Children's Home run by Inspire Childcare Ltd in Slough

Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 1 Registered provider: Inspire Childcare Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately run and provides care for up to 4 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has applied to be registered with Ofsted.

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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: 24 September 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: 2787666 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/09/2025 Full Good 29/01/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 3

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Summary of findings

Managers and staff have built positive, trusting relationships with children. They help children settle into the home, feel listened to and stay safe. Children say that staff care about them. Staff support children to develop independence skills in line with their age, needs and abilities.

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Summary of findings

Managers and staff understand how to keep children safe. Managers take complaints and allegations seriously, investigate them thoroughly and take appropriate action. Managers support staff and provide opportunities for development. Staff feel valued in their roles.

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Summary of findings

Managers and staff celebrate diversity and help children learn about and respect different cultures, backgrounds and beliefs. All children attend education that meets their needs.

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Summary of findings

Areas for improvement include dynamic responses to new risks, ensuring evidence-led safety measures are in place for children, consistently recording children’s views and improving communication and partnership working.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled in building and maintaining positive relationships with children. They actively try to understand why children feel and respond the way they do. Staff help children think and talk about how they feel. Children have staff they trust and feel able to turn to. As a result, children feel heard, supported and cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress since moving into the home. Leaders and managers plan for their education, health, relationships and safety with clear goals to support their development. Children feel more settled and confident. They are better able to manage difficult feelings safely than when they first moved in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s education and encourage them to do well. All children access education that meets their needs. When children need specialist support or different education arrangements, staff and managers work closely with schools and other professionals to help them. Schools say that staff actively encourage children to attend and engage in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children prepare for their future, with timely support. Together, staff set clear goals with children to help them achieve the best outcomes. Children develop independent living skills through structured support, encouraged by a rewards system. As a result, they become more independent while learning how to stay safe and make safer choices. Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 4 Staff help children have positive endings when they leave the home, even when plans change unexpectedly. Leaders and managers make decisions that balance the needs, safety and best interests of all children. For example, before one child moved to another home, staff arranged a holiday with trusted staff members instead of imposing restrictions that would have caused distress for the child and others. This helped the child have a positive experience during a difficult and unexpected move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff ensure that the home is a warm and welcoming environment for children. There is warmth and playful banter between children and staff. Staff help children personalise their rooms and keep them clean and tidy. Managers quickly address any concerns around the environment and make improvements when needed.

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

When children go missing from home, staff search for them and work closely with police, social workers and families to help keep them safe. Staff talk with children after they return to help them understand the risks and explore their feelings. They also offer safer ways for children to manage difficult emotions, such as supported walks, drives or creative activities. As a result, missing episodes are infrequent, and staff manage these situations as safely as possible.

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

Leaders and managers take complaints and allegations about staff practice seriously. Investigations are thorough and carried out in consultation with relevant agencies. Leaders and managers support staff during investigations, offer them opportunities to reflect on their practice and access relevant training to improve practice when needed. Staff work with children to rebuild relationships at a pace that feels right for the children and follows their wishes. This helps children feel safe and supported.

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

Staff support children to understand the risks posed by vaping and substance use. They encourage children to access specialist support when they need it. As a result, children have the skills and knowledge they need to lead healthy lives.

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

Managers ensure that children’s risk assessments are well considered and routinely reviewed. However, on one occasion, when new risks for a child became known, managers did not take proactive precautions to help keep the child safe. Although the child did not come to significant harm, managers missed an opportunity to use this new information to better plan for the child’s safety and ensure safety measures are evidence led.

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

Staff help children manage difficult feelings by offering support and different coping strategies. When children are struggling, staff provide a safe space and help them work through their emotions. Staff rarely need to use physical intervention. When they do, it is proportionate and reviewed promptly by managers. However, records of restraint and key-work sessions do not always include children’s views. Children’s voices are therefore not consistently captured in their records. As a result, managers may miss opportunities to understand children’s views, measure progress and understand the impact of staff intervention. Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers support staff through regular supervision, appraisals and team meetings. They make sure staff have the skills and support required to meet children’s needs. When children need support in particular areas, leaders and managers arrange specialist training for staff to offer children better help. Staff said that training on attachment and self-harm helped them better understand children and respond to their needs effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers follow safe recruitment practices. They support new staff through a thorough induction, including extra supervision, training and guidance. This helps staff understand the home’s values, meet children’s needs and keep them safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children have opportunities to learn about and celebrate diverse cultures, festivals and important events. Staff help children understand their identity and practise their religion in ways that are meaningful to them. For example, staff supported one child to attend a religious camp, while staff are actively looking to support another to learn their heritage language.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that there are sufficient staff to meet children’s needs. They also build capacity in the staff team and offer staff opportunities for growth and development. Staff feel valued and supported by their leaders and managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers work closely with children’s professional networks to understand, plan and respond to children’s needs. Managers and staff regularly attend network meetings for children. Although external professionals spoke positively about communication with staff, they also identified areas where communication and partnership working could be improved. Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 6

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Recommendations

n The registered person should ensure that the home’s staff take reasonable precautions and make informed professional judgements based on the individual child’s needs, risks and developmental stage about when to allow a child to take a particular risk or follow a particular course of action. Any progress should be based on evidence-based, balanced, defensible professional judgement. Staff should also discuss and reach agreements about decisions with the child’s placing authority and professional network where necessary and ensure that all staff are consistently aware of children’s risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7) n The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the

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Recommendations

age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of restraint (regulation 35(3)(c)). Children should be consistently encouraged to add their views and comments to the records of restraint and key-work sessions. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60) n The registered person should ensure that the home connects with and becomes part of the wider support system for each child in their care. No children’s home will be able to meet, on its own, all of a child’s needs. It is crucial that the home works in close partnership with all those who play a role in protecting and caring for the child, but particularly the child’s local authority and statutory social worker. The registered

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Recommendations

person should evidence what they have done to achieve engagement, including any actions taken to escalate concerns, plan for the child’s safety, explain decision-making or respond to concerns raised. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 11, paragraph 2.3)

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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: 2787666 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspire Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ

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Inspector

Rose Joseph, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2787666 8 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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