Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes Ltd in Shropshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2620678 1 Registered provider: Compass Children's Homes Limited 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 5 children with learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, specific language/communication difficulties and/or sensory integration difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, 5 children were living at the home. Four of the children were spoken to and/or observed during the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2024. They are suitably qualified and experienced.

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Information about this children's home

The provider has a school on the same site, which provides education to children living at the home. The inspector only inspected the social care provision on this site.

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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 good

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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: 30 September 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: 2620678 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/09/2025 Full Good 10/09/2024 Full Good 21/05/2024 Full Inadequate 06/06/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2620678 3

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Summary of findings

Children have positive experiences while living in this home. They make progress from their original starting points, in relation to their health, education and emotional, social and psychological wellbeing. Children's views and rights are encouraged and are central to the care that children receive.

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Summary of findings

Safeguarding practices are effective, with a joined-up approach with external professionals. Professional feedback about the care that children receive is positive.

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Summary of findings

There is a strong leadership and management team, which provides effective oversight of the home. While there are challenges around staffing sufficiency, managers are working hard to mitigate the impact on children's care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good overall experiences and make progress. Managers and staff have a good understanding of children's care needs and how to provide safe and quality care. There is a stable core group of longstanding staff that work hard to establish trusting and enduring relationships with children. They strive to provide care in a way that promotes children's privacy and dignity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress from their starting points, in line with their individual needs. Managers and staff understand what progress looks like for each child, and all progress is celebrated. Overall, parents and professionals are happy with the children's progress at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff embed routines in the home for children, and going to school is an integral part of this routine. Consequently, most children have good school attendance. Staff work across both the home and school settings, so they have good knowledge of children's school life. This helps to provide children with consistent care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff manage children's known health needs well. For example, for a child who has complex health needs, there is a plan in place with clear guidance for staff to follow. Staff are trained and know how to respond in an emergency. Staff work collaboratively with clinical and health professionals. This supports children to have improved physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop their self-care and independence skills in preparation for moving on. This helps children to build their self-esteem and confidence. However, for 2 children, managers and staff have not ensured that transition plans for their move to adult services have been developed in a timely manner. This can cause children and their parents anxieties, as their moving-on plans are unknown. Inspection report for children's home: 2620678 4 Not all children have been provided access to independent advocacy. While the manager has been sourcing and pushing for this, senior leaders have failed to commission the service in a timely manner. These delays have meant that some children have not had access to independent support that can promote their best interests, wishes and feelings. Leaders did take action to ensure that this was in place before the end of the inspection.

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

There is strong safeguarding culture in the home. Most staff know children very well. They have a good understanding of individual children's needs, risks and vulnerabilities. Staff are attuned to children's differing communication methods and styles. They take prompt action when children communicate that they are unhappy or in pain.

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

Managers ensure that children's written plans are regularly reviewed and reflect the children's current needs. This ensures that staff have clear up-to-date guidance on how to meet children's needs, promote progress and keep children safe. Staff consistently follow these plans.

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

Leaders and managers take complaints and allegations seriously. They ensure that information is shared with the appropriate professionals without delay and that concerns are investigated. Safeguarding records are comprehensive, with clear chronologies of action taken, outcomes and any learning implemented to strengthen practice.

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

Staff use physical intervention as a last resort to keep children safe. Incident records are detailed. Managers have highly effective oversight of all incidents. They ensure that children and staff can reflect on incidents. This ensures that when used, restraint is necessary and proportionate. When shortfalls in practice or concerns are identified, these are shared with the appropriate professionals to ensure that there is a transparent, multi-disciplinary approach towards keeping children safe.

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

Overall, medication is managed safely and well at the home. There are effective arrangements in place for ensuring that prescribed medication is available and stored, administered and recorded appropriately. Medication errors are managed appropriately by managers and staff. Medical advice is always sought, and practice is reviewed to ensure that any lessons learned are quickly implemented to avoid reoccurrence and subsequently any harm to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a dedicated and passionate management team effectively. They have high expectations for children. Children's rights to independent choice and to be involved in decision-making that impacts on them are integral to the practice of managers and staff. This ensures that high standards of individualised care are maintained. Inspection report for children's home: 2620678 5 Leaders and managers have effective oversight of the service. They have developed robust systems that support them to scrutinise, identify and quickly rectify any shortfalls in the quality of care that children receive. Leaders and managers understand the strengths of the service and where improvements are needed. An area of focus has been staffing recruitment, retention and development. They have been working hard to make improvements in these areas, ensuring that children receive consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that staff are well supported and developed in their roles. They ensure that staff receive regular practice-related supervision and that there are opportunities for regular reflection on practice in team meetings and discussions following any incidents. All staff, including agency staff, have an induction into the home. Staff complete a comprehensive training programme, as well as there being additional upskilling workshops and training available from the internal clinical team. This ensures that staff have the knowledge and skills to meet children's individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff work well with external professionals to ensure that children's needs are met effectively by a multidisciplinary team that strives for children to achieve. Feedback from professionals is complimentary about the communication and the overall progress children have made while living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that there is an open, transparent ethos. They use complaints and incidents as learning tools to develop and strengthen practice. In addition, managers have requested external oversight and scrutiny on the management of one of their complaints. This demonstrates their commitment to transparency and development and enhances their safeguarding culture. Inspection report for children's home: 2620678 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they work with the placing authority to ensure that each child's transition is planned and help each child to prepare for leaving, both practically and emotionally. If there are delays, the registered person should ensure that these are challenged in a timely manner to reduce uncertainty and anxieties for children and their parents. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 53, paragraph 11.9)  The registered person should ensure that all children have access to appropriate advocacy support, and where possible this should be provided by a person that the child chooses. Children are entitled to an independent advocate to advise them and ensure that they have the support needed to express their views, wishes and feelings about their care and lives. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 23, paragraph 4.16)

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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: 2620678 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Compass Children's Homes Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Compass Community Ltd, 3 Rayns Way, Syston, Leicester LE7 1PF

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Inspector

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2620678 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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