good progress. Staff’s support to promote children’s independence is not always timely. The home environment is not consistently child friendly.

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Summary of findings

Children report that they feel safe at the home. Staff implement age-appropriate boundaries, which supports effective behaviour de-escalation. Professionals provide positive feedback regarding staff’s ability to support children to reflect on their behaviour, contributing to a reduction in risk. Staff do not always fully consider how new children moving into the home may impact other children living there.

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Summary of findings

The home is appropriately staffed, and leaders ensure that additional training is provided to meet the children’s individualised needs. Staff have not received consistent support. However, they report that they feel supported by current leaders through regular supervision, team meetings and access to specialist consultation.

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Summary of findings

The position of registered manager is currently vacant. The current service leader is in the process of registering with Ofsted. Effective senior leadership arrangements are in place to support the child-focused running of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff meet the children’s needs consistently and build positive relationships with them. Feedback received from the independent reviewing officer (IRO) and social worker regarding staff’s ability to promote one child’s identity needs and facilitate family time was positive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is clear evidence of progression for children since they have been living in the home. One of the children is now accessing an education and vocational course since moving into the home after several years of not engaging with any education at all.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The service leader and staff missed an opportunity to provide individualised support to one child to aid their independence as they approach adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff create clear and detailed care and support plans. These documents draw from a range of information, and the child’s voice is evident in the planning process. Staff do not always keep themselves up to date with changes to children’s plans. Following any incidents, staff review these plans, taking into consideration children’s needs, assessment of risk and how best to support them. Inspection report for children's home: SC429011 4 Specialist support staff and resources are available to children, which can be accessed as a result of the home being part of a wider organisation. Children have the option to access therapy and can speak with the home’s visiting psychotherapist at any time should they choose to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders do not have effective systems to ensure that the impact of children moving into the home is properly assessed. As a result, information is not accurate, and children’s needs, risks and behaviour are not fully understood. This has resulted in placement instability and home moves for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children leave the home, the team’s caring approach ensures that transitions are managed in a child-focused manner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and feels welcoming, but the environment needs to be improved. There is little sense of children and their presence in the home. Large repairs have been completed in a timely fashion, but there are aspects of the home’s general appearance that could be better. Leaders have a clear plan in place to address this, with the children’s views being at the centre of this.

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

Staff have been able to provide positive support to children from diverse backgrounds. Children are offered opportunities to explore their identities and are supported to engage with their community and heritage by attending important events and celebrations.

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

A child living in the home spoke of how they feel safe there. When there have been times when they have not felt safe, the staff team has responded in ways that have mitigated this risk.

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

Risk assessments for the children are detailed and clear. Staff ensure that they update assessments following incidents, and these are used as learning opportunities for the team about how practice can be improved. This enhances staff’s ability to keep children safe.

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

Staff can implement age-appropriate boundaries for children, which supports effective behaviour de-escalation. Educational professionals and an IRO provided positive feedback about staff’s ability to support children to reflect on their behaviours, which has led to a significant reduction in risks and increased placement stability.

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

Children can express how they feel when impacted by peers’ behaviour. While children report feeling supported by staff, one child felt that staff could provide a little more support on occasions.

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

The team facilitates family time in the community or at the home. For one of the children, there is a lack of clarity around potential risks relating to a parent. Managers have not sought clarification before supporting family time arrangements, and the local Inspection report for children's home: SC429011 5 authority has not completed appropriate assessments. The new management team has clear plans in place on how to address this.

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

Leaders maintain clear oversight and analysis of any incidents. Debriefs are completed with children and staff following these. Incident reports are detailed and learning opportunities are identified, and these are in line with the home’s therapeutic approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager position is currently vacant. The day-to-day running of the home is overseen by the service leader, who is currently in the process of registering with Ofsted. She is supported by a recently appointed deputy manager, alongside an experienced registered individual and senior service manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are held regularly with a clear structure and agenda. Any practice issues are understood, and the staff team is given clear expectations about the culture of the home and areas for improvement or change.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s psychotherapist regularly explores issues for children as individuals, across the home and the dynamics that exist. Leaders have a consistent approach to delivering a therapeutic model of care, and this is embedded in the staff team’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The local authority designated officer’s feedback was clear that there are no concerns about how issues are communicated and the way leaders collaborate with them. Internal investigations with staff are clearly documented, and appropriate action is taken to make sure that children are safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report feeling supported by the current leadership team and are aware of the whistleblowing policy. However, this was not always the case under the previous manager. Staff views on the support received from the previous registered manager varied. Some staff felt well supported in their care of the children and in their professional development. However, other staff described a culture characterised by blame, limited opportunities for professional development and a working environment in which they did not feel confident to use the whistleblowing policy to raise concerns. There has clearly been change, with staff now speaking positively of the new leadership in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders ensure that there are adequate staffing levels that meet children’s needs. Agency staff are used rarely. As part of a large organisation, some staff will provide support from other homes, and they understand the children living there.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, leaders and staff have experienced a challenging period for the home. There is now a new management structure in place. The current service leader has a clear plan and vision for the home moving forward. There has been reflection on what has been working well and what areas of the home need to change, which is Inspection report for children's home: SC429011 6 positive. Leaders aim to embed these changes across the whole staff team to ensure better outcomes for the children in the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC429011 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 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 regis- tered 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)) 28 August 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they, and their staff, engage proactively with the placing authority to contribute fully to the relevant plans for the child’s care on an ongoing basis, in particular by supporting family time, providing a child-friendly home environment and preparing children for independence effectively in line with their care plan. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations’, page 56, paragraph 11.3)  The registered person should ensure that staff help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home’s support and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes

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Recommendations

Regulations’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)  The registered person should ensure that case records are kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. Leaders and managers should ensure that there are robust systems in place to ensure that any updates or new plans are read Inspection report for children's home: SC429011 8 and understood by all staff in the home to provide a consistent approach to caring for the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  The registered person should ensure that leaders and managers are visible and accessible to staff and able to deliver their leadership and management responsibilities. In particular, they should promote a positive learning culture, ensure that staff are supported and valued, and create an environment where staff can confidently raise concerns, including through whistleblowing procedures. (‘Guide to

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Recommendations

the Children’s Homes Regulations’, page 52, paragraph 10.7)

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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: SC429011 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/o Pinsent Masons Llp, The Soloist Building, 1 Lanyon Place, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT1 3LP

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Inspectors

Lee Muchmore, Social Care Inspector Claudia Poienar, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC429011 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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