Children's Home run by Full Circle Living Ltd in Kent

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2777900 1 Full Circle Living Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is owned and run by a private organisation. The home is registered to provide care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, no children were living in the home.

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Information about this children's home

The home was registered with Ofsted in June 2024. There has been no registered manager since March 2026. A new manager has been appointed and has applied to register.

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Information about this children's home

The registered provider has recently appointed a new responsible individual, and Ofsted is currently checking this person has the relevant capacity, experience and skills to carry out the role.

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This monitoring visit

This children's home was judged inadequate at the full inspection in May 2026. Due to serious concerns about the quality of the leadership and management and the safeguarding practice at the home, Ofsted suspended the home's registration and issued a notice of proposal to cancel the registration of the home.

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This monitoring visit

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the suspension notice and to assess to what extent the provider has implemented improvements to address the concerns that led to Ofsted taking enforcement action.

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This monitoring visit

Arrangements for how the child previously living in the home was supported to move on are unclear. The child was missing from the home before they moved out. Staff reported them as missing to the police and the local authority. However, no further actions were recorded. Before the child returned, leaders and managers made the decision to close the home in response to the suspension notice issued. Managers were unable to provide a clear date that the child's new home was identified and the date they moved. As such, it is unclear if the child had anywhere to live when the home was closed and staff were removed from duty. Inspection report for children's home – monitoring visit: 2777900 2 A lack of regulatory knowledge and experience in residential childcare in the leadership team leaves the home vulnerable. Leaders have identified an external consultant for advice and guidance; this consultant has limited experience in

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This monitoring visit

children's residential care. Leaders have been unable to implement robust and effective action plans to act in response to concerns raised at the previous visit. Multiple plans have been created by leaders. However, a lack of task delegation and unclear timescales have resulted in minimal improvements to policies, procedure and training.

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This monitoring visit

A lack of a clear and monitorable training plan has affected leaders' ability to ensure that staff receive training to keep children safe. Leaders have been unable to schedule training to prioritise urgent learning needs. Staff have received training in record-keeping and care planning. However, training for ligature removal, self-harm and responding to exploitation has not been scheduled or delivered. As a result, staff have not been suitably upskilled to keep children safe.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have not ensured that training being accessed is of a suitable quality. As such, staff have received multiple full-day training courses on one day, and there is a reliance on e-learning for areas that require practical skills. When staff have been unable to attend face-to-face sessions, they have been offered opportunities to watch recordings. As a result, there is a lack of consistency in how training is delivered and how learning from training has been monitored and assessed by managers.

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This monitoring visit

Policies and procedures created by the consultant are generic. Managers have failed to review the templates to ensure that they give clear and accurate guidance to staff. The protocol for managing ligatures gives unclear information on how ligature cutters are stored and accessed. Although arrangements have been made to bring these items into the home, a lack of training and guidance around their use affects the ability for staff to respond to children who may harm themselves.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have not acted on advice from health and safety services. Since the last visit, managers have taken action to fit suitable fire equipment to doors to enable them to close on the sounding of the alarm. However, a review of the home's fire risk assessment has identified actions that have not been completed or suitably followed up. As such, a request to review the home's policy to include guidance for contractors has not been undertaken in the 3 months since the fire risk assessment took place. As such, there is increased risk that external contractors do not understand the expectations for managing health and safety while performing maintenance in the home.

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This monitoring visit

Frequency of supervision has improved. Staff have all received supervision since the last inspection. There is now a clear system in place to monitor staff supervision sessions and to ensure that they are scheduled in advance. There are discrepancies between the timescales in the workforce development plan and those being used in practice. Managers are keeping a record of supervision discussions and actions Inspection report for children's home – monitoring visit: 2777900 3 agreed. However, these are not recorded in a manner that makes deadlines clear and monitorable.

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This monitoring visit

New templates have been created for care planning, risk assessments, information- sharing and auditing. These new planning documents are ready to be used with children moving into the home in the future. There are new audit forms for the manager to monitor the quality of care in the home and to reflect on practice and records. However, the provider has not used these systems retrospectively to understand their shortfalls and create a clear response plan.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have reviewed systems for when children move into the home. There is now a clearer process for children moving in. Managers have set a clear process for how they intend to assess and explore children's needs prior to them moving into the home. As no children have moved into the home, they have been unable to test these changes in practice. Inspection report for children's home – monitoring visit: 2777900 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/05/2026 Full Inadequate 24/06/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/11/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home – monitoring visit: 2777900 5

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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 with 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare; and

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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 home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded; 7 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home – monitoring visit: 2777900 6 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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home's child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to 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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and 7 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home – monitoring visit: 2777900 7 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)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child's relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that the child's placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child's relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child's needs;

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Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii)(c)(e)(i)(f)) 7 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home; (Regulation 25 (1)(a)) 7 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; 7 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home – monitoring visit: 2777900 8 are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan that details the necessary management and staffing structure, the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home's statement of purpose. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home's manager. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 53,

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Recommendations

paragraph 10.11)  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with information- sharing requirements relating to the children they care for. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.17)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children's home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children's home – monitoring visit: 2777900 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Full Circle Living Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 20 Wenlock Road, London N1 7GU

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Inspector

Georgia Carty, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home – monitoring visit: 2777900 10 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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