Children's Home run by CF Support Services Limited in EssexOfsted inspection, 17 Sept 2026

Inspection report for children’s home: 2709417 1 Registered provider: CF Support Services Limited

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Inspected under the Social Care Common Inspection Framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to 3 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2026.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2709417 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/07/2025 Full Good 12/08/2024 Full Good 23/05/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2709417 3

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Summary of findings

Children are provided with effective support from staff and are supported to progress from their starting points. Children build trusting relationships with staff and are able to develop a good sense of stability and belonging. For some children, building such relationships is a new experience. The manager and staff work closely with families and other agencies to support the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, there were 2 children living at the home. One child has moved out of the home since the last inspection, and one child has moved into the home. One child continues to experience stability having lived in the home for over 2 years. Although the children were not present at the home at the time of this inspection, the inspector spoke to both of them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has moved out of the home into a semi-independent placement. This was a well-planned and thoughtful transition out of the home, with plans made in the child’s best interests. The child chose to have a celebration before leaving. Staff and the other child living in the home attended, as well as other individuals from their wider support network. The staff from the child’s new home were also invited. Staff have continued to keep in contact with the child after they moved out. This shows the children that staff care about them and continue to keep them in mind even when they move on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is well promoted by the staff. As a result, one child has made considerable progress with their education. They have moved from not attending school at all, to now attending full-time education. One child did not progress with education while they lived at the home. However, staff continuously encouraged them to attend a variety of educational provisions and advocated on their behalf. One child is not currently in education. However, in the interim, staff have created a detailed plan to help the child continue to learn until an appropriate educational provision is found.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the children to engage in a wide range of activities and hobbies. They are proactive in identifying opportunities that match children’s preferences. One child attends regular horse-riding lessons. This is a hobby they are passionate about, and they have a horse on loan. Children go on annual holidays. One child recently chose to go abroad with staff members of their choosing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to make good decisions. Staff consistently provide praise when children make positive decisions. Child-centred incentives are effective in helping children reach achievable goals. One child successfully worked towards getting a pet snake. One child is currently working towards getting a pet hamster. Inspection report for children’s home: 2709417 4 Children’s health needs are generally well met. Staff support and educate children about their health, especially in relation to sexual health. However, staff do not always provide children with preventative health guidance in relation to vaping. Children are not consistently supported to access specialist support in relation to substance misuse and vaping.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the children to learn independence skills. They encourage the children to actively make decisions about the care they receive. Despite this, overnight, the kitchen is locked, and bedroom door alarms are activated for all children without clear individualised assessments of risk. Consequently, children are unable to independently access the kitchen in the evening and are subject to the same level of monitoring regardless of their individual assessed level of risk. This is not conducive to children being treated as individuals.

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

Staff have built trusting relationships with the children. As a result, the children feel able to approach the staff when they have any worries or concerns. One child, when staying away from home, contacted the staff quickly when they required emergency support. This enabled staff to respond immediately and provide the child with the help they needed.

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

Missing-from-home episodes are minimal. However, when they occur, staff take swift and appropriate action. When children do return home, staff provide nurture and reassurance. On one occasion, staff did not fully follow the missing-from-home protocols in place. However, this was immediately recognised by leaders and managers and the learning from this incident has been shared with staff.

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

Staff enable the children to safely experience age-appropriate opportunities. Staff recognise risk but are not risk-averse. Children have individual safety plans that are detailed and provide clear guidance to staff on how to respond to children’s emerging needs. Decisions for children are made with great consideration and care but do not prevent children experiencing what they wish to.

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

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted, and physical intervention is rarely used. The staff use de-escalation techniques effectively, and these are individual to the children. When physical intervention has been used, it has been to avoid the child experiencing significant harm.

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

When children hurt themselves, appropriate treatment and medical intervention are sought. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s individual needs and recognise potential triggers that may contribute to children experiencing low mood or distress. Room searches are rarely needed. However, they are conducted to ensure unsafe items are removed to prevent further harm. Children are made aware of room searches and given a clear explanation as to why these are carried out. Inspection report for children’s home: 2709417 5 Children feel able to raise complaints. When concerns have been highlighted regarding staff practice, the manager has investigated them thoroughly. Learning from complaints is embedded into staff practice promptly. This reduces the risks of further incidents occurring.

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

Overall, the home is a warm and welcoming environment. The atmosphere is homely, with photos of the children displayed on the walls and a newly renovated kitchen. However, there have been delays in repairing areas of the garden. The door on the electrical box is missing, there is a broken fence panel in the garden, and the garden annex remains unsafe. This was a recommendation raised in the last inspection and has yet to be rectified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the previous registered manager has left. The experienced new manager knows the children and staff team well as they worked in the home before becoming manager. This has provided continuity for children and staff. The manager drives continuous development of the home and ensures the children receive good care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff commented on the positive working culture in the home and said they feel well supported by leaders and managers. There are regular team meetings and supervision sessions for staff. These enable staff to reflect on their role and on the care provided to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the daily running of the home. There are effective monitoring and review systems in place to help leaders and managers to have good oversight. The manager praises staff on their good practice, confidently identifies areas for development and implements achievable actions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a positive learning culture in the home. Staff are up to date with their required learning and have good knowledge of areas relevant to the children’s individual needs. Leaders and managers ensure that when there is an emerging need for further advice and guidance for staff, specific training is promptly identified and implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff work in partnership with people who are important to the children. They ensure regular contact between agencies who work alongside the children. Staff have been instrumental in supporting one child to build a more positive relationship with their parent. They act as mediators and offer the parent guidance on how to support the child. This has enabled the child to spend more time with their parent and work towards reunification. Inspection report for children’s home: 2709417 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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the broken electrical box outside of the home, the broken fence panel in the garden and the unsafe garden annex, which was raised as a concern in the previous inspection. 18 November 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and wellbeing. Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change, negative behaviours in key areas of health and wellbeing, such as the misuse of drugs and electronic cigarettes. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18)  The registered person should ensure that children are able to access all shared areas of the home, such as the kitchen, unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (Regulation 21(c)(i)). The registered person should ensure that any use of surveillance or monitoring, including bedroom door alarms, is individually assessed, necessary and proportionate to the identified safeguarding

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Recommendations

needs of the child. The home should ensure surveillance is not used as a default approach to monitoring children’s behaviour, and that the continued use of monitoring Inspection report for children’s home: 2709417 7 is regularly reviewed and removed when it is no longer justified. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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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: 2709417 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: CF Support Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Three Rivers Business Centre, Unit 11 Felixstowe Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP10 0BF

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Inspector

Maisy Griggs, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2709417 9 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 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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