Insights & Field Notes
Slow reading for a serious sector.
A growing archive of essays on recruitment, retention, compliance, safeguarding, wellbeing and leadership — written for people who take children's residential care as seriously as we do.
Why 'right person' outperforms 'right CV' every time.
The Level 5 is a threshold, not a filter. What we look for once the paperwork is out of the way.
6 min read
Read →Preparing for your first Regulation 44 as a new Registered Manager.
A practical primer on what to expect, what to prepare, and what independent visitors quietly notice first.
8 min read
Read →The quiet mathematics of turnover in small children's homes.
A single leaver in a four-bed setting has knock-on effects that spreadsheets rarely capture.
5 min read
Read →Reflective supervision that isn't a tick-box.
Structures, cadences and questions borrowed from clinical practice that actually change behaviour on shift.
7 min read
Read →The difference between a Deputy who's ready and one who isn't.
A short field guide for RMs weighing internal promotion versus external search.
6 min read
Read →Reading between the lines of a Requires Improvement report.
What inspectors don't always spell out — and what a rescue plan should genuinely address.
9 min read
Read →Staff wellbeing is not a perk. It is a safeguarding measure.
How the shape of your rota, your sleep-in pattern, and your reflective time either protects or erodes the team.
6 min read
Read →In praise of hiring the quiet ones.
Interview processes designed for extroverts consistently miss the calmest people in the room. A short case for redesigning them.
5 min read
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