Children's Home run by Beacon Childcare Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2620698 1 Registered provider: Beacon Childcare Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider and offers care for up to 4 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living in the home. No children have moved into or out of the home since the last inspection. The child spent time with the inspector and contributed to the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a suitably experienced manager who registered in March 2025.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: At the home’s last full inspection in April 2026, serious failings in safeguarding practice and significant weaknesses in leadership and management were identified. As a result, Ofsted imposed a restriction on the admission of new children to the home. Two compliance notices were issued under Regulation 12 (the protection of children standard) and Regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard). A monitoring visit was carried out on 13 May 2026, during Inspection report for children’s home: 2620698 2 which the inspector found that both compliance notices had been met, and the restriction was lifted. Inspection report for children’s home: 2620698 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/04/2026 Full Inadequate 02/09/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/04/2024 Full Good 10/10/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2620698 4

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Summary of findings

One child lives in the home. The child feels safe and is making progress and enjoying positive experiences. Risks are reducing, and improvements made over the last 3 months have helped to bring greater stability to the home. Staff know the child well and provide care that is responsive to their individual needs. However, expectations in relation to safeguarding are not yet fully embedded into practice. The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development and is taking steps to drive continuous improvement. Staff recruitment remains challenging, but those currently employed enjoy their roles and feel well supported. Internal monitoring systems have been strengthened; however, external monitoring is less effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Stability is returning to the home, which supports the child’s progress. The child is happy and has positive relationships with the staff. The child is pleased to see the staff when they arrive at the home and greets them with hugs. The child describes the staff as ‘cool’ and ‘funny’. These improved relationships help the child to feel more secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A more positive and child-centred culture is becoming embedded in the home. Staff are using more supportive and respectful language in practice and in the child’s records, demonstrating a better understanding of their experiences and needs. The child benefits from an increasingly nurturing environment that promotes their wellbeing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child benefits from healthy daily routines. Positive behaviour is encouraged, recognised and rewarded, and achievable targets support the child to reach their goals. This approach helps the child to make positive choices and contributes to their overall development. The child’s social worker is pleased with their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to pursue their hobbies and interests. The child enjoys an active lifestyle, attending swimming sessions several times a week and a weekly gymnastics club, which promotes their health through regular exercise. A range of new experiences, including visits to theme parks and an upcoming camping holiday, helps the child to build confidence and create positive memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to spend time with their family, helping them to maintain relationships with the people who are important to them. Since the last inspection, the child’s bond with their sibling has developed, which is supporting their emotional wellbeing and sense of identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean and welcoming. There is a strong sense of the child throughout the home, with their photos and artwork on display. In response to the child’s feedback, Inspection report for children’s home: 2620698 5 staff have repainted their bedroom in their favourite colour, demonstrating that the child’s views are listened to and acted on.

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

The child feels safe. Staff know the child well and have developed a better understanding of their emotions and needs since the last inspection. Staff now implement boundaries more consistently and are more effective at de-escalating situations when the child becomes upset. The improved relationships and staff practice have contributed to greater stability for the child. Risks are reducing, and the child’s behaviour is more positive.

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

Staff support the child in recognising and expressing their emotions through creative discussions. This helps the child to communicate their feelings more effectively, which has contributed to them feeling better understood by staff.

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

Staff mostly demonstrate understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities, and the child’s plans contain sufficient guidance to help staff provide safe care. On one occasion, practice has fallen below expectations when a child’s disclosure was not escalated promptly. Once the manager became aware of the concern, they took appropriate action. This included escalating the concern to safeguarding agencies, including the local authority designated officer, to ensure that the child was protected. Learning from this incident has been used to further improve staff knowledge and reinforce safeguarding expectations, reducing the likelihood of a recurrence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager continues to grow in confidence, and he feels well supported by the acting responsible individual and the home’s deputy manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. For example, staff recruitment remains challenging, but the manager has plans in place to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager demonstrates insight into previous shortfalls identified at inspections and is committed to sustaining improvements. The child’s experiences are currently positive, and the manager remains focused on ensuring that the quality of care does not fall below expected standards again.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight of the child’s care has improved. Monitoring systems help the manager to track the child’s progress, identify areas for development, and ensure that care remains responsive to the child’s individual needs. At the time of the inspection, leaders and the manager had no plans to admit further children to the home, recognising the need to fully embed the improvements made since the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2620698 6 Staff enjoy their roles and speak positively about the support and guidance they receive from managers. Effective inductions, supervision sessions, appraisals and team meetings provide staff with regular opportunities to reflect on their practice, develop their skills, and receive updates that help to improve the care provided to children. In addition, the manager ensures that staff receive training that is tailored to the child’s individual needs,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

equipping them to provide effective support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person’s monitoring of the home has not included seeing or speaking with the child for several months to gather their views about their experiences of living in the home. During the inspection, some steps were taken to address this shortfall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

No requirements were made at this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2620698 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are listened to and that staff report any allegations at the earliest opportunity. Any allegation of abuse should be reported immediately to a manager in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.17)  The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person carries out a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children living in the home. This includes seeing and speaking with the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 15.5)

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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: 2620698 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beacon Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 155 Bromford Lane, Erdington, Birmingham B24 8DJ

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Inspector

Amy Richards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2620698 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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