Children's Home run by Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited in LiverpoolOfsted inspection, 17 Sept 2026

Inspection report for children’s home: 1247776 1 Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in December 2016.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates : 16 and 17 September 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

Date of last inspection: 25 February 2026

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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: 1247776 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/02/2026 Full Good 22/07/2024 Full Good 16/05/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/11/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1247776 3

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Summary of findings

Children benefit from stability in their lives. When children have struggles in their lives, the staff, alongside specialist services, explore creative solutions to support children. Children’s progress relating to accessing community activities and developing their communication skills has slowed down and needs to be a focus for the team.

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Summary of findings

Staff have an in-depth understanding of children’s needs and the risks involved in their lives. Safety plans and strategies are meaningful, which results in children being kept safe and a low number of incidents.

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Summary of findings

The management team drives the ethos of commitment, stability and relationships. Managers ensure that challenge is offered to other agencies, in line with children’s best interests and their voice. There is a need for the management team to make progress relating to the home environment and team dynamics for one child, to support their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff caring for children have an in-depth understanding of their individual needs. Children have a range of health needs that require the staff to understand them well. This has enabled children to benefit from personalised care to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a varied external and internal multi-disciplinary team that meets regularly to inform their care and plans. Occupational therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists provide specialist advice to the team, which they ensure is embedded into the daily care of children. This specialist care supports all agencies to work together to plan for the right education provisions for children. The management team ensures that it advocates for children to receive an education that meets their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Important adults in children’s lives, such as social workers and families, are happy with the care that their children are provided with. They are complimentary about the progress their children have made and discuss how much instability they had in their lives prior to being cared for by their current home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a range of activities for children at home to enjoy, such as a sensory cabin and a large garden area with outdoor play equipment. However, children have regressed in accessing community activities, linked to risk increasing in their lives. It is important that adults implement strategies and plans to support children to enhance their lives through experiences outside of their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have strategies in place to support children to communicate. However, staff have not developed their skills in line with recommendations from external Inspection report for children’s home: 1247776 4 assessments. This lack of progression hinders children’s ability to progress with their communication skills.

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

Staff have a very good understanding of the risks in children’s lives. Safety plans incorporate specialist advice to support children’s needs, and they are clear for all adults to follow. The team ensures that it implements strategies to keep children and others safe.

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

Significant incidents and incidents of restraint are rare. This is because staff understand children well and use positive relationships to support children to regulate. However, there is a need to ensure that records include full details of incidents that have occurred, to ensure that procedures have been followed and to allow staff to reflect on their practice.

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

There has been one complaint since the last inspection in this period, which was managed in line with safeguarding procedures. There was a thorough investigation, and all relevant agencies were involved. This practice ensured that children were safe and independent oversight of safeguarding practice took place.

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

Medication practice is robust. Children receive a range of medication in line with their needs, and there are clear systems in place to ensure that they receive this safely. Adults undergo competency assessments before administering medication, and there are monitoring systems in place to audit medication practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children and the team are supported by a committed management team. Staff benefit from consistent support through regular supervision sessions, team meetings, appraisals and probation reviews. Managers drive an ethos underpinned by stability and consistent relationships for children. There have been periods where children and the staff have struggled; however, the management team consistently explores solutions to overcome instability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers evaluate staff practice regularly. There is a culture of management monitoring through robust monitoring systems. These systems highlight themes and trends in practice that need to be developed. The management team ensures that practice developments are fed back to the staff, supporting them to professionally develop. The team engages in regular training to meet the children’s emotional needs. The management team explores bespoke training to support the staff’s development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that they champion their children’s needs, rights and voice with the multi-agency network surrounding children. This practice ensures that specialist professionals do not lose sight of what is in the best interests of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1247776 5 Staff are concerned that the current home environment is not meeting the needs of one child. It is crucial that managers ensure that there is no delay with plans to adapt the team and their environment in line with the child’s evolving needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 1247776 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)(ix)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s care is delivered in line with their needs in relation to the number of adults caring for children in the community. Also, ensure that the home environment and team meet the needs of one child. 28 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— 28 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 1247776 7 take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that a range of communication strategies are used in line with children’s needs and recommendations to develop children’s preferred method of communication.

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children are supported to gain access to a range of activities outside of their home to support their development. 28 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 1247776 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that records of restraint enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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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: 1247776 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Inspector

Carly Quinn, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1247776 10 regulates 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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