Children's Home run by Good Foundations Limited in Wirral

Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 1 Registered provider: Good Foundations 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 privately owned children’s home provides care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted July 2026.

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/05/2025 Full Good 26/11/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/11/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 3

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Summary of findings

Children experience warm, nurturing care from the staff, who know them well. The home is safe, calm and welcoming, with photos of children and staff enjoying shared experiences and making positive memories. Although children continue to experience challenges in education, all of them are attending school and college and continue to make some progress. The manager continues to make children’s education a priority and consistently works with education professionals to support learning and attendance. Shortfalls in staff practice are addressed by the manager without delay, and he has instilled a culture of learning and reflection within the team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

Staff take their time in getting to know children and build positive relationships with them. Because of this, children are happy, relaxed and most have lived in the home for a few years.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

Staff speak warmly about the children, for whom they have high aspirations. Staff celebrate children’s achievements and milestones.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

Children are supported with their education, and although there are some challenges with attendance, they continue to make progress from their starting points. Staff support children to attend college open days and choose courses. One child has recently completed their GCSEs, which the staff and child are extremely proud of.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

Children’s health needs are a priority, and there is good partnership working with health professionals. One health professional praised the team for their support for one child and said, ‘They are child-focused, communication is brilliant and they will always pick up the phone for advice. They are simply excellent.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

Staff understand the importance of family time and nurture the relationships between parents and children. Families are welcomed into the home to spend time with their children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

Children’s interests are promoted through a variety of activities. Staff ensure that they are provided with opportunities to build their social skills, develop independence and enjoy positive experiences together. Children have enjoyed holidays to Wales and days out at the beach, cinema and trampolining.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

Behaviour management is a strength of the home. Staff know children well and use effective de-escalation skills to support them manage their thoughts and feelings. As a result, no restraints have been used since the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 4 Staff know what to do when a child goes missing from the home. They follow the child’s risk management plan and provide children with an opportunity to speak to someone independent about the incident. However, there was one occasion when some children left the home during the night without staff knowledge. The manager worked with other professionals to reduce the likelihood of the incident happening again. However, the preventative measure of locking the internal doors was restrictive and did not consider the individual needs of the children living at the home. Furthermore, the manager did not keep this measure under review to ensure that it remained appropriate and

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

Overall, children’s risk management plans are individualised and clear. However, the risks and actions for staff to follow when children go into each other’s bedrooms is contradictory and confusing. As a result, staff are unsure what to do, and children do not know what the expectations are.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

Staff regularly have important conversations with children about their experiences and any issues they are facing. This provides them with an opportunity to explore their thoughts and feelings with a trusted adult and develop their resilience. However, conversations specific to sexual health and relationships do not routinely take place, despite this being important for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

The home is supported by a qualified and experienced manager, who is aspirational for children. Staff say that they feel well supported by the manager, and he is responsive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

There is good management oversight of incidents, with clear evaluation of staff practice and areas for improvement. However, the manager had not identified that some important documents had not been received from the placing local authorities. Although this has not impacted on the care provided to the children, it meant that staff did not have a complete picture of the child’s needs and circumstances.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

All staff receive regular and purposeful supervision. The manager ensures that staff are provided with opportunities to discuss the children and reflect on their practice during supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

Team meetings take place monthly and are used as an opportunity to discuss children, reflect on incidents, celebrate progress and deliver additional training on topics specific to children. This supports the development of staff practice and ensures consistency across the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

Staff have completed training specific to the children’s individual needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 5

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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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; 7 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 6 have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that each child is provided with proactive direct work that is planned based on their presenting needs, including sexual health and healthy relationships.

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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

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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all risk management plans detail clear steps for staff to follow to keep children safe in the event that they enter each other’s bedrooms. 7 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and 7 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 7 any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children have access to all areas of the home and that any restrictions are kept under regular review.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; and

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all records are in place for children, specifically placing authority meeting minutes and children’s looked-after health assessments. 7 October 2026

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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: 2727821 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 Tower Quays, Tower Road, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH41 1BP

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Inspector

Kelly McCurdy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2727821 9 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 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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