Children's Home run by Phoenix Children’s Homes Limited in South Gloucestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2843333 1 Registered provider: Phoenix Children’s Homes 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 provider. It provides care for up to 3 children, who may experience social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in the home at the time of the inspection. Both children were involved with the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted when the home opened in June 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

Staff in the home are referred to as adults. This is reflected in the report.

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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: 11 November 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: 2843333 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/11/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2843333 3

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Summary of findings

Children are supported well by a committed team of adults. Leaders and managers demonstrate a genuine commitment to improving the lives of children. Adults in the home know the children well and some strong relationships have been built between them. Children say that they feel safe. Work with external professionals is a strength of this home. Decisions about children’s safety are made collectively with the professionals that support them. Adults have supported a significant reduction in self-harm for one child. Shortfalls have been identified in one area of safety planning, which leaders and managers were keen to improve. Leaders are visible and present in the home. Children benefit from a stable and dedicated team. Professionals say that the team are ‘highly committed’ and have kept children safe through complex circumstances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults demonstrate a strong commitment to children. Children benefit from the dedication of the adults, who want to support and nurture them. Both children have been here since the home opened and this is clearly their home. Adults know the children well. Both children have strong relationships with certain adults. This has been a significant development since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Incredible progress has been made by one child because of the stable foundations and relationships with the team and the close multi-agency working that is in place. There has been a clear reduction in ligaturing and self-harm for this child. When children have reported concerns, they have been taken seriously at each stage. Clear protocols have been in place, and the adults have followed these carefully. The responses from the team have been nurturing and reassuring.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The other child in the home has also been supported well to develop close relationships. When difficulties have arisen, adults have used their close relationships to support children effectively. One child has received increased support to keep their room hygienic. This has been a struggle. The work around this is persistent. It shows the value that the team place on the child and that they deserve to have nice things. However, the planning to support this child to independence is limited.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children have made achievements within education. One child’s attendance has increased; the other child has completed their GCSE exams. The manager has ensured that both children have secured education placements for September. Additional activities and support to have friendships have been supported well for one child. The team arranged an end of year ‘prom’ at the home so that the child could experience this. Friends have visited the home, and the child has enjoyed trips away. Plans are in place for the other child to experience 2 upcoming holidays. However, their day-to-day experiences are limited with the child spending long periods in their bedroom. Inspection report for children’s home: 2843333 4 Children are respected and included. Adults take time to explain situations and reasoning to them. Children are encouraged to attend health appointments, although they do not always choose to. Close work with a specialist health team has meant that one child is

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

able to manage their health needs more themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have been supported well with relationships with family members. One child has progressed to start overnight stays. Adults work closely with family members to support the children’s care.

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

Both children say that they feel safe at this home. They were both able to identify adults that they can talk to and explained areas that the team have supported them with. This has been echoed by professionals. The team understand the risks to the children well and, in the main, the guidance to the team is clear about what steps to take.

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

There have been short periods, where children have gone out of sight. On these occasions, adults have followed the procedures in place. Professionals and parents are promptly notified where needed. On one occasion, adults were quick to notify the police but not senior leaders. Learning took place from this incident and changes were made to the child’s plans as a result.

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

Safety planning for when one child leaves the home is not effective. The guidance for the adults to follow is not clear. Decisions have been made about this jointly with the professionals around the child. However, there is a lack of real understanding about what is happening for the child during this time. There are other risks such as whether doors are locked and there is no oversight of the frequency of these occurrences, which happen late at night. An agreement has been made with the child, who informs adults when they are leaving and returning. They need to return with an hour, and to date this has happened. The child has not come to any harm and maintains the need to leave the home for short periods on their own.

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

The team have a good understanding of self-harm. Strong multi-agency work is in place to support both children with this. There have been high-risk incidents that the team have been managing, and these have been managed well. The reduction of self-harm for one child is clear. Protocols were followed each time to ensure medical attention was sought. The team have supported children emotionally throughout these periods; nurturing conversations take place regularly.

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

Concerns about the adults’ practice are taken seriously. There was a period of repeated concerns, which were all taken seriously. Support was sought appropriately from wider agencies on how to manage these. Investigations are thorough with clear actions for improvement identified. Adults were suspended immediately while information was gathered. Reports were made to appropriate external agencies quickly. Learning was shared with the team and actions for improvements were put into place Inspection report for children’s home: 2843333 5 Restraint has only been used on one occasion. This was a guide to protect a child on a main road and was necessary. This incident identified learning for the team in terms of calling the police sooner to intervene. Conversations take place with children after events.

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

Close working relationships exist with professionals so that the risks are managed and understood. There has been challenge at times to support children. To date this challenge has not led to significant change in relation to one child’s independence skills.

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

Safer recruitment processes are in place so that managers are assured about the suitability of the adults working in the home. A risk assessment ensured the children’s safety while international checks were awaited for one team member.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by dedicated leaders and managers, who have high aspirations for the children. The improved consistency in the presence of a manager has brought stability to the children. The children have also benefited from a consistent staff team, with only one person leaving since the last inspection. No agency staff have been used, again providing consistency for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and responsible individual have good oversight of the care provided and of serious incidents. They carefully consider what has happened and where there is learning. The manager is reflective and keen to improve practice. Some aspects of care are closely monitored but this is not consistent. The frequency of one child leaving the home late at night is not captured or understood fully. This does not help the adults to understand what the child needs to be safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Consistent close working with other professionals is a real strength of this home. Decisions about the children are made as a multi-disciplinary team. The manager is quick to call meetings or reviews when situations arise. The challenges made to date have not had a significant impact in relation to one child developing skills of independence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults say they feel supported and are positive about their work. There is a definite sense of team and wanting to work together. Adults say they receive supervision regularly, although it is difficult to see this on the systems available. Actions for adults to improve their practice are not clear in supervision records. This makes it hard for adults to see how they can they improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training has been completed by all the team to meet children’s specific needs. This increases the adults’ confidence to support the children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals and parents is overwhelmingly positive about how well cared for the children are. They spoke of the ‘exceptional commitment’ of the team and the ‘remarkable’ care that has managed to stabilise one of the children. Professionals Inspection report for children’s home: 2843333 6 repeatedly confirmed how well the team have worked with others to ensure children are safe.

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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, 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— that staff—

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, adults need to have a clear understanding of the risks for one child when leaving the home and clear plans in place about how to respond to and understand these incidents. 28 September 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that staff help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home’s support and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills, such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. Leaders and managers should challenge other Inspection report for children’s home: 2843333 7 agencies if appropriate support is not in place to achieve this. ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that children are offered a wide range of activities both inside and outside of the home and are encouraged to participate in those activities. Consideration should be given as to how the activities can support the children to develop relationships with others. ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31 paragraph 6.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must lead a team that provides high-quality care for all children living in the home. They should play a key role in shaping the ethos of the home by monitoring staff actions to see improvements in practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

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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: 2843333 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Support Hub, Unit 5, Chinon Court, Lower Moor Way, Tiverton, Devon EX16 6SS

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Inspector:

Nickie Doney, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2843333 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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Inspector:

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Inspector:

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