Children's Home run by Inspire Children’s Services Limited in St Helens

Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 1 SC441410 Registered provider: Inspire Childrens Services 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

The home is privately owned and provides care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2025. She left her role in July 2026. An interim manager is currently overseeing the home.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living at the home. Both children were spoken to as part of this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/10/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/06/2024 Full Good 28/11/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/06/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 3

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Summary of findings

Changes to the leadership and management of the home have impacted on the experiences for children, the quality of care provided and the overall monitoring of the home and its safeguarding procedures.

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Summary of findings

An interim manager is currently overseeing the home. This has provided reassurance to children and the staff team. The shortfalls identified at this inspection relate to the improvements required to the leadership and management of the home and the impact this has had on some areas of safeguarding practice. That said, children are happy, settled and feel safe in their home. They continue to do well in areas of their lives and are supported by staff to make positive choices about keeping themselves safe.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not had effective oversight of some of the procedures and practices that concern the safety and wellbeing of children. This has affected the overall experiences and quality of care for children living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Childrens case records are not always kept up to date. There is no evidence of the most current records having been requested by managers. This means that children do not have updated records held on their files that reflect their current care needs and to enable staff to effectively monitor their progress.

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improvement to be good

Children engage in monthly house meetings, where they are supported to share their views, wishes and feelings about living in the home. However, most meetings have no manager oversight and children are not given feedback about how their views have been listened to and acted upon in relation to their requests or suggestions.

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improvement to be good

The home is personalised by children to make it feel homely. Photographs of children’s fun days out with staff are displayed around the home. However, the children’s main bathroom was unclean and their bedrooms required tidying. The garden was overgrown and required dirty water cleaning out of paddling pools.

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improvement to be good

Despite the shortfalls identified, children report that they are happy and settled in the home. Parents and social workers also spoke positively about children's experiences and the care they receive. Children talk fondly about the staff team and have developed trusting relationships with them. Staff have open and honest discussions with children about their individual needs, health, relationships, views, wishes and feelings. They also advocate effectively for children, helping to promote positive and regular family time.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy school on the most part. They are supported to maintain regular attendance. When children struggle in school, the staff team works with teaching staff, Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 4 placing authority and virtual school to review any barriers to children’s education and plan to resolve the issues.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are monitored well by the staff team. Staff ensure that routine health appointments are attended and any specialist support required from external professionals is sought. When health needs are of a sensitive nature, staff approach these with dignity. When there are health risks such as children vaping, staff address this with children through direct work and education.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to develop their independence skills to prepare them for adulthood. They are supported to get the bus home from school, spend time with friends in the community or at their homes and to develop their practical independence skills. Children engage in a range of activities associated with their hobbies and interests. Staff also support children to explore new clubs to broaden their social skills.

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improvement to be good

A serious incident where staff have failed to follow appropriate safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures, was responded to promptly by senior managers on receiving the concerns. The relevant professionals were notified and suitable action taken with staff involved. However, a recommendation from a multi-disciplinary meeting to undertake whistleblowing and safeguarding training with the wider staff team has not been facilitated.

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improvement to be good

Staff take appropriate action in response to any medical emergencies, accidents or incidents of self-injury. However, on one occasion a room search was conducted by staff at a delay of 2 days following an incident where a child had self-injured. This means that the child was placed at potential risk of harm. The lack of manager oversight of the incident records, meant that this delay had not been identified and the action taken by staff had not been reviewed.

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improvement to be good

Children say that they are kept safe in their home. Staff understand the risks for children and the support required to keep them safe. Children do not go missing from the home. They safely manage age-appropriate time in the community with friends. Staff undertake regular welfare checks to monitor children’s whereabouts and who they are with. Children are also educated about how to keep themselves safe on social media and the internet.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers appropriately risk assess any known concerns in the local community. However, the location of the premises risk assessment does not include children’s views about the area their home is situated or their knowledge about the safety of the area they live in. Staff have not conducted targeted work with children relating to recognising trusted adults and stranger danger when out in the community.

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improvement to be good

Children are rarely given consequences for their behaviour. Staff use positive behaviour reinforcement through rewards systems and recognition. While there have been Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 5 improvements to how consequences are recorded, measures used are not always evaluated by a manager to assess their suitability and effectiveness. This was a requirement at the last inspection and so it has been restated.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand children’s behaviour and use effective de-escalation strategies to help children to calm. Consequently, physical restraint has not been used. Positive behaviour support plans provide the child’s own perspective of the strategies that should be used to help them to manage their behaviour. Staff use reflective discussions and direct work to revisit children’s behaviours and to offer them praise when they have made positive choices.

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

The manager left their role unexpectedly. The responsible individual has overseen the home until an interim manager was allocated to manage the home. Senior leaders are actively recruiting a new manager.

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

The staff team has remained stable. No staff have left or joined the team. This has provided some continuity of care for children. Staff reported that senior managers have been present and supported them well since the manager left their role.

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

When staff practice issues are identified they are taken seriously and clear fact finding is in place to explore the concerns. However, when recommendations are made to undertake follow up work with staff, this is not always carried out. This means that lessons learned have not been used to develop staff practice in response to shortfalls leaders and managers have identified themselves during their monitoring.

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

Leaders and managers oversight of children’s records to ensure that they contain the most up to date information is inconsistent. This specifically relates to chronologies in children’s risk assessments and key information in education and health plans. In addition, risk gradings do not always align in children’s records, such as risk assessments and positive behaviour support plans. This means that staff do not have accurate information in relation to children’s care needs.

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

Leaders and managers do not always collaborate with placing authorities and children’s social workers to ensure that essential information is shared with key people. On one occasion, significant information about a child’s care and safety has not been shared with their parents.

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

Staff are provided with the training they require to support children’s individual needs. However, staff have not had regular practice-related supervision to review their progress and development. This is at a time when staff have needed this protected time the most. Team meetings have continued to take place monthly. However, there has been missed opportunities to share key information and learning points with the wider staff team during these meetings. Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 6 The independent visitor does not obtain regular feedback from children about their experiences of living in the home. Some of the visits have been announced and the visitor has visited while children have been in school. The independent visitor does not speak regularly to staff, children’s family and professionals to gather their views about the care provided to children. This is a missed opportunity to obtain valuable feedback

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

from key people. Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 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, 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 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

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)) 21 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. 21 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 8 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

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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that significant information about children’s care and safety is shared with their parents when required and in agreement with the placing authority. 21 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)) 21 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; 21 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 9 are kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children’s placing authority care plans, personal education plans, statutory review meeting recommendations and annual medical assessments.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 21 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Specifically, the home and gardens should be kept clean and tidy. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.9).

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. Specifically, feedback should be given to children in response to their requests and views shared at house meetings. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 22, paragraph 4.11).

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that under regulation 46, they review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. Specifically, the record should include children’s views about the area their home is situated or their knowledge Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 10 about the safety of the area they live in. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 64, paragraph 15.1).

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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: SC441410 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspire Childrens Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Inspire Childrens Services, Unit 3, Craig Court, Standish Street, St. Helens, Merseyside WA10 1GJ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michael Bradshaw

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Inspector

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC441410 12 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 children who are looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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