Children's Home run by Platform Childcare Ltd in Gloucestershire

Inspection report for children's home: 2746315 1 Registered provider: Platform Childcare 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

The home provides care for up to 5 children who have experienced childhood trauma and display social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living in the home and spent time with the inspector.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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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: 2746315 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/05/2025 Full Good 10/04/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2746315 3

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Summary of findings

Children are cared for by staff who are attuned to their individual needs. Children are provided with opportunities to take part in fun activities with staff, including a recent holiday together.

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Summary of findings

When children move out of the home, the circumstances surrounding their departure have, at times, limited staff’s ability to support positive transitions. However, staff provide them with photos to support memories of their time in the home. Children moving into the home benefit from planned transitions. Staff ensure they receive a warm welcome and support them to settle into their new environment, helping them to feel safe, valued and included.

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Summary of findings

Where there have been concerns for the physical and emotional health of one child, a lack of sufficient escalation meant there were delays in the necessary support being provided, which impacted on the child’s wellbeing. Management oversight is not always consistent, and this reduces opportunities for reflection and learning to help inform future practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to establish positive and trusting relationships with children. Interactions are warm and nurturing. Before some children moved out of the home, staff developed positive relationships with them. However, external influences affected the sustainability of these relationships. Despite this, staff remained committed to supporting children and promoting positive connections to ensure they felt cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made varying degrees of progress from their starting points, but they are all making positive strides. Staff support children using an individualised approach. This focuses on specific areas to help each child. For one child, there has been a focus on promoting independence skills in preparation for young adulthood. Staff have purchased a bike at the child’s request, enabling them to access the community more independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Educational progress and experiences for the children are varied. Two children attend school full time and engage positively with their education. Staff recently supported one child to do revision. As a result, the child approached their examinations with increased confidence. One professional described them as ‘thriving’. For another child, managers have advocated for an education, health and care plan to enable them to access the right support, and a clear plan is now in place for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with structure and routine. Staff help children to develop their understanding of health-related risks. For example, they had discussions with one child Inspection report for children's home: 2746315 4 about the risks associated with vaping, sexual health and healthy relationships. Individual health needs are responded to sensitively, ensuring that children’s dignity and privacy are always maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy positive activities with staff and regularly attend activities such as adventure and trampoline parks, swimming, water parks and theme parks. Staff are also exploring dance clubs for one child in line with their interests. Staff help children to maintain important relationships with people they love and enjoy spending time with, providing this is safe. These efforts help children to sustain and strengthen connections with their family and friends.

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

Staff know the children well and are attuned to their needs. They recognise when something is bothering them and invest time in exploring this with curiosity. As a result, children talk openly with staff about their thoughts and feelings. Staff listen and provide emotional support and comfort. This assures children that they are cared for and provides them with a sense of safety.

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

When children go missing from home, staff follow agreed protocols to try and locate them. This includes trying to call the child, searching the local area and liaising with known friends to support their safe return. Staff work collaboratively with professionals to review risk and strengthen responses to safeguarding concerns. Staff use restraint when it is necessary and proportionate. Afterwards, they help children to understand why the intervention was used and explore alternative strategies to help them.

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

When children share concerns about staff, these are recorded appropriately. Managers share concerns with professionals and support children to process their experiences. On one occasion, there was a delay in a staff member sharing a concern from a child, which impacted the timeliness of follow-up action. However, the appropriate steps were taken when the concern was known to managers.

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

Staff understand the risks associated with internet use, and they have developed strategies to keep children safe. Staff proactively educate children about how to keep safe online while promoting their independence and resilience.

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

The registered manager’s oversight is not consistently effective, and some incidents with children have not yet been reviewed. This inconsistency creates missed opportunities to evaluate practice, identify patterns and trends, and ensure that lessons are learned to improve future practice. Additionally, some of the language used in records is blaming or shaming towards children and does not represent the nurturing approach staff take.

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

The manager completes reflective reports to explore children’s experiences living in the home. These help to identify and evidence strengths, progress and positive outcomes for Inspection report for children's home: 2746315 5 children. The quality of reflective reports is variable and does not consistently demonstrate sufficient critical analysis or learning. This is particularly important when a child’s time in the home ends unexpectedly or at short notice.

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

The manager advocated and escalated concerns regarding one child’s emotional wellbeing and physical health. While escalation was strong, it was not escalated sufficiently to ensure a timely response. This resulted in an extended period during which the child’s individual needs were not fully met, adversely affecting their wellbeing. During this time, staff closely monitored the child and tried to encourage engagement. However, records did not contain enough detail to provide a comprehensive picture of the child’s day-to-day experiences.

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

The manager is a committed individual who holds her relationships with the children and staff team in high regard. She provides a supportive environment for staff through team meetings and reflective supervision sessions. Staff enjoy working in the home. The home benefits from a consistent core staff team that provides children with stability and continuity of care. Inspection report for children's home: 2746315 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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that concerns relating to the safety and wellbeing of children are escalated effectively and persistently, where necessary, to prevent unnecessary delays in children’s needs being met.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that staff understand their roles and responsibilities in escalating concerns relating to the safeguarding of children.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, the registered person must ensure that records for children are sufficiently detailed and effectively capture information about their day-to-day experiences, needs and safety. This will enable managers to evaluate the effectiveness 11 October 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2746315 7 of support provided, identify emerging concerns and ensure that children receive appropriate care and protection.

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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 to aspire to their full potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and development in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(g)(i)(h)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there are effective monitoring and oversight of the quality of care children receive to fully understand their experiences, explore patterns and trends, and identify improvements to inform staff practice.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that reflective reports detailing children’s experiences in the home demonstrate critical analysis and learning. 11 October 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s records for each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Staff should ensure that the language used in documents is child friendly and reflects the caring ethos of the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5) Inspection report for children's home: 2746315 8

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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: 2746315 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Platform Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: First Avenue, Centrum 100, Burton-on-Trent DE14 2WE

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Inspector

Carly Parry, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2746315 10 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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