Our model
The Inkfish
1 2 3 model.
Our own model, named after us because we built it. One home. Two children. Three promises. Built for progression, not containment.
One home
A house, not a unit on a site. It has one front door, one kitchen table and one team. Children are not moved between wings, and the adults who care for them are not rotated between buildings.
Two children
Every home is registered for two and opens as solo provision. A second child joins only where the Registered Manager assesses it as safe, appropriate and in the interests of the child already living there. Two is a ceiling and never an occupancy target.
Three promises
What every child living with us can expect, and what our own team is measured against. We expect to be held to each one.
What it is
One home. Two children. Three promises.
Inkfish 1 2 3 is the shape of every Inkfish home, written before we opened and built into each one: the house we choose, the size of the team, and what we commit to for every child.
We are not operating yet, so we have no results to show. What we can show is what we have committed to and how it will be checked, by us, by Ofsted and by the authorities who place children with us.
It is deliberately simple, because a model that cannot be recalled in a difficult moment is not a model, it is a document. Everyone who works for us can say it, and everyone who works for us can be held to it.
The third number
Three promises, drawn into our mark.
- 1
A beautiful home to live in
Safe, warm, clean, well maintained and personalised, so a child can develop a real sense of belonging. Every Inkfish home is measured against the Inkfish Home Standard, our own written specification for the environment, rather than described with adjectives. It is audited, not asserted.
- 2
Therapeutic care
Every home works to one consistent relational framework, applied as the culture of the whole house rather than a weekly session. In our EBD homes it is informed by Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy and its PACE principles: playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy. External clinical support sits behind the team. Our staff do not deliver therapy, and we do not claim they do.
- 3
An education pathway
Every child has an active education pathway, worked on from their first day with us. We are not a school, and we never treat the absence of a school place as settled.
- •
The child, at the centre
The dot in the Inkfish mark sits at the heart of care. Every promise is measured by what it changes for the child.
How a home runs
Registered for two. Usually one.
Our homes are registered for a maximum of two children. As each home opens, it runs solo. A second child joins only where matching shows the arrangement is right and safe for both of them, a judgement made about two children rather than about the occupancy of a building.
Two is the number that lets a small team know each child properly, and respond to them as an individual rather than as part of a group. Each home is planned around a single placement, so the decision about a second child is never a financial one.
Registered capacity
The maximum in any Inkfish home.
Child at opening
Solo provision by default.
Team per home
The same adults, not a rotating cast.
In every home
What every child can expect.
A home, not a unit.
No CCTV inside or out, and no door or bedroom alarms. Any extra safety measure is for one child only, agreed with their social worker, explained to them and removed as soon as it isn’t needed.
Their health looked after.
Registered with a GP, dentist and optician, with an individual health plan and support to attend every appointment and health assessment.
The people who matter.
Family time and friendships as set out in their care plan. Any restriction comes from the plan or a court, never from the home’s convenience, and is explained to the child.
A voice that changes things.
A children’s guide on arrival and a real say in everyday decisions. Independent advocacy is offered from day one, not only when something goes wrong, and children can contact NYAS, Ofsted or the Children’s Commissioner directly.
Understanding before consequences.
Behaviour is treated as communication. Consequences are restorative, never punishment, and never the withdrawal of care or family time. Physical intervention is used only where the law allows, to prevent injury or serious damage, and every use is recorded, reviewed and talked through with the child afterwards.
Independent eyes on the home.
An independent person visits every month and reports to Ofsted. The quality of care is formally reviewed at least every six months.
Who decides
The manager can say no. The directors cannot overrule them.
The Registered Manager decides whether a child is admitted. They may decline any referral without reference to the directors, and the directors cannot instruct them to accept one. It is written into how the company is governed, and it is the most important safeguard in the structure.
The other half of it is financial. Each home’s planning is built on a single placement, so no commercial pressure bears on the decision about whether a second child should live there.
Saying no to a referral we cannot meet is good practice, not a failure.
Progression, not containment
“A placement is not successful simply because a child remains safe or settled.”
Success means that, with the child, the team and the professionals around them, there is evidence of movement: towards better wellbeing, relationships, education, independence, communication, health and preparation for what comes next.