Children's Home run by Halliwell Homes Limited in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: 2592943 1 Registered Provider: Halliwell Homes (Midlands Division) 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 operated by a private provider. It offers care for up to 8 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 7 children were living at the home. The inspector spoke with all the children.

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides short-term care through a therapeutic parenting recovery programme, which is a time-limited intervention designed to address children’s individual needs. The programme is intended to last for up to 2 years; however, in exceptional circumstances, it may be extended where this is considered necessary to meet the child’s ongoing needs and support their development.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

The provider has a school on the same site, which provides education for children living at the home. The inspector only inspected the social care provision on this site.

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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

Date of last inspection: 9 December 2025

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good Inspection report for children’s home: 2592943 2 Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2592943 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/12/2025 Full Good 04/06/2024 Full Good 16/05/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2592943 4

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Summary of findings

Children experience individualised, stable and nurturing care that reflects their needs and cultural backgrounds. They are supported to maintain family relationships, access education and engage in therapeutic work. Children make progress from their individual starting points.

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Summary of findings

Safeguarding practice is effective, with proportionate interventions, appropriate responses to concerns and learning from incidents. The management team is child focused, with effective advocacy, strong support for staff and positive partnership working with professionals to promote children’s needs and outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive care that is individualised to their needs and wishes. Staff know the children well and support them to have choice and influence in their day-to-day lives, including choosing meals, planning activities and pursuing their individual interests. Children’s cultural needs and backgrounds are understood and reflected in their care, including consideration of dietary requirements. The home is personalised to the children, supporting their sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain important family relationships. Staff facilitate family time when required and support family members to plan activities and spend meaningful time together. This enables children to maintain important connections with their families and supports their emotional wellbeing and sense of identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to education that reflects their individual needs and developing abilities. The progression of children from the in-house school attached to the home to mainstream and specialist educational provisions demonstrates the progress they make in their education. In addition, the support provided ensures that children are suitably prepared to move to provisions that meet their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a therapeutic programme that includes clinical support and direct work from staff. The work is focused on helping children to understand their experiences, develop emotional awareness and work towards their individual outcomes. Some children have completed the programme, with one child returning to live with their family and another moving to a home closer to their family. Children are making meaningful progress towards greater stability and long-term care arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to understand their feelings and relationships with their peers through meaningful direct work. For example, children’s feedback from meetings identified that they wanted to improve their relationships with one another and be kinder to each other. Staff responded by carrying out work on friendships, helping children to explore their feelings, understand how their actions affect others and develop strategies Inspection report for children’s home: 2592943 5 to manage their emotions. Children are developing greater emotional awareness and a better understanding of themselves. They are also making progress in managing their feelings and building positive relationships with their peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves into and out of the home are planned and individualised. Children already living in the home are consulted and prepared when new children move in, and consideration is given to the impact of the change. Children leaving the home also receive planned support. External professionals described the planning around children’s moves into and out of the home as ‘excellent’ and ‘exceptional’, which recognises the child-centred approach.

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

Children are helped to understand their emotions and develop strategies to manage their feelings. Following incidents, they are given opportunities to reflect on what happened and share their views about what staff could do differently to support them during incidents and before situations escalate. Children are increasingly able to identify strategies that support their needs effectively.

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

Physical intervention is proportionate to the risk presented and used only as a last resort. The reduction in incidents since the last inspection demonstrates improved outcomes for children in managing their emotions. One professional said, ‘The number of incidents has reduced dramatically over time, which is a testament to both the progress [name of child] has made and the effectiveness of the therapeutic care and support provided by the staff team.’

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

Children’s concerns and complaints are managed effectively in line with safeguarding procedures. A complaint made by one child was listened to, explored and resolved through reparative work, with the child receiving feedback about the outcome. In addition, when necessary, reparative work is carried out with children and staff to help children process their experiences and rebuild relationships. This helps children to feel heard and enables them to re-establish safe and trusting relationships with staff.

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

Safer recruitment processes are carried out effectively. The registered manager ensures that appropriate checks are carried out to confirm that staff are suitable to work with children. This supports children’s safety and provides assurance that staff working with them have been appropriately assessed and vetted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is child focused and supports children to achieve positive outcomes. She has a good understanding of children’s individual needs, their progress and areas requiring further development. The registered manager monitors children’s experiences and progress and uses information from incidents, children’s views and staff feedback to identify learning and further inform practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2592943 6 A stable and appropriately skilled workforce is well supported by the registered manager. Staff benefit from regular guidance, supervision and clinical consultation. Staff are either qualified or working towards their qualifications within the required timescales. This supports staff to understand and respond to children’s individual needs. One professional said, ‘One of the greatest strengths of the home is its staff team. Staff are highly supportive, patient and understanding.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager maintains effective oversight of safeguarding and incidents, ensuring that safeguarding concerns are managed appropriately. Children’s views are considered when reviewing practice, including through their reflections and feedback. The significant reduction in incidents provides evidence that the approaches being implemented are contributing to improved outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager advocates effectively for children. For example, when there was a delay in progressing one child’s family time, the manager liaised with professionals, developed a family time plan and escalated the matter. An advocate was also secured to support the child. The manager’s actions progressed the arrangements, enabling the child to spend time with their family in line with their wishes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person visits monthly and provides oversight of children’s care. However, feedback from children and their families is not consistently captured. The independent person does not always record which children have been seen or follow up on actions identified at previous visits. Therefore, the reports do not always provide a comprehensive view of the quality of care that children receive. Inspection report for children’s home: 2592943 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the independent person appointed to carry out visits to the home undertakes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. This assessment should include the views of children, their families and the wider professional network. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, 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: 2592943 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Pearce House, 80 Cawdor Street, Eccles M30 0QF

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Inspector

Reshma Kodampur, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2592943 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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