Children's Home run by Radiant Care Homes Limited in Wokingham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2850191 1 Registered provider: Radiant Care Homes Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in August 2025 and is owned and operated by a small private company. It provides care for up to 3 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 3 children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2025. He is also a registered manager for another home owned by the organisation in the local area.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious or widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children are poor and they are not making progress

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2850191 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/03/2026 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2850191 3

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Summary of findings

Significant shortfalls in leadership and management have had an impact on how well children are helped and protected and this has led to an overall judgement of inadequate.

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Summary of findings

Children have positive relationships with staff, and most are making some progress. However, leaders and managers moved a child into the home whose needs they were unable to meet. As a result, the child received poor care, and plans are now in place for them to move out.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There are two children in the home who have made some progress since the last inspection. This has included developing life skills and trusting relationships with staff, supporting them with the things that they need help with. However, staff have been unable to meet the needs of one child and have not provided clear guidance or boundaries. This has had an impact on the child’s experiences and the progress that they have made in areas such as their self-care skills and school attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Care plans are weak and do not contain all the information that staff need to support the children with their health, medication and family time. Information is not clear about what action has been taken, and opportunities have been missed to ensure that specific health needs have been met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not consistently inform children’s social workers when children have contact with their families and people who are important to them or seek agreement when children want to spend additional time with them. As a result, children’s professional networks cannot monitor or assess the appropriateness of these arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The communal areas of the home are clean and well furnished. Two children’s bedrooms are personalised and well maintained. However, the living conditions in one of the children’s bedrooms is unacceptable. Their bedroom is unhygienic, there is a broken wardrobe, a hole in the wall, and stains on the carpet and walls. This does not create an environment that promotes the child’s wellbeing or give them a positive experience of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children said that they are happy living at the home and they have supportive relationships with staff. However, regular child-focused key-work sessions are not in place to support children to be able to share their thoughts and worries or think about how to achieve their goals and aspirations. Inspection report for children’s home: 2850191 4 Staff speak warmly to children and children enjoy spending time with them. During the inspection, children were seen laughing and joking with staff and seeking staff for support.

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

While staff focus on de-escalation strategies and only use physical intervention as the last resort, management oversight of incidents and records is poor. As a result, staff do not receive the guidance or direction that they need to best support children.

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

Medication records have not been completed by staff when administrating medication, and auditing systems have not identified this error. Staff also failed to seek guidance from a medical practitioner after a child was injured during an incident. Potential risks associated with these examples have been accepted by the manager, with assurances that the systems will be improved.

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

Staff attend multi-agency meetings to support a greater understanding of why children go missing from home. Several staff have developed positive relationships with the children to enable them to explore risks in a safe and supportive environment. However, key-work sessions are not consistently taking place to demonstrate the work undertaken and the help provided to children. As a result, there are missed opportunities for the team and others to explore the risks fully and take steps to reduce the risk of further episodes.

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

Leaders, managers and staff are not alert to potential risks to children. There was a lack of curiosity when a child returned home with 3 mobile phones. This was not shared with the child’s social worker, and the manager and staff willingly accepted the child’s explanation with no follow-up action being taken.

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

Staff understand the processes to follow when children make allegations. Overall, managers share information with the relevant safeguarding agencies. However, follow-up discussions with children do not always take place. As a result, children’s experiences and worries are not always fully understood and responded to and children do not always know how their concerns have been addressed. Cover arrangements for when managers are on leave are weak. This led to an unnecessary delay in notifying relevant agencies when an allegation was made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The management oversight of the home is weak. Leaders and managers have failed to oversee safeguarding incidents, care planning and the quality of children’s care effectively. Consequently, children have received poor care, and safeguarding risks have not been well considered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders do not review, or have effective oversight of, physical restraints or incidents to ensure that safe practice is used and that staff are responding appropriately to children. This represents a serious shortfall in oversight and leaves children at risk of harm. Inspection report for children’s home: 2850191 5 Leaders and managers have failed to take timely and appropriate action to address the shortfalls that were identified at the last full inspection in March 2026. As a result, these shortfalls in the quality of care, leadership and management and safeguarding practices remain, with further shortfalls identified at this inspection relating to medication management and physical restraint practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff enjoy working at the home. They have access to ongoing training and development. However, there are inconsistent records of mandatory training that staff have completed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2850191 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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Requirements Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who-

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Requirements Due date

understand the children’s homes overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirements Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirements Due date

In particular, the stands in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to-

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Requirements Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirements Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans taking into account the child’s background.

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Requirements Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that children’s plans are clear, accurate, consistent, easily accessible and that staff respond to the individual medical needs of the child. 1 August 2026

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Requirements Due date

The protection of care standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirements Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that –

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Requirements 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; 1 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2850191 7 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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Requirements 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.

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Requirements Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that children’s bedrooms are clean and hygienic and that replacement furniture and repairs are undertaken in a timely manner.

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Requirements Due date

The registered person should ensure that staff use professional curiosity to explore potential risks and share information with the local authority when potential risks are identified for children

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Requirements 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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Requirements Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirements Due date

In particular, the standards paragraph (1) requires the registered person to –

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Requirements Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose

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Requirements Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on –

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Requirements Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met

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Requirements Due date

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

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Requirements Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(g)(i)(h)) 9 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2850191 8 In particular, the registered person should ensure that monitoring and review of daily recordings, incidents and relevant activities are undertaken to support the safeguarding and welfare of children.

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Requirements Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirements Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirements Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child.

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Requirements Due date

(Regulation 23 (1) (2)(c)) 1 August 2026

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Requirements Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirements Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirements Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home

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Requirements Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirements 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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Requirements Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirements Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirements Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirements Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and 1 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2850191 9 within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

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Requirements Due date

(Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirements Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that medical treatment is administered and there is management oversight within 48 hours of an incident taking place and that appropriate actions are undertaken.

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Requirements Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirements Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirements Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirements Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirements Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(ii)(iii)) In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are updated on concerns they raise and that their views are used to understand potential risk. 1 August 2026

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Requirements Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the workforce development plans’ mandatory training requirements are consistent with other relevant training records used in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that individual sessions with children help them to develop knowledge and skills and meet targets as agreed in statutory documents and reviews. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, and paragraph 11.3) Inspection report for children’s home: 2850191 10

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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: 2850191 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Radiant Care Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: W02, Howard Road, Stanmore HA7 1FW

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Inspector

Maria Calway-Kennedy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2850191 12 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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