Children's Home run by New Focus Child Care LTD in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2838761 1 Registered provider: New Focus Child Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home registered in July 2025 and is owned by a private provider. It provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2025 and is dual registered with another children's home in the same organisation.

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Information about this children's home

One child was living in the home at the time of the inspection and was present and spoken to.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of last inspection: 9 December 2025

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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: 2838761 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/12/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2838761 3

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Summary of findings

Children have not consistently received effective care that meets their individual needs, which has impacted on their stability and continuity of care.

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Summary of findings

Safeguarding practice is not always sufficiently proactive in responding to children's emerging risks and vulnerabilities. In addition, management oversight and learning from incidents does not consistently result in timely action being taken to strengthen staff practice. However, children's individual needs are recognised, and they are supported to make some progress from their starting points.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home, and 2 children have left the home. Inconsistencies in the manager's care planning and assessment processes have had an impact on children's stability. These shortfalls resulted in 2 children experiencing unplanned moves from the home. Consequently, for some children, this has led to uncertainty and disruption to established routines, relationships and their sense of continuity.

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improvement to be good

Overall, staff build positive relationships with children. However, changes in staffing mean that children do not always receive consistent and continuous care from familiar adults.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from staff supporting them to maintain family time and friendships. This support helps children to sustain important relationships and connections that support their sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to engage in activities of their choice and have made progress from their starting points. For example, one child has made progress with their education and secured a place at college.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a suitable home environment that provides space for them to feel comfortable. The child currently living in the home has a personalised bedroom that reflects their preferences and provides them with a space that is their own. This supports the child to feel settled and develop a sense of belonging in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children's wishes are prioritised. The child described the home as one of the best homes they have lived in and said they feel cared for by the adults supporting them, indicating that they experience a sense of security and care. Inspection report for children's home: 2838761 4

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improvement to be good

Staff are not always able to implement and follow children's support plans effectively. This is because leaders and managers do not ensure that staffing capacity is sufficient to meet each child's individual needs. This has resulted in children not always receiving the consistent support they need to keep them safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not consistently manage peer relationships safely and effectively. Although the manager recognised the impact of these peer relationships, the strategies in place were not sufficiently effective in reducing the risks and keeping children safe. This contributed to one child leaving the home at short notice, disrupting their continuity of care.

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improvement to be good

The manager does not always ensure that learning from incidents is translated into effective action. Although recurring risks for children were identified, action taken to mitigate these is not always sufficiently proactive. This has led to a reoccurrence of incidents and left children vulnerable.

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improvement to be good

When children are in crisis, staff use physical intervention as a last resort and appropriately when required. These interventions are reviewed well and assessed as necessary and proportionate.

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improvement to be good

Staff follow missing-from-home protocols when children go missing and respond appropriately to incidents. Return home interviews are completed, providing an opportunity to understand children's experiences, identify any concerns and consider whether further action is needed. There has been a reduction in missing-from-home incidents, meaning children are experiencing fewer occasions where they are exposed to the risks associated with going missing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home is led by a suitably qualified registered manager. However, shortfalls in their management systems and oversight have had an impact on children's overall experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders do not always ensure that the home is suitably staffed to meet children's needs and vulnerabilities. In addition, some staff are not always trained or supported to develop the skills to manage complex incidents and respond appropriately to manage children's risks. Consequently, leaders are not consistently using training and their systems effectively to fully develop staff practice and ability to manage complex incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Management oversight and monitoring of children's care require improvement. While the manager has completed a quality of care review, this has not been submitted to Ofsted within expected timescales. Also, monitoring systems have failed to identify shortfalls in staff practice and in some safeguarding responses. Inspection report for children's home: 2838761 5 The manager works positively with external professionals. Also, the manager advocates for children well by challenging professionals and pursuing the support and services that children need. For example, when a school placement was declined for one child, the manager challenged the decision and attended an appeal. This resulted in the child obtaining the school placement and subsequently progressing to secure a college placement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Despite the shortfalls identified, leaders and managers understand the home's strengths and areas for development. Following one child's unplanned move out of the home, the responsible individual completed a reflective review that identified areas for development. This demonstrates the responsible individual's commitment to using learning to inform future practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager ensures that safer recruitment processes are followed. Appropriate checks are routinely completed before staff are appointed. Staff performance is reviewed during their probationary period, and leaders take action to address shortfalls in staff practice. This provides assurance that staff suitability is considered both before appointment and during their early employment. Inspection report for children's home: 2838761 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

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

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff are equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding to manage incidents with children effectively and reduce the risk of incidents escalating. 24 September 2026

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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— 24 September 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2838761 7 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 has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child; and

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure effective oversight of the home, including monitoring compliance with regulatory requirements, identifying patterns and learning from incidents and ensuring this learning is consistently embedded in staff practice.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders must ensure that staffing levels, staff skills and management arrangements are sufficient to safely meet children's needs. This oversight must be maintained when the registered person is absent and appropriate action taken when existing arrangements are not effective.

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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 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 24 September 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2838761 8 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, the registered person must ensure that when children move into the home, they assess children's risks and vulnerabilities effectively to ensure they are able to live alongside each other safely.

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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: 2838761 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider: New Focus Child Care Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Unit A4, City Trading Park Dewsbury Road, Stoke-on- Trent ST4 2TE

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Inspector

Reshma Kodampur, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2838761 10 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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Inspector

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