Children's Home run by Keys Care Limited in BuckinghamshireOfsted inspection, 11 Sept 2026

Inspection report children's home: 2548418 1 Registered provider: Keys Care 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 is a privately owned children's home that is registered to care for up to 4 children. There were 3 children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The registered manager post is vacant. There is a new home manager who is in the process of applying to register 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: 15 October 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 children's home: 2548418 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/10/2025 Full Good 06/08/2024 Full Good 03/01/2024 Full Good 17/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2548418 3

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Summary of findings

Staff meet children's basic care needs, and children have established trusting relationships with at least one staff member. However, staff turnover and multiple new staff has affected the consistency of routines, boundaries, and support provided to the children living at the home.

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Summary of findings

Some children have struggled to build positive relationships with newer staff, impacting their sense of security and reducing opportunities to participate in community activities. New staff have limited experience working with children with complex needs and often require additional support, placing pressure on experienced staff during crises and risk management situations.

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Summary of findings

Despite these challenges, staff feel supported by the home manager and responsible individual, who are implementing plans to strengthen teamwork and promote stability for the children. Parents and professionals working with the children provided positive feedback about the care the children receive at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff meet children's day-to-day care needs effectively. Staff ensure that children have appropriate personal space, age-appropriate routines in relation to personal hygiene, morning and bedtime routines. Children are supported to maintain healthy lifestyles through access to nutritious meals and promoting a healthy lifestyle such as walks and fun physical activities. There are discrepancies between more experienced and newer staff when implementing boundaries around more challenging activities, such as gaming and screen time. This reduces the consistency of care provided to children and limits opportunities to help them develop realistic expectations and effective time-management skills in preparation for adulthood. In addition, although children's routines are tailored to their individual needs, leaders and staff do not have a clear understanding of the timescales set out by their placing authority in relation to children's independence plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

As a result, staff are not always able to provide informed, effective, and timely support to help children prepare for adulthood and leaving care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff invest meaningful time in developing relationships with children and provide a range of recreational and educational activities, trips and holidays that are tailored to each child's interests, needs and preferences. Staff recognise and celebrate children's achievements, helping to promote their self-esteem and sense of belonging. As a result, children make progress from their individual starting points and develop an increasing sense of permanence. For example, children describe the home as their home and are becoming more confident and secure in themselves. When children leave the home, these are well-planned at a pace that is suitable for children. Staff promote positive endings and encourage positive relationships at their new home. Inspection report children's home: 2548418 4 Staff adopt a nurturing and child-centred approach, enabling children to develop trusting relationships with them. Consequently, children feel comfortable sharing their day-to-day

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

experiences, worries and views with staff they trust. However, recent staff turnover reduced stability for some children and affected their ability to build positive relationships with newer members of staff. Leaders have implemented plans to mitigate its impact. These include a gentle relationship building approach, while ensuring that a trusted and experienced member of staff is consistently available to children during both day and night. This provides some continuity of care and emotional support to the children living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's health needs are well understood and effectively met. They are registered with and have access to appropriate local health services. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children's individual health needs and take timely action to address concerns or seek additional support from healthcare professionals, including emergency and specialist mental health services, when required. Arrangements for the management of medication are safe and effective. When a medication error happened, leaders responded promptly, carefully considered the impact on the child and took immediate action to address staff practice. As a result, learning was embedded, with no further incidents.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The provider further promotes children's health and well-being through the availability of in-house specialist services. These services are responsive, proportionate to children's individual needs and available for as long as required. For example, staff benefit from consultations with a clinical therapist to help them respond effectively to children who self-harm, and children can access preliminary specialist assessments while awaiting formal assessments from external agencies. This helps staff to better understand children's needs and adapt their care accordingly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children living in the home access education that is appropriate to their individual needs. Leaders work collaboratively with education providers to develop a strong understanding of children's needs and to implement bespoke educational plans that support individual progress. School attendance has improved, there is greater consistency between the educational settings and the provider's approaches to managing behaviour, and children benefit from learning opportunities that are tailored to their interests and abilities. Consequently, children are more engaged in their education. While leaders communicate promptly with children's families following meetings with education providers, important updates are not always shared with staff in a timely way. This limits staff's ability to consistently support children in accordance with their most up-to-date educational plans and targets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide sensitive and responsive care that reflects children's identity needs, including their age and stage of development, family history, experiences of bereavement, race, and sexual orientation. Staff support safe and carefully assessed arrangements for children to spend time with their families, friends, and other people who are important to them, including previous carers. This promotes consistency of care and contributes to children's sense of identity and stability. For example, staff's support Inspection report children's home: 2548418 5 to one child and their family contributed to improved family relationships. However, staff do not always demonstrate a clear understanding of how children's early life experiences can affect their current identity needs and their ability to form trusting relationships with others. This hinders staff's ability to support children to improve their emotional

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

resilience and build a stronger sense of identity.

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

Children report that they feel safe living at the home and are listened to by staff. Children have developed trusting and positive relationships with most staff. However, the recent staff turnover, combined with the complexity of children's needs, has created challenges in helping children to build positive relationships with newer members of staff. Leaders recognise these challenges and have taken steps to strengthen the relationship- based practice within the home. The impact of these measures is not yet fully evident.

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

Children's rights are respected and promoted. Staff and leaders take children's complaints seriously and respond appropriately. Children are informed of the outcomes of their complaints in a child friendly way, and leaders use complaints as opportunities for learning and improvement.

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

Staff demonstrate a sound understanding of children's risks, vulnerabilities and individual needs. Risk assessments and behaviour support plans provide clear guidance for staff and support effective risk management. However, due to differing staff knowledge, skills and experience, there are some inconsistencies in implementing behaviour strategies and supporting children in crisis. At times, experienced staff report feeling increased pressure to provide oversight and support to newer colleagues, particularly where staffing arrangements limit flexibility in responding to the individual needs and risks of all children. Children have expressed concerns that current staffing arrangements limit their access to the activities and opportunities they would usually enjoy within the community.

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

Staff support children effectively to develop skills and strategies to manage conflict, process and manage their emotions safely. Staff and leaders work sensitively with children to help them understand the impact of their behaviour on others. Incidents involving bullying and discriminatory language are responded to appropriately, with clear identification of risks, underlying causes and protective factors. Staff work closely with social workers, schools and other professionals to ensure a coordinated and consistent approach to supporting children. This helps children showing harmful behaviours and those affected by them to receive appropriate support. Children benefit from regular direct work, group discussions and restorative opportunities that promote positive relationships, challenge inappropriate behaviour and encourage reflection. Mediation between children, and between children and staff is used effectively to repair

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

relationships and promote positive living experiences.

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

When children leave the home without permission, incidents are managed appropriately and in line with safeguarding procedures. Staff respond promptly and work effectively with social workers, the police and parents to promote children's safe return. Multi- Inspection report children's home: 2548418 6 agency working is a particular strength and contributes to children receiving consistent support. Feedback from professionals was positive regarding the provider's safeguarding practice, describing staff as being calm and generally prepared to respond appropriately to children's behaviours and communicating promptly with partner agencies to protect the children.

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

Physical intervention is used infrequently and when used, staff use de-escalation strategies effectively to support children. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of when physical intervention is necessary, proportionate, and required to protect children and others. When allegations are made, or concerns are raised that staff have not implemented the provider's agreed de-escalation techniques, leaders respond appropriately. This includes effective multi-agency working with the local authority designated officer, the police, and children's social workers. Leaders undertake fair and thorough internal investigations, ensuring that staff have the opportunity to provide their account, reflect on their actions, and contribute to the investigation process.

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

Staff are able to recognise indicators that a child may be at risk of self-harm and respond appropriately. However, some newer staff have not yet completed all relevant training. This places additional demands on experienced staff during periods of crisis and limits less experienced staff's ability to respond independently and effectively to all children's needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager post is vacant. There is a newly appointed home manager who is in the process of registering with Ofsted. There has been significant staff turnover since the last inspection with multiple new staff starting recently. The home manager and staff benefit from the support of the regional manager, who was previously the registered manager of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have high expectations for children and are committed to ensuring that children receive care that is tailored to their individual needs. Feedback from social workers identified that, despite staff changes and children's complex needs, the provider has remained committed, responsive and collaborative, providing children with an overall stable environment that supports their safety, well-being and progress. Parents also provided positive feedback about the care and support that the children receive at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have a clear understanding of the children's lived experiences, their needs and what factors lead to their progress. They are strong advocates on children's behalf. The home manager and the regional manager challenge professionals appropriately and persistently to secure the services and support that children need. This helps children to access opportunities and interventions that promote positive progress from their individual starting points. However, communication with placing authorities is not always sufficiently effective, particularly in relation to the goals and timescales within children's independence plans. Inspection report children's home: 2548418 7 Staff report that they feel well supported by leaders. Supervision, appraisal, induction and training arrangements are well established and help staff to develop the knowledge and skills required for their roles. Specialist consultations and the provider's therapeutic

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

model of care help staff to understand and respond to children's complex needs. Some staff who are new to children's social care require extensive support to apply this learning in practice, which has affected the team dynamics and has placed additional pressure on more experienced staff. Also, staff have not received training that specifically explores the impact of children's early life experiences on their identity and ability to form secure and trusting relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Individual supervision, specialist consultations, team meetings and peer support demonstrate a reflective and child-focused approach to practice. Leaders encourage staff to consider the effectiveness of their responses to incidents and complaints and identify ways to strengthen communication with children. This supports a culture of learning, accountability and continuous improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders actively seek, value and respond to children's views. Children's feedback and concerns are used to inform practice and improve the day-to-day running of the home. For example, recent staff turnover and changes within the staff team have affected the consistency of care provided to children. Children have found it difficult to develop positive relationships with some of newer members of staff. Leaders considered children's wishes and feelings and know the strengths and weaknesses of the staff team dynamics. They have a plan in place on how to address the shortfalls identified. Inspection report children's home: 2548418 8

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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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Statutory requirements

Requirement Due date The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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Statutory requirements

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— strive to gain each child's respect and trust; understand how children's previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children.

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Statutory requirements

(Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(viii)(ix)) 1 April

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Statutory requirements

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Statutory requirements

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child; 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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Statutory requirements

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)) 1 April Inspection report children's home: 2548418 9

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Recommendation

 The registered person should work with children's placing authorities to ensure that leaders and staff understand each child's plan for independence and are able to support them in preparing for leaving care, both practically and emotionally. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', paragraph 11.9)

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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 children's home: 2548418 10

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: C/o Pinsent Masons Llp, The Soloist Building, 1 Lanyon Place, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT1 3LP

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Inspector

Claudia Poienar, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2548418 11 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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