Children's Home run by Bayleaf Care Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2857068 1 Registered provider: Bayleaf Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private organisation and registered in December 2025. It provides care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties, as well as special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2026. She is suitably experienced and is working towards her level 5 leadership and management qualification.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspection started on 12 May 2026. An inspector returned on 9 June 2026 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspectors were aware during this inspection that serious child protection allegations were being investigated by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate allegations of this kind, actions taken by the setting in response to the allegations were considered (where appropriate) alongside other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform inspectors’ judgements.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were 2 children living in the home, who were present and spoken to.

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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 and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor, and they are not making progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2857068 2 Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2857068 3

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Summary of findings

Children’s experiences, progress and safety have been adversely affected because of the care they receive. Leadership and management systems are ineffective, and leaders lack the necessary oversight required to provide safe and effective care to children.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not have a good understanding of children’s needs and risks, and not all staff have the necessary skills and experience to support children effectively. This has impacted on children’s day-to-day experiences and overall progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s progress and safety have been compromised because of the lack of support they receive from staff. Some staff do not build positive relationships with children or understand their needs and vulnerabilities. They are not always able to consistently identify when children need help and support. For example, staff do not always use a sensitive approach to supporting and communicating with children when they are experiencing difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s needs are not understood and assessed well. The manager and staff fail to adequately consider all information from the placing authority or carefully assess the needs and vulnerabilities of the children, who are moving into the home alongside those who are already living there. As a result, children are exposed to increased risk of harm. Some children have experienced unplanned and abrupt endings, which have impacted on their sense of security and feelings of rejection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite these significant shortfalls, inspectors observed some positive interactions between staff and children. Children’s feedback was positive about their experiences living in the home and about the support they receive from staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

When there are barriers to children’s education and learning, managers escalate these, working closely with other professionals such as the virtual school and social workers. For example, one child benefits from receiving home tutoring, which has had a positive impact on their learning, and another child’s participation in interactive online education has helped them improve. As a result, children are making some progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff support children’s emotional health. They work with external professionals, including child and adolescent mental health services and the home’s therapist, ensuring that children have access to appropriate support. Children are provided with journals to record and reflect on their thoughts and feelings, which develops their emotional awareness and helps staff to understand and respond to their needs more effectively. Inspection report for children’s home: 2857068 4 Children take part in weekly chats, where staff explore their views, wishes and feelings. They are involved in meal planning and deciding their personal goals for the week. Additionally, managers ensure a personalised response to children’s requests. This helps children to feel listened to and promotes a sense of inclusion.

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

Serious safeguarding incidents have occurred, which have exposed children to increased risk and harm. For example, one child was not adequately supported by staff in a time of crisis. Staff lacked professional curiosity or took appropriate action to ensure the child’s immediate safety and wellbeing. Furthermore, managers did not identify or address this shortfall. Leaders and managers do not ensure that staff fully understand these risks or how to protect children.

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

A poor safeguarding culture leave’s child at risk of harm. Management oversight of children’s care and safety is poor, and they fail to act when there are concerns about children’s safety. They fail to identify shortfalls in the quality of care that children receive.

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

Staff and managers do not assess children’s risks effectively. Children’s known risks are not well understood or regularly reviewed. Consequently, staff do not have clear guidance, advice and strategies on how to inform the care of children, respond to risk and keep children safe.

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

Leaders and managers do not ensure that children live in a safe and well-maintained environment. Considerable damage to the home, including broken windows and doors, has not been promptly addressed. Staff do not take proactive steps to identify, manage and reduce these hazards Leaders and managers do not ensure that the necessary repairs are completed in a timely way. As a result, children are not provided with a safe and secure environment to live in.

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

When physical interventions are used by staff, these are used as a last resort to keep children safe. Managers have systems in place to ensure that children’s experiences of restraint are understood. However, staff practice is not always consistent in following measures of restraint to keep children safe. This lack of confidence and skills means that situations are not de-escalated quickly and places children at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Weaknesses in the leadership and management of this home have compromised children’s safety, experiences and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some staff said that they do not feel supported. They describe a closed culture in the home. For example, if serious concerns about staff practice are shared with senior leaders, these are not always investigated and there is a fear of repercussions. Inspection report for children’s home: 2857068 5 Leaders and managers do not proactively assess staff knowledge and skills to ensure that they can meet the needs of children and keep them safe. Some staff have not received training to ensure they have the knowledge necessary to meet children’s individual and specific needs. These shortfalls do not help staff to improve their understanding of safeguarding children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager does not ensure that all staff receive regular and reflective supervision to help support their learning and development. This has the potential to hinder staff improving their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Feedback from staff is inconsistent about their leaders and managers. While some staff gave positive feedback, other staff have raised concern about how they are supported to safely care for children and manage risk. As a result, staff morale is low, and confidence in supporting challenging situations has reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Professional relationships are generally positive. Two social workers said that they were happy with the quality of care children receive and that there is good communication. However, another social worker felt that managers did not work effectively with the placing authority when making changes to the children’s accommodation arrangements. Inspection report for children’s home: 2857068 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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff are professionally curious around children’s known risks and take appropriate action to mitigate risks. 21 June 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2857068 7 In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff have the relevant skills to understand children’s needs and risks. They must act to ensure they fulfil their role and responsibilities in safeguarding children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that the home environment is safe for children. This includes understanding children’s risk and reviewing the environment to ensure that children’s individual needs are met.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that they have robust systems for assessment in place when considering children coming to live in the home and if this is the right decision for all children and ensure that children’s risks and needs can be supported against staff ability, skills and experience.

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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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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; 2 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2857068 8 demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(b)(c)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that effective and timely monitoring and oversight occur regarding the day-to- day care children receive, their safety, and incidents. This should be used to identify concerns and take swift action to improve.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff and managers are equipped and skilled to use professional curiosity to better support and safeguard children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff receive regular proactive related supervision and appraisals.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that they have robust systems for assessment in place when considering children coming to live in the home and if this is the right decision for all children and ensure that children’s risks and needs can be supported against staff ability, skills and experience. 2 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2857068 9 * These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2857068 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bayleaf Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 7 Bankside, The Watermark, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear NE11 9SY

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Inspector

Kirsty Truesdale, Social Care Inspector Hayley Booth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2857068 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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