Children's Home run by Vesta Children's Services Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children's home: 2792586 1 Registered provider: Vesta Children's Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned by a small private company. The home has been registered with Ofsted since August 2024. There is a suitably qualified manager in post.

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered to provide care for up to 2 children who may have experienced social and emotional difficulties. One child was living in the home at the time of the inspection, and they contributed to 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 outstanding

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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: 11 November 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: 2792586 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/11/2025 Full Good 11/02/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2792586 3

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Summary of findings

Staff know children well and support them to have positive experiences. Children feel understood and respected, which is supporting their progress. Safeguarding is a priority, and incidents and concerns are managed well. The home is managed by leaders who have had an influential impact on the experiences of children in the home. There is a culture of learning that is clearly enhancing practice, with staff drawing on research and reflective discussions to improve experiences and outcomes for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The culture of the home is inclusive. Staff are nurturing and supportive. They build trusting relationships with children, which helps them to safely explore their identities in an age-appropriate way. This creates a sense of belonging and builds self-worth. Staff find creative ways to educate children about inclusion and support them to attend events that are important to them. One child shared that this made them feel 'accepted and celebrated'.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is prioritised. When children cannot attend school, structured education is provided in the home. Staff work closely with education services to ensure that they understand children's learning needs. They work hard to help children overcome barriers to learning. As such, children make progress in education. The manager tirelessly advocates for the right provision for children. Staff mirror school timetables at home for one child. This supports consistent routines to ensure that they are ready to return to school when a suitable setting is found.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's health needs are met. Staff identify any health difficulties quickly and ensure that children get the right help. Where children access specialist services to meet their individual needs, staff ensure that advice provided is followed consistently in the home. This has resulted in a significant improvement in one child's health. Staff also provide health education around diet, exercise and self-care. This gives children the information they need to make healthy choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spend meaningful time with their families. Staff support children to enjoy safe and positive relationships with their family and important people. Staff are creative in promoting family time. For one child, family gaming time has helped improve communication. Children also have access to an in-house therapist that they can talk to about their experiences should they wish. This helps children and their families to repair relationships with each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children moved out of the home in December 2025. While the children were not involved in the planning for the move, this was appropriate to ensure their safety. Inspection report for children's home: 2792586 4 Despite this, staff maintained a child-focused approach that involved children in their care planning, ensuring that they experienced a positive ending.

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

On occasions when children go missing, staff work tirelessly to bring them home safely. They ensure that children know they can ask for help, put money on their bank cards to buy food and offer to meet up with them to provide clean clothes and hygiene products. This helps children to know they are cared about. Leaders and staff are proactive when children are missing and work collaboratively with partner agencies. When children are found, they are supported by staff who know them well to return home. They are nurtured, and staff initiate conversations sensitively to give children opportunities to talk about anything that happened while they were missing. This demonstrates children's safety is paramount.

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

When children make disclosures, these are managed sensitivity and taken seriously. Children's social workers are promptly informed, and staff work well with partner agencies to ensure that all disclosures are properly investigated. Staff share the outcomes of investigations sensitively with children. This reassures children that it is safe to talk about their experiences.

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

Children are supported to be safe online. Children are given appropriate advice and education around the risks associated with the internet. This increases children's confidence and knowledge in responding safely to risks online. Where restrictions are in place around internet use, education and support is proactive and helps children work safely towards restrictions being reduced.

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

Restraint is rarely used. When restraint has been used, this has been necessary and proportionate to ensure the safety of the child and staff. When children cause harm to themselves, staff speak with children calmly and with curiosity to understand what happened. Staff understand children's risks in the context of their past experiences. This helps them to respond to risks proportionately. Leaders make use of the in-house therapist to enhance oversight of incidents and identify learning for staff. As a result, children's changing needs are identified early.

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

Staff understand children's risks and vulnerabilities well. On one occasion, safe supervision levels as directed in a child's risk assessment were not adhered to, which resulted in an incident occurring. The manager quickly identified this and spoke with the staff involved. Leaders recognised this as an opportunity for learning and revisited safe supervision and the purpose of risk assessments with staff through training and a team meeting. This helps to prevent recurrence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders are ambitious for children. They understand the children well and promptly identify their needs and arrange support and services to meet them. Leaders take their Inspection report for children's home: 2792586 5 responsibility to prepare children for their futures seriously. Where they identify barriers for children, for example in achieving independence, they appropriately challenge the relevant services in the child's best interests. The manager is a strong advocate for children. One child said they know the manager will always support them to share their views. This makes children feel heard and empowered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has effective oversight of the home. Staff feel supported and say that the home is well managed. Staff supervision takes place regularly and are helpful for staff. The manager appropriately challenges staff when the expectations for children's care are not met. This leads to learning that improves the quality of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Induction for staff is robust and covers all essential aspects of the role. The induction supports staff to develop their understanding of the home's model of care before they have access to training. This ensures that children receive consistency in care from new staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders are innovative and draw on research and diverse therapeutic models to improve experiences for children. Sustaining trusting and safe relationships with children is a priority. Leaders create a range of opportunities for staff to reflect on their interactions with children. One child said that 'staff really care' about what they think and feel and that they are 'role models' they can look up to. This has resulted in sustained positive relationships for the child since moving into the home. As a result, their risks have reduced, and they are making progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Communication is a real strength. Feedback from partner agencies highlights how well staff work in a multi-agency approach. Even when there have been challenges, professional relationships have remained respectful and child focused. Communication with children's families is equally strong and has resulted in positive relationships between staff and family. As a result, one parent said, 'I haven't had to worry about them one bit.'

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

No requirements or recommendations were raised at this inspection. Inspection report for children's home: 2792586 6

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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: 2792586 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Vesta Children's Services Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Unit G2, Alexandra Mill, Queen Street, Leek ST13 6LP

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Inspector

Kim Morgan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2792586 8 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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