Children's Home run by Berry Gifford Limited in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2739238 1 Registered provider: Berry Gifford 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 is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post is vacant. An interim manager is in post and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home and one child has moved in. At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living in the home. The inspector spoke with one of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 18 November 2025

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2739238 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/11/2025 Full Good 28/05/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2739238 3

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Summary of findings

Children’s experiences and progress are variable. One child is settled and making good progress with their confidence, independence and education. The other child is not yet consistently supported to engage in learning and spends significant time without purposeful activity. Weaknesses in safeguarding, risk management and behaviour support have increased risks and reduced the effectiveness of care. The home environment is not consistently safe, due to delays in addressing maintenance concerns. Staff promote children’s health and wellbeing and work effectively with partner agencies. However, leadership and management oversight is weak, with ineffective monitoring systems, gaps in staff training and supervision, and missed opportunities to drive improvement and strengthen safeguarding practice.

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improvement to be good

Children’s experiences and progress are mixed. Weaknesses in safeguarding practice and behaviour management have, at times, increased risks to children and reduced the effectiveness of the support they have received. Consequently, one child has expressed a wish to leave the home. However, another child is settled and says they enjoy living at the home. This child has made measurable progress, particularly in developing their confidence, social skills and independence.

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improvement to be good

Children are not consistently supported to do well in education. Staff do not effectively support one child to engage in their education or take part in learning activities at home. As a result, the child spends long periods alone in their bedroom with little purposeful activity. Another child engages well with their tutor and is making good progress in learning English as a second language. Staff support the child’s ambitions, and plans are in place for them to attend college next term.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is not consistently safe or homely. Maintenance issues are not always addressed promptly, resulting in avoidable risks to children. For example, damaged fire doors have allowed access to the garage, where potentially hazardous items are not securely stored. Although some work has started to address these concerns, management oversight has not been sufficiently effective in ensuring timely repairs.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to maintain good health and wellbeing. Children attend routine health appointments and receive support from relevant specialist services when required. This includes access to mental health support and cognitive assessments, ensuring that children’s identified health needs are appropriately addressed. One child regularly attends boxing sessions with their mentor, which helps to improve their physical health, emotional wellbeing and self-confidence. Inspection report for children’s home: 2739238 4

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improvement to be good

Staff know the risks children can be exposed to. However, risk management plans do not contain enough detail about the relevant risks and how staff should respond. Staff have not always followed the correct procedures in response to safeguarding incidents. For instance, there have been delays in staff calling the police to report children missing from home.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding practice is not sufficiently robust. For example, managers and staff fail to take effective action to monitor and manage one child’s phone and internet use, despite known risks. Consequently, the child is not adequately protected from potential harm. Leaders are taking steps to address this.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not always effective in supporting children when they are distressed. This has resulted in frequent police involvement to help manage children’s behaviour. On one occasion, staff used physical intervention as a last resort to prevent harm to the child and others. The minimum necessary force and measure were used. However, the child and staff were not spoken to after the event. In addition, management oversight of the restraint was insufficient, limiting opportunities to evaluate practice and identify learning.

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improvement to be good

Staff respond well to children who are at risk of exploitation. The manager and staff work well with other professionals, such as police and Youth Justice Service. Regular network meetings are held to share information and review risk and safety plans. This ensures decisions about children’s plans are well considered and informed. However, children’s safety plans are not documented or recorded in sufficient detail.

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

The manager is warm, nurturing and committed to supporting staff’s emotional wellbeing. This contributes positively to team morale and helps to foster a supportive working environment. However, there are shortfalls in the leadership and management of the home.

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

Monitoring and quality assurance systems are not yet effective. This results in weak oversight of incidents and staff practice, limiting opportunities for learning and improvement. On one occasion, Ofsted was not notified of a significant event. In addition, the manager has not completed service reviews within required timescales, reducing opportunities to evaluate the home’s strengths and areas for development.

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

Staff know children well and provide compassionate care. However, they have not received training that reflects children’s individual needs, including in supporting separated children seeking sanctuary, and most have not completed training in child exploitation. This limits their ability to provide the most informed and effective care. The manager’s oversight of staff training is also insufficient, and there is no current workforce development plan to identify and address learning needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2739238 5 Staff do not receive supervision regularly, and records of supervision are not always completed promptly. This reduces the manager’s oversight of staff practice and the quality of care provided to children. It also limits opportunities for staff to receive support, professional guidance and constructive reflection on their practice.

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

The manager works effectively with partner agencies to help safeguard children. For example, intelligence relating to child exploitation is shared promptly with relevant professionals, supporting a coordinated and proactive approach to protecting children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2739238 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

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;

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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)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff take effective action when children are at risk and put measures in place to reduce risks to children. This includes having safety plans in place for identified risks to children that tell staff how to respond. 30 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2739238 7 Also, specifically, that when children go missing from home, return home interviews are requested and recorded to help staff to understand the reasons that children go missing.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must also ensure that all damage to the home is repaired in a timely manner and that any item which could present a hazard to children is appropriately secured and stored safely out of their reach. This also includes ensuring that all fire doors are effective and fully operational.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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 have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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;

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that she has adequate oversight of staff practice and the care of children. This includes appropriate scrutiny of physical interventions, consequences and missing incidents and reporting to Ofsted all notifiable events. It also includes reviewing the quality of care and providing Ofsted with a copy of the report within the required timescales. 30 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2739238 8 The registered person must also ensure that staff receive regular supervision and that a written record of each supervision session is completed.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must also ensure that staff receive training appropriate to the needs of the children and maintain regular oversight of completed and outstanding training.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff consistently promote children’s educational achievement through meaningful engagement in learning activities and by supporting children to access, participate in and benefit from suitable educational provision. 30 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2739238 9

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Recommendation

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce- related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1, paragraphs 19 and 20. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: 2739238 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Berry Gifford Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Berry Gifford Ltd, Unit 2, Mercury Park, Amber Close, Tamworth B77 4RP

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Inspector

Emma Dacres, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2739238 11 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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