Children's Home run by Bridge2Future Ltd in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children's home: 2770693 1 Registered provider: Bridge2Future Ltd

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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 is a privately run children's home. The home is registered to care for up to 3 children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living in the home. One child had recently moved from the home.

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Information about this children's home

The manager is appropriately qualified and has been registered with Ofsted since April 2025.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children's home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children's home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 17 September 2025

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2770693 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/09/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2770693 3

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Summary of findings

Children living at the home are thriving. All children have made considerable progress, particularly with their toileting and speech. Children have a growing sense of independence and confidence. Children are supported by a committed staff team that engages in fun activities and education; this is lessening the children's social isolation. The manager has consistent oversight of the home and continually drives best practice among staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children live in a home that is warm, welcoming and homely, with toys and resources thoughtfully incorporated throughout the environment. Children's bedrooms are personalised to reflect their individual tastes and preferences and are maintained to a clean and tidy standard. Two children have recently shown increased tolerance towards keeping their belongings in their bedrooms, which has helped to create a more homely, enjoyable and relaxing space where they can spend time and rest comfortably.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children experience meticulously planned moves to and from the home. The manager recognises the importance of both children and their families being well prepared for these times of change and plans accordingly. One child moving from the home spent several days gradually spending time in their new provision and this helped to support their move. Staff spend time getting to know children before they move to the home and this has supported another child to settle quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children's care plans are thorough; they set the children's needs in the wider context of their early life experiences. Plans offer an excellent level of detail and nuanced information that informs staff of how to best care for children. Children have separate plans that detail how their personal care needs should be met. Staff understand that intimate care tasks can be undertaken in a way that supports the child's independence and maintains their dignity. A consistent approach from staff has supported the children to make significant progress with their toileting. All children are now out of nappies and using the toilet independently for the first time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children's wishes and feelings are carefully considered at the home. Staff find creative ways to ensure that children can communicate their views, and show commitment and patience when working directly with children. As a result, one child is now able to use verbal communication for the first time, and 2 other children are able to use pictures to make choices. Key-work sessions are aligned with the aims of the children's care plans and have a focus on preparing children for appointments or educating them on matters that are important to them. Consequently, children have warm and reciprocal relationships with staff and seek out affection from them. Inspection report for children's home: 2770693 4 Children experience fun and varied activities. Children have recently been supported to engage in community-based volunteering, including a sponsored walk. This is encouraging children to understand how to be good citizens and developing their

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

interactions with wider members of the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Several children are now confident to access the community in ways that they had not achieved previously. One child who was previously reluctant to leave the home has been gradually supported to visit local parks and a car garage. Children are growing in confidence to spend time among people and places that they are less familiar with, and this is significantly reducing their social isolation. One social worker spoken to said that she had observed a 'huge change' in 2 children. She said, 'When I observe them, they seem to feel safe, comfortable and happy at the home.'

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

Serious safeguarding incidents occur infrequently at the home. Children do not go missing and are not involved in events where their safety is compromised. Children benefit from structured routines and clear boundaries, which support them to feel calm and well engaged with staff.

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

Risk assessments are thorough and clear. They focus on understanding what children's behaviour is communicating and how staff can work with them in an empathetic and curious way. Risk assessments detail how staff can support children to remain calm or prevent an escalation of behaviours. Documentation could be further strengthened by ensuring that they include all known strategies to support children. This will ensure that plans remain appropriately personalised.

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

Children do have accidents and engage in self-injurious behaviours when upset, albeit incidents of this nature are reducing. Systems in place to monitor these incidents are robust. Staff work hard to understand how children feel before, during and after the behaviour and how staff practice can be adapted to better support them. Staff respond to children in line with required steps identified in their plans. The manager has good oversight to track any injuries and is professionally curious about how these may have occurred. There is good collaborative working with families and involved professionals to safeguard children.

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

Children are not regularly held at the home. However, when this does occur, staff act in a proportionate way to keep children safe. The recording of physical interventions is generally thorough, but could be clearer by ensuring that the language used best captures how holds are experienced by children. Staff and children are supported to reflect on incidents and learn what could be done differently next time. When needed, identified key-work sessions, such as about road safety, are completed with children to prevent holds being required in the future.

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

Children are regularly engaged in fire drills and now understand and respond promptly to this process. All children have appropriately detailed personal emergency evacuation plans in place should these be required. Inspection report for children's home: 2770693 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Professionals and family members consistently share highly positive feedback about the care provided to children. They describe children as happy, settled and making positive progress in the home. They highlight the effective communication maintained by staff, which keeps them informed and involved in children's care. One parent described the impact of the care provided as significant for the whole family, noting more positive experiences together and stronger family relationships. They stated, 'There is not a day when I don't know that my child is safe and looked after.'

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are safely recruited to work at the home. Care is taken to ensure that staff have the appropriate skills and qualification. Children benefit from a stable and experienced staff team who are committed to their roles. This offers consistency and familiarity to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is run by a committed and tenacious manager. She works hard to strengthen practice through appropriate reflection and competence testing with the staff team. Professionals trust the manager and feel that her communication is both open and consistent. The manager is ambitious for children and her staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has excellent oversight across documentation and incidents. The manager reviews all daily recordings and incidents that have occurred. She celebrates children's achievements and guides staff practice. Staff are supported to learn from incidents and think creatively about how to best support children in the future. Where changes are required, these are implemented quickly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff enjoy working at the home and feel well supported by the manager. The introduction of development plans is encouraging staff to be ambitious for their roles with the provider. Staff work together well as a team and are invested in the culture of the home as a family environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff support systems are excellent. Staff receive regular supervisions, which offer them adequate time to reflect. Team meetings have a focus on working through regulatory requirements in practice and being assured that staff understand what is expected and needed of them. Staff learning is highly valued by the manager and built into the ethos of the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2770693 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and the placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risk on a day-to-day basis. (Guide to the Children's Home Regulations, including the quality standards page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home's policies on record-keeping, and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children's home: 2770693 7

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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: 2770693 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Bridge2future, Surestore, Ninth Avenue, Burton-On- Trent, England DE14 3JZ

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Inspector

Louise Copping, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2770693 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 children for 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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