Children's Home run by Phoenix Children’s Homes Limited in Plymouth

Inspection report for children's home: 2604092 1 Registered provider: Phoenix Children's Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider and registered to provide care for up to 2 children with social and emotional needs. At the time of inspection, 2 children were living in the home and spoken to by the inspector.

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Information about this children's home

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager in post.

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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

Date of last inspection: 9 September 2025

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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: 2604092 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/09/2025 Full Good 16/07/2024 Full Good 21/06/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/06/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2604092 3

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Summary of findings

This inspection found that children are cared for by staff who know them well, and are making good progress. The home is managed by an experienced and ambitious registered manager who role models high standards of practice. Overall, there are not many incidents in the home, and staff manage these well. However, the risk of children going missing has not always been fully understood, which has resulted in some incidents that could have been prevented. Leaders and managers have taken action to address these issues, and the changes are being embedded into practice. Leaders and managers have taken robust action to address concerns about staff conduct and the suitability of adults to work with children, but there is some variability in how concerns are addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in most areas of their lives. Staff focus on building trusting and secure relationships with the children and show genuine warmth and affection in their daily interactions. Children feel valued by staff to express their individual identities, and this is helping children to build their self-esteem and self- confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the value of education and maintain effective communication with school staff to support education plans. When children are not able to attend school, staff ensure that they are engaged in meaningful activities that complement their formal learning. Children's interests and hobbies are supported by enthusiastic staff, and regular trips and outings are arranged to places such as theme parks, concerts and water parks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to maintain healthy routines, including sleep and hygiene. Staff take a sensitive and age-appropriate approach to help children take responsibility for their own personal wellbeing. One child has complex health needs, and staff are supporting the child to safely manage their condition independently as they approach adulthood. Leaders and managers have developed close working relationships with specialist health staff to ensure that the child's needs are fully understood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child is approaching adulthood, and staff are supporting the child with a well- thought-out plan for developing their independence skills. The child finds this plan helpful, and staff have supported them to think about any areas where they lack knowledge and need additional support. Decisions about new children moving in are carefully considered alongside the needs of any children already living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is some variability in staff's recordings in children's files. Some records of significant conversations are strength based and child focused, whereas other records of Inspection report for children's home: 2604092 4 incidents are written using professional language and are not child focused. This does not help the child to have a meaningful story of their time in the home.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children's emotions and behaviours, which means that they are able to respond when children become distressed. Staff's proactive and early response means that there are few incidents. Staff use a range of de-escalation techniques to help calm children when they are upset. There has been one incident involving restraint. This intervention was used as a last resort to prevent the child harming themselves and others. Following this incident, staff ensured that relationships were repaired with warmth and nurture.

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

Children are involved in developing their own plans to help staff to keep them safe. Staff support the children to take age-appropriate risks as part of their development and learn skills to help keep themselves safe. A balanced approach is taken in supporting children to develop their independence, which means that children are able to spend unsupervised time in the community with their friends and loved ones.

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

Staff take a proportionate approach to risk when keeping children safe online. Monitoring apps and regular phone checks are used to ensure that children are not accessing harmful online content. Staff show professional curiosity to openly explore any topics or issues that may arise, and this helps children to feel safe when sharing any worries.

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

Medication is safely stored, and the manager has ensured that staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to support the child with their medication.

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

Overall, allegations are responded to well and in a timely way to keep children safe. Investigations into concerns about staff conduct are thorough, with clear decisions made about the suitability of adults to work with children. On one occasion, the processes followed to address concerns about staff practice were not consistently followed.

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

The risk of children going missing has not always been fully understood, and this has resulted in some incidents that could have been prevented by staff. Leaders and managers have taken action to ensure that these incidents are not repeated, but the changes put in place are yet to be fully embedded to ensure their effectiveness.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a passionate and ambitious manager who has a good understanding of the children's needs. The manager role models good practice and has a nurturing and trusting relationship with the children. They strongly challenge other agencies when there are gaps or shortfalls in the services and support offered to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children's views are gathered in a variety of ways, and leaders and managers carefully consider any specific requests. When decisions are made that children may not agree Inspection report for children's home: 2604092 5 with, staff communicate the response sensitively to ensure that children understand the reasons why.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision sessions take place regularly and are a supportive place for staff to reflect on children's needs and how they meet them. Supervision records are detailed and thorough, with actions for staff to follow up on to improve practice. Staff access a wide variety of training, including bespoke courses, to meet children's individual needs. New staff are provided with an in-depth induction programme that includes mandatory training and shadow shifts.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that they work closely with the family and multi-agency network around each child. Family and professional feedback is positive about staff, the care of the children and the progress they are making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been unplanned changes in the staff team, and these have had an impact on the stability for those staff who remain and in respect of long-lasting trusting relationships with the children. Leaders and managers are addressing these team dynamics, and staff have said that they feel supported by this approach. Agency staff were used for a short period of time to support a complex situation in the home but are no longer required. Leaders and managers have well-thought-out plans to fill upcoming vacancies.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is personalised for the children with photos and pictures of loved ones and special memories. However, the overall home environment needs attention to improve its appearance and ensure appropriate standards of repair and decoration. For example, carpets are worn and stained. Inspection report for children's home: 2604092 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

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

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff are vigilant to any emerging risks, including the risk of children going missing, and 18 September 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2604092 7 that staff follow protocols and policies for keeping children safe. In addition, the registered person must ensure that safeguarding procedures are consistently followed when there are concerns about staff practice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they meet the child's basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met. In particular, the registered person should ensure that the home environment is maintained to a high standard. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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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: 2604092 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Children's Homes Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Support Hub, Unit 5, Chinon Court, Lower Moor Way, Tiverton, Devon EX16 6SS

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Inspector

Stacey Pellow, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2604092 9 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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