Children's Home run by Harmony Childcare Residential Homes Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2799023 1 Registered provider: Harmony Childcare Residential Homes Ltd

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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 owned by a 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. Two children were present and spoken with.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in April 2026 and is suitably qualified.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2799023 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/06/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2799023 3

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Summary of findings

Children have made good progress from their starting points. Children’s health, educational needs and emotional needs are being met. Children’s identity needs are supported, and children participate in decision-making. Staff keep risk assessments for each child up to date and understand risk well. Physical intervention is only used as a last resort. However, there are incidents of children going missing from home and allegations against staff that have not been responded to in line with policy and individual plans for children. There are gaps in case recordings of many of these incidents. Shortfalls in management oversight have been identified.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children speak positively about their experience of living in the home and their relationships with staff. One child said ‘they look after us like family’. The child also said that they want to live there for the rest of their life. They know that they can visit once they leave to live independently. This helps children develop a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress from their starting points. One child who was not engaging with education has been supported to attend and has received recognition for having the highest attendance amongst their peers. Another child experienced a trauma-related physiological response and has now recovered. The child said, ‘Staff helped me feel less stressed, which helped me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are heard. They are supported to participate in day-to-day decisions, and are consulted about sanctions during weekly meetings. Additionally, all 3 children have independent advocates. When children have made complaints, these are responded to effectively. Staff help and support children to have their say. This helps children feel heard and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff support children to develop their identity and self-worth. Children maintain relationships with people who are important to them. Children are helped to keep a record of their memories. Children’s special occasions and achievements are celebrated and their individual interests and needs are understood. When children explore their gender and sexual identity, staff support them in a non-judgemental way and help them to access appropriate services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported with moves in and out of the home. One child had a positive move into foster care and was supported to visit the carers on several occasions, even though this involved staff travelling a significant distance. Another child was visited in hospital by staff. Staff obtain and share information about children that helps the carers to be prepared for the child’s arrival. Thoughtful preparation helps children to feel safe and understood. Inspection report for children’s home: 2799023 4

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

Staff understand individual risks and triggers for each child, which helps them keep children safe. Risk assessments are up to date and they detail useful strategies that give staff the confidence to respond to risk in ways that work. The manager works closely with professionals and family so that everyone is aware of the agreed actions, and responds consistently to keep children safe.

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

Staff try to de-escalate situations and use distraction techniques where possible. There have been occasions where physical intervention has been used. These have been proportionate responses to prevent harm to staff and children. Staff talk with children after such incidents to help them make sense of the event and share their experiences. This helps staff learn what responses work best.

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

When children are struggling emotionally, staff respond well on most occasions. Items that present a risk to children are stored securely to reduce risk of harm. However, there are areas of safety within the home that do not comply with children’s risk assessments such as damaged window restrictors. The manager acted promptly during the inspection to replace these.

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

Children have been helped to access specialist support services to reduce risk-taking behaviours, including drug and alcohol support service. Children said that they find these services helpful.

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

When children are at risk of going missing from home, staff usually act quickly. They follow children, try to keep them safe and return them home. However, for one child, staff did not contact the police promptly in accordance with the child’s risk assessment.

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

There has been a medication error, but this was addressed appropriately and the child was not harmed. The manager took appropriate action and addressed shortfalls with staff through supervision and training.

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

Staff provide clear and consistent boundaries and use consequences and rewards to support children with their behaviour. However, at times, the consequences are not proportionate. The manager will be looking at alternative sanctions in future.

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

Staff provide positive feedback about the support that they receive from managers and leaders. Staff said they receive relevant training to meet children’s specific needs, including functional neurological disorder training. One member of staff said this has helped them feel confident in their skills to be able to support children.

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

Managers and staff know children well. They understand children’s individual needs and what contributes to their progress. Managers and leaders have high aspirations for children and speak about them proudly. Inspection report for children’s home: 2799023 5 Managers and staff have positive professional relationships. Staff and managers communicate effectively with professionals. Professionals say that managers and staff challenge them when it is required. They advocate for children to ensure that children receive the best support in all areas of their development.

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

There is evidence of good-quality reflective supervision. However, the manager recognises that there are gaps in the frequency of supervision. This means that some staff have not always received the support needed in line with company policy. This has been attributed to additional demands within the service.

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

There has been a lack of clear management oversight and support on some occasions. During an incident where staff felt unable to manage a child’s behaviour effectively, the manager was not available to staff dealing with the crisis. The lack of decisive action prolonged the incident. As a result, the child’s behaviour escalated, causing additional distress. During a separate incident, an allegation against staff was not fully investigated. Ofsted was not notified of the incident and there were some delays in notifying the local authority designated officer.

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

There are gaps in record-keeping relating to children. On one occasion, a child was missing, and the records do not clearly reflect the incident including timings and sequence of events and the child’s whereabouts during the incident. The manager has reflected on the shortfalls in practice and will be putting strategies in place to address these. Inspection report for children’s home: 2799023 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2) (b)(e)) 6 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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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)(e)) 6 August 2026

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 6 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2799023 7 (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)) 6 August 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any sanctions used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases, it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour, and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: 2799023 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Harmony Childcare Residential Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Easyflow Ltd, 38e Vanguard Way, Battlefield Enterprise Park, Shrewsbury SY1 3TG

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Inspectors

Nus Bibi, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2799023 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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