Children's Home run by My House Calow Limited in Derbyshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 1 Registered provider: My House Calow 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 and provides care for up to 4 children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living at the home.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: none Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/07/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/01/2025 Full Good 22/06/2023 Full Outstanding 08/11/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 3

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Summary of findings

Children are making good progress. They are being supported by staff who are aspirational for them, and the team has worked hard to ensure that children achieve positive outcomes. An area of focus has been to embed routines and boundaries for the children, and they have responded well to these. In addition, the staff have completed Makaton training and are now using social stories as part of everyday practice. This approach has reassured children about how their day is going to be structured, with the overall result of reducing their anxiety. The manager is currently focused on establishing effective monitoring systems and strengthening their oversight of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 2 children have moved out of the home, and the home is being prepared to welcome 2 new children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in all areas of their lives. For one child, it has meant that they have gone from refusing to leave the home for a number of months to going out daily with staff into the community and even trying new activities. This is a significant achievement for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise that any changes to children’s routines or transitions in daily life can cause children anxiety. They have worked hard to support children to make sense of their world and understand what is going to be happening. This has been achieved through the use of social stories as a communication tool, providing reassurance about what comes next. This approach has seen the children being able to cope with the demands being placed on them and move on to what is next in a calm manner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have complex needs with related health conditions. On one occasion when a child presented with a health concern, they expressed their pain by banging their head on a wall and caused injury to themselves. Staff did contact the GP for advice and were told that the GP would return the call. However, when this did not happen, staff did not follow this up until the following day. Staff offered the child pain relief, but they refused this. Staff were not as proactive as they could have been in seeking advice from alternative health services to ensure they had taken all possible steps to support the child’s health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have supported children to take part in activities they enjoy while also encouraging them to try new experiences. Staff offer children a range of activity choices, enabling them to make decisions about how they spend their time. Once an activity has been chosen, staff use social stories to help children understand the steps involved in accessing it. This approach has increased children’s opportunities to engage in activities in the local community. Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 4

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

Children experience times when their behaviours escalate, and as a last resort, staff must physically intervene to keep them safe. The incident reports do not always contain the required information and can lack the manager’s oversight. Staff provide children with the opportunity to speak about the incident afterwards. However, if the child refuses to engage, this is only attempted once rather than taking time to revisit this at a different time.

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

There has been an incident where a child put material in their mouth and choked, causing them to be sick. The manager took action to reduce further risks to the child but only focused on one element of the risk, rather than considering the wider risk to ensure they remained as safe as possible.

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

Risk assessments and behaviour support plans have been reviewed and their format changed to streamline this information for staff. However, the manager does not consistently ensure that these documents reflect the most up-to-date information.

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

There have not been any allegations made against staff since the last inspection. One parent did raise some concerns about the care of their child. To resolve these issues, the manager met with the parent. The parent is of the view that the manager has supported them through the process and provided a satisfactory outcome.

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

There has not been any medication errors over the last year. This is due to a robust medication process being in place. The manager ensures that a monthly audit is undertaken to review the administration and process. The audit confirms that the process remains suitable and effective.

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

Since the last inspection, the previous responsible individual has left their role. A new responsible individual has been appointed and has settled in well. Their priority has been to explore the needs of the children and identify how support can be improved to help them achieve greater outcomes.

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

The current focus of the leadership team is to strengthen and enhance their systems and oversight in the home. However, these systems currently work in isolation, making it difficult to track when actions have been identified and completed. Although managers carry out regular audits, there is no analysis of the work completed or consideration if further improvements could be made.

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

Team meetings are held on a monthly basis. They provide the manager with an opportunity to share operational updates, recognise positive practice and clarify expectations for staff when supporting children. However, not all staff receive regular supervision, and the quality of supervision records is of a variable standard. This is a Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 5 missed opportunity for managers to explore staff support and ongoing development to ensure they are undertaking their roles as expected.

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

The manager has been proactive in working with parents and external agencies for the benefit of the children. Meetings have been convened where everyone involved comes together to review what has happened and agree a plan moving forward. A parent commented, ‘Everyone is working as a team,’ and this has enabled their child to achieve better outcomes.

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

Managers have started to analyse the children’s information to inform their decision- making. Findings were shared with all professionals working with the child and their parents. This focused piece of work highlighted the benefit of undertaking these tasks and how it can lead to positive changes for the children. Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 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 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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the manager ensuring that all key documents that capture the children's risks are regularly reviewed and updated as necessary. In addition, if a risk assessment is needed to determine a specific risk and action needed, then the manager needs to ensure that this is completed as soon as practicable.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 31 August 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

promotes their welfare. 31 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 7 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; and

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Requirement Due date

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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the manager having effective systems in place that provide appropriate oversight of all work completed in the home. Furthermore, the manager must ensure that all staff receive supervision on a regular basis.

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the manager ensuring that staff offer care and support to children if they are harmed or potentially in pain. 31 August 2026

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Recommendation

 The manager needs to ensure that when a child has been physically restrained, they are provided with opportunities to talk about the event. If necessary, children should be asked more than once if they wish to talk about it. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60) Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 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: 2660470 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: My House Calow Limited

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Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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