At Slough Children First (SCF), ensuring every child in our care feels ‘Happy, Safe & Loved, Thriving’ isn’t just part of our vision—it’s our promise. We go beyond the basics of care to ensure that every child has a home and a relationship they need to thrive. One of the ways we do this is through conducting quality assurance visits.
The landscape of children’s social care is facing mounting challenges. Shortages of placements, fierce competition among local authorities for limited spaces, and rising care costs are creating tough conditions. This means that many children are being placed far away from their communities, which can disrupt their sense of belonging. Some care providers charge exorbitant fees but unfortunately don’t always deliver the level of care that children truly deserve. These pressures highlight the crucial need for robust quality assurance processes—and that’s where our Quality Assurance steps in.
By seeing these places as they truly are, we get a true understanding of where and how our children are living. The key feature is that our QA visits to residential homes, schools, and supported accommodation are unannounced, not just in Slough but across the UK. During every visit, we look beyond the obvious. We assess the overall atmosphere of each home—ensuring it’s not just clean and well-kept, but warm and welcoming, feeling like a true home.
The environment matters, but so does the team of people, caring for our children. We pay close attention to staffing levels, their qualifications, and stability of the team. Strong, stable relationships are essential, especially for children who have faced significant disruption. That’s why we encourage providers to keep a dedicated team, rather than relying on temporary agency staff, to maintain that stability and trust.
At SCF, safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do. But we don’t stop at child protection policies. We dig deeper, ensuring that staff employment rights are protected, preventing any links to modern slavery. We also make sure that health and safety standards are not just met but exceed expectations. We pay close attention to children’s nutrition, because a balanced, healthy diet is critical to their physical and emotional well-being. We ensure that children are receiving nutritious, varied meals that meet their specific needs.
We believe in the power of listening and empowering our children and young people. Every child has the right to be heard and involved in the decisions that impact their lives, whether it’s the little things, like daily routines, or bigger choices about their care. We challenge our providers to go beyond just asking children for their opinions, but to actively involve them in shaping their experience. A child’s voice is not an afterthought in our quality assurance, it is integral to homes we commission—it’s central to everything we do.
After each visit, we don’t just file a report and walk away. We work closely with providers, social workers, Independent Reviewing Officers and local authorities to ensure that any necessary improvements are made quickly and effectively. Our goal is not to catch providers out, but to collaborate with them, co-produce services with the view of ensuring they can provide the best homes possible for our children.
Through this proactive, child-centred approach, Slough Children First is setting a higher standard for residential or supported homes. Our work doesn’t end with assessments—we are deeply committed to continuous improvement, making sure that every child in our care is not just surviving, but truly, they have every opportunity to be Happy, Safe & Loved to enable them to thrive.