Steady leadership for children’s homes, one practical tool at a time.
Ready-to-use templates, a practical guide and honest advice for new and aspiring Registered Managers, from a Senior Registered Manager who has seen children’s homes from both sides.
Created by Joshua Taylor-Williams
Senior Registered Manager · 12 years in children’s homes · Consistently Good Ofsted ratings · Designated Safeguarding Lead
The Registered Manager’s Toolkit
Editable Word templates, each with a short guidance note, aligned to the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and Quality Standards. Built from 12 years in children’s homes to save managers hours of rebuilding paperwork, and to put children’s voices at the centre of it. How it works
The Full Toolkit: all four packs for £149
Save £47. Running several homes? An organisation licence lets every manager use the same paperwork, from £449.
The toolkit launches in March 2027
Join the list to hear first, and get the free supervision record in the meantime.
Practical, not theoretical
Tools you can use on shift tomorrow, written by someone who runs homes today.
Child-led and trauma-informed
Young people’s voices built into the paperwork, not added as an afterthought.
From both sides
Leadership shaped by years in the role, and by growing up in care.
Steady Hands: the guide
From your first 90 days to Ofsted, supervision to safeguarding: a practical book for new and aspiring Registered Managers. Coming 2028.
The Registered Manager’s Toolkit
Four packs of editable templates for children’s home managers. Buy one pack or all four.
Why it was created
Most children’s home paperwork is generic, written for compliance rather than for children, or simply missing, so new managers spend evenings rebuilding forms from scratch. The toolkit was built from 12 years in children’s homes, from Residential Support Worker to Senior Registered Manager, and from writing policies, frameworks and quality assurance documents along the way.
Every template puts the young person’s voice and the wellbeing of staff at the centre, because that’s what keeps a home steady. And having grown up in care, Joshua knows the difference good paperwork makes when it’s about a real child, not a box to tick.
Who it’s for
- New and aspiring Registered Managers
- Deputies and team leaders stepping up
- Responsible Individuals and providers wanting consistency across homes
- Trainers and consultants (with a training licence)
How it works
- ChoosePick a single pack or the Full Toolkit, and the licence that fits your home or organisation.
- DownloadGet editable Word files straight away, plus an Excel training matrix in Pack 1.
- Make it yoursAdd your logo, adapt the wording to your policies, and read the short guidance note with each template.
- Use it with your teamThe guidance notes explain what good practice looks like and what inspectors will expect to see.
The four packs
Full Toolkit · £149
All four packs, 25 templates, with guidance notes. Save £47 against buying separately.
Launching March 2027. Register your interest and we’ll email you the day it’s available.
Launching March 2027
All four packs will be available individually or together as the Full Toolkit. Join the list to hear first.
| Licence | Who it’s for | Per pack | Full Toolkit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single home | One manager and the team of one home | £49 | £149 |
| Organisation | Every home an organisation runs directly | £149 | £449 |
| Training | Trainers and consultants using them with clients | Ask for a quote | |
See the licence terms for exactly what each licence covers.
Launching March 2027. Join the list to hear as soon as it’s available.
Join the list Buy and downloadLaunching March 2027. Register your interest and we’ll email you the day it’s available.
- Instant download after payment
- Editable Word files, also open in Google Docs
- A guidance note with every template
- Aligned to the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and Quality Standards
What’s inside
Questions
Can I add my organisation’s logo?
Yes. Every template is fully editable, so you can add your logo and adapt the wording to your policies.
Do they work outside England?
They’re written for English children’s homes. Managers in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland will need to adapt them to their own regulations.
Which licence do I need?
Single home covers one home. If your organisation runs several homes, the organisation licence covers them all.
Get all four packs for £149
The Full Toolkit saves £47.
Steady Hands: A Practical Guide to Leading a Children’s Home
For new and aspiring Registered Managers. Twelve practical chapters, from your first 90 days and holding the legal frame to supervision, safeguarding, Reg 44 and 45, and Ofsted, with “Try this” exercises that link to the templates.
Coming 2028 in paperback, ebook and PDF.
Meet Joshua Taylor-Williams
Joshua Taylor-Williams is an experienced residential childcare leader with 12 years’ experience in children’s homes, having progressed from Residential Support Worker to Senior Registered Manager. Throughout his career he has consistently achieved Good Ofsted ratings and has successfully managed homes supporting children with complex emotional and behavioural needs.
Joshua has led homes of every kind, from homes for up to five children to solo and specialist provisions. Alongside his residential work he brings a background in teaching and education, performing arts and holistic caregiving, giving him a creative, whole-child perspective on care.
Joshua’s leadership style is relational, reflective and firmly rooted in trauma-informed practice. He has extensive experience working with children who present with attachment disruption, emotional dysregulation, self-harm behaviours, placement instability and complex safeguarding vulnerabilities. He has also held senior leadership roles within SEMH education settings, where he has overseen safeguarding, behaviour support, attendance and curriculum development.
As a Designated Safeguarding Lead, Joshua maintains a strong focus on safeguarding culture, professional accountability and continuous improvement. He is committed to ensuring that homes under his leadership operate with clarity, warmth and therapeutic consistency. His practice is grounded in PACE-informed therapeutic parenting, resilience-building and the belief that children thrive when they feel safe, understood and valued. Joshua is dedicated to developing stable, reflective staff teams and environments where children can recover, grow and achieve long-term positive outcomes.
Joshua has written policies, procedural frameworks and quality assurance documents, and has previously worked as a Regulation 44 independent visitor. That gives him first-hand insight into how homes are scrutinised, and how managers can use that scrutiny to improve.
Having grown up in care himself, Joshua knows what steady, consistent adults mean to young people. He is determined to improve the lives of children and young people and their experience of care, and that commitment shapes everything Steady Hands Leadership offers.
Start with a free supervision record
Reflective, trauma-informed and ready to use. Plus one practical tip a month for children’s home managers. Unsubscribe any time.
Blog
Practical ideas for children’s home managers: supervision, child-led practice, scrutiny and looking after your team.
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Plus one practical tip a month for children’s home managers.
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Who we are
Steady Hands Leadership is a trading name of Joshua Taylor-Williams, a sole trader based in the UK. Contact: hello@steadyhandsleadership.co.uk. Address: 5 Kertley, Fleckney, Leicestershire LE8 8TH. Joshua Taylor-Williams is the data controller.
What we collect and why
| Information | Why | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| Name and email for the mailing list or free template | To send the template, a monthly tip and news of new resources | Consent |
| Name, email, billing details and purchases | To deliver purchases, receipts, support and refunds | Contract |
| Purchase and payment records | Accounts and tax | Legal obligation |
| Messages you send | To reply | Legitimate interests |
We never sell your information, and we never ask for information about the children or young people you care for.
Who we share it with
Only services that help us run the business: Payhip (shop and payments), Payhip (mailing list), Microsoft (business email) and Netlify (website hosting and sign-up forms). Some may store data outside the UK under approved safeguards.
How long we keep it
Mailing list details until you unsubscribe; purchase and accounting records for 6 years after the end of the tax year they relate to; messages for up to 2 years.
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct or delete your information, object to or restrict its use, ask for a copy, and withdraw consent at any time by emailing us. Every marketing email has an unsubscribe link.
Complaints
Please contact us first. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Last updated: 10 November 2026
Licence terms
These terms apply to all Steady Hands Leadership templates, toolkits and downloadable resources (“the Resources”).
Copyright
The Resources are © Joshua Taylor-Williams, trading as Steady Hands Leadership. Buying a Resource gives you a licence to use it; it doesn’t transfer ownership.
Single home licence
Lets one manager and the staff team of one registered children’s home use, edit, print and adapt the Resources for that home’s internal use.
Organisation licence
Lets one organisation use, edit, print and adapt the Resources across all children’s homes it operates directly, for internal use only.
You may
Add your logo, adapt wording to fit your policies, and keep completed copies as records.
You may not
Resell, share, publish, upload or give the Resources (or edited versions) to anyone outside your licence; use them in paid training or consultancy without a training licence; or remove copyright notices from the blank templates.
Guidance only
The Resources are general guidance for children’s homes in England. They don’t replace your organisation’s policies, your professional judgement, legal advice, or current regulations and Ofsted guidance. Check and adapt them before use.
Liability
Nothing in these terms limits liability that can’t legally be limited. Otherwise our total liability for any claim relating to a Resource is limited to the price you paid for it.
Terms of sale and refunds
Who you’re buying from
Joshua Taylor-Williams, trading as Steady Hands Leadership, 5 Kertley, Fleckney, Leicestershire LE8 8TH, hello@steadyhandsleadership.co.uk. Payments are processed by Payhip.
Prices
Prices are in pounds sterling. We are not VAT registered, so no VAT is charged.
Delivery
Downloads are available immediately after payment and sent to the email you give at checkout. Printed books are sold through Amazon under Amazon’s terms.
Your right to cancel
At checkout you’ll be asked to agree to immediate access and to acknowledge that, once the download begins, you lose the usual 14-day right to cancel. If you haven’t downloaded the Resource, you can cancel within 14 days for a full refund.
If something’s wrong
If a file is faulty, won’t open or isn’t as described, email us within 30 days and we’ll fix it, replace it or refund you. This doesn’t affect your statutory rights.
Business buyers
The cancellation right above doesn’t apply to purchases made for an organisation, but we’ll still fix or refund faulty files.
Law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales.
Website terms of use
This website is run by Joshua Taylor-Williams, trading as Steady Hands Leadership. Content here is general information for people working in children’s residential care, not professional or legal advice. Please don’t copy or republish our content without permission. Links to other sites are for convenience; we’re not responsible for their content. We may update these terms; the current version always applies.