Children's Home run by Crystal Care Solutions Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report for children’s home: SC460800 1 SC460800 Registered provider: Crystal Care Solutions Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 3 children were living at the home. Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home. The inspectors spoke to all 3 children about their experiences 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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC460800 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/10/2025 Full Outstanding 07/08/2024 Full Outstanding 20/12/2023 Full Good 06/09/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC460800 3

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Summary of findings

Children say they are happy living at this home, and the relationships between staff and children are positive. Children maintain structured routines, and their education is supported. Children enjoy lovely experiences with staff. Staff talk to children about their risks to help them understand how to stay safe. Incidents are generally well managed. However, one incident was managed poorly, and staff practice impacted on the care and experiences for children. Staff are committed to children and maintain positivity in their roles. However, agency staff are used regularly, which creates instability for children. Leaders and managers do not ensure that all external agency staff have the necessary skills, knowledge or training relevant to the needs of children, and robust systems are not yet embedded regarding staff sleeping arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with the core staff team. These are warm and nurturing, and children enjoy spending time together with staff, undertaking activities and holidays. Children speak highly of the staff team and value these relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they like living at the home. One child rated the home ‘100 out of 100’ and said that staff are quick to respond and take effective action when they share their wishes and feelings. This supports children to feel listened to and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into and out of the home, transitions are well planned and children are involved. One child and their parent shared that the child was well supported when they moved out of the home and their relationships with staff have continued since they moved out of the home. This approach provides children with a sense of stability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to build and maintain relationships with people who are important to them. Staff ensure that they form positive working relationships with parents for the benefit of children. One child now enjoys travelling independently to see their friends regularly, after being supported by staff to develop the skills to do this safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to engage in education, and their learning is promoted. Staff work closely with schools and education providers to ensure that children receive an education. When children do not attend school full time, staff support them to maintain structured routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are resilient and committed in their roles. When there are incidents and periods of challenge, staff remain positive in their approaches to caring for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is large and spacious. There is space to participate in activities and lots of age-appropriate games and equipment for children to enjoy. Children’s bedrooms are Inspection report for children’s home: SC460800 4 comfortable and furnished in line with their tastes. However, there are some areas of the home that require repair and maintenance.

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

Staff know the children well and understand their risks. Despite managing some challenging situations, staff are consistent and provide steady support for children. They encourage positive behaviour and children’s achievements are celebrated.

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

When children go missing from home, staff understand what they need to do and they spend time searching for children. Staff talk to children about their risks, which helps them to understand how to keep themselves safe.

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

Children receive regular, meaningful support from a specialist therapeutic service at the home. Additionally, this service works closely with staff to support their practice and explore alternative and personalised approaches to supporting children. This resource is well embedded and valued by both staff and children.

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

Staff generally manage incidents well. However, during one incident at nighttime, staff did not take effective action to keep children safe. Sleeping arrangements for staff are not robust, which meant that there were not enough staff to effectively care for all children at the home on one occasion. This led to the police being called to support staff to manage children’s behaviour. Leaders and managers took action to address this during the inspection.

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

Staff are largely therapeutic in their approaches to caring for children. However, on some occasions, this is not maintained and language used across some records is not positive. This may impact children’s feelings of self-esteem and their relationships with staff.

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

Children have trusted relationships with the core staff team, which is generally stable. However, additional staff from external agencies are used regularly, and these inconsistencies impact on children’s experiences and cause instability. Additionally, leaders and managers do not ensure that all external agency staff have the necessary skills, knowledge and training to meet the needs of children.

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

Leaders and managers do not always notify Ofsted of serious incidents. Additionally, when Ofsted receives notifications of serious incidents, they are not always completed in a timely manner. Although this has not impacted children, it limits the regulator’s oversight of safeguarding at the home.

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

There are weaknesses in the oversight, monitoring and quality assurance arrangements at the home. Leaders and managers have not identified and addressed risks before they have impacted on children’s care and safety. Leaders and managers have not ensured that staff consistently deliver care in line with the home’s therapeutic ethos. The identified concerns indicate that management systems have not been sufficiently robust Inspection report for children’s home: SC460800 5 to consistently promote safe practice, maintain high standards of recording and ensure that children receive care that supports their welfare, emotional wellbeing and positive experiences. As a result, leaders and managers have not demonstrated that they can consistently provide effective oversight of the quality of care provided to children.

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

Team meetings take place regularly. They are child-focused and provide opportunities for staff to share theories and strategies to improve their practice and experiences for children. Supervision for staff also takes place regularly. However, these sessions are brief and not reflective.

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

The home is managed by a committed manager who is child-centred in her approach. She is fully involved in children’s lives and children speak very highly about her, the support she provides and the relationships they share. The registered manager is a good advocate for children to ensure that they receive the help and support they need to make progress.

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

Staff say they enjoy working at the home. They say they work well together as a team and support one another. Despite a challenging period, staff are proud of the care they provide to children. They also say that they feel well supported by leaders and managers.

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

Professionals say they are happy with the care and support that children receive from staff and managers. Inspection report for children’s home: SC460800 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(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

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

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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 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. 28 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC460800 7 (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff sleeping arrangements are coordinated in a way that ensures children are safeguarded during the night. They must implement robust systems to ensure that there are sufficient staff, who are suitably skilled, to care for all children and manage any incidents at nighttime.

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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’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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(f))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children are cared for by a consistent staff team to provide them with continuity of care and stability.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children are cared for by staff who are suitably trained and who have the skills, knowledge and experience to meet their needs. 28 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC460800 8 The registered person must ensure that staff are not sleeping in vacant bedrooms intended for children, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that there are robust monitoring and reviewing systems in place to maintain effective oversight across all aspects of the home.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(viii)(ix)(xi))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff understand and take into account children’s backgrounds and maintain a consistent therapeutic approach, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff have the skills and experience to manage incidents so that they do not feel the need to call the police as a behaviour management strategy unnecessarily. 28 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC460800 9 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 28 August 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff 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 the home children live in is a homely, domestic environment that is well maintained. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC460800 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Crystal Care Solutions Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bank House, Market Square, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 1ET

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Inspectors

Danielle Allen, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Zillah Brooks, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC460800 11 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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