Children's Home run by Formations Care Services Limited in Bradford

Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 1 Registered provider: Formations Care 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 run by a private provider. It 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 home and manager registered with Ofsted in April 2024. The manager is also registered to manage another home run by the provider.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living at the home at the time of the inspection and one of the children was spoken with during the inspection.

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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: 2775218 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/07/2025 Full Good 13/08/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 3

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Summary of findings

Children have trusting relationships with staff. They spend positive time with staff and see their family and friends. Staff understand the importance of children experiencing well-planned moves into the home to give children stability and promote positive beginnings.

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Summary of findings

Children are not in school, but staff are working well with educational professionals to support the children’s return. However, support for the children’s education at home is less structured and this is not helping to prepare the children. Staff understand the children’s needs and vulnerabilities well, and they keep children safe. Managers are focused on further developing staff knowledge to improve the safe care children. The team is well established, and staff say they feel supported. Some improvement is needed with the manager’s oversight of when staff give children consequences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children visit the home and get to know staff before they move in. Staff help children to understand important information such as routines and boundaries. The home provides a warm and welcoming environment and is maintained to a high standard. Photos of children and staff are proudly displayed throughout the home. This offers children a sense of belonging and supports them to settle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy spending time with staff and are offered a range of activities and holidays. Staff help children to develop interests and hobbies that contribute to improving the children’s confidence and self-esteem. For example, staff ensured that one child could maintain their membership of a sports team and attend a related event. This relieved the child’s anxieties about whether they could continue pursuing this interest after moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled at understanding and advocating for children's views, wishes and feelings. Managers appropriately challenge other professionals when their actions fall short of what is in the best interests of children. This ensures that care-planning decisions remain focused on the children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff learn about children’s health before they come to live at the home. Staff are attentive to their wellbeing and plan effectively to address any concerns. As a result, children's health and hygiene have improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work with family members to ensure that family time is safe and a positive experience for children. This helps children to sustain meaningful relationships. A family member said that they appreciate the positive communication and updates that they receive from staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 4 One child moved on from the home after a short time due to escalating risks. The manager reviewed the safety of both children to assess their suitability to live together safely. Staff maintained contact with the child who moved on to promote positive endings. Furthermore, the manager has worked with external professionals to identify lessons learned and improvements to the referral process have been implemented as a result.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children are out of school. Staff are working alongside education professionals to identify the right placements for children and promote the importance of attendance and engagement. However, children do not have structured plans to maintain a meaningful daily routine whilst plans are made for their education. This limits the likelihood of children participating in informal learning opportunities and their preparation for returning to school.

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

Safeguarding arrangements are effective. Staff understand children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities. They respond positively when children experience overwhelming emotions and help children to reflect following behavioural incidents. These discussions help children and staff to develop strategies to avoid unsafe behaviour.

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

Staff are proactive when children are missing from the home. They respond promptly to maintain contact and locate children, helping them to return safely home. Important conversations take place afterwards to help children share the reasons they were missing. This has seen a reduction in missing-from-home incidents for the children.

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

Searches of the children’s bedrooms rarely need to take place. When they are necessary due to safety concerns, staff have discussions with children about the reasons why. This helps children understand why they are needed and increases their safety and trust in staff.

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

Staff prefer to use natural consequences when children make poor choices. This approach helps children to understand the effect that their behaviour has on them and others. However, the manager’s oversight does not evaluate the consequence or its intended use for the child. This means there is limited analysis on whether the use of consequences is fair and effective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the team’s strengths and areas of development. There is a positive learning culture, which is valued by staff. Staff receive specific training that enhances their abilities to meet the needs of children. The manager makes good use of research to inform team discussions and increase the knowledge and skills of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Practice-related supervision sessions and team meetings take place regularly. They provide staff with opportunities to discuss and agree consistent approaches to the care Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 5 of children. Staff say they feel well supported, that morale is high and that there is a strong family ethos in the team. One staff member said, ‘We are really family oriented and I never feel on my own with anything.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is well established and no new staff members have joined the team since the last inspection. This means children are cared for by a stable and consistent team and this promotes the development of trusting relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes good use of monitoring tools to thoughtfully explore any shortfalls in practice. She identifies lessons learned which are then discussed with the staff in helpful conversations. This supports staff to reflect and make improvements to their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers maintain effective working relationships with professionals. This helps to inform and improve planning for children. Professionals speak highly of staff’s approach to meeting the children’s needs. One professional said, ‘Staff work collaboratively to understand and address risk.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when children are not engaged in full time education, they are supported with suitable structured activities to regain their confidence in education. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraphs 5.15)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control and discipline are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure their use is fair. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraphs 9.36)

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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: 2775218 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Formations Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Formations Care Services, 2 St. Pauls Road, Shipley BD18 3EP

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Victoria Crabtree-Phillips

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Inspector

Mark Cryer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 8 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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