Recording in children's homes: a practical guide

Most of what a children's home knows about a child is in the daily record. Social workers read it, inspectors read it, and one day the child may read it too. It is written by support workers at the end of a long shift, often in ten minutes, so the quality varies a great deal.

This guide is for support workers, team leaders and registered managers in children's homes in England. It covers what the regulations require of case records, how to write an entry that stands up to scrutiny, what weak and good entries look like side by side, and how to cut the duplicate paperwork that eats into time with the children.

The short version

• Every entry must be signed and dated by whoever wrote it, and the record must be kept up to date.^[1]
• Write what you saw and heard, label opinion as opinion, and say where information came from.^[2]
• Write about the child in words you would be happy for them to read at eighteen.
• Record what you did and what happened next, not only what went wrong.
• If you write the same fact in three places, change the process, not the staff.

What the regulations require of case records

The law asks for three things of each child's case record: it holds the information listed in Schedule 3, it is kept up to date, and every entry is signed and dated by its author.^[1] Schedule 3 includes details of every missing episode, every use of control, discipline or restraint, accidents and serious illness, and the administration of medicines.^[3]

Records are kept for 75 years from the child's date of birth, or 15 years from death if the child dies before 18.^[1] That period is why the standard of writing matters. Someone will read these entries decades from now to understand their own childhood.

The regulations say nothing about format. The Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations says records may be kept electronically if the people who need them can easily access them and they can be reproduced legibly.^[4]

What should a good daily entry contain?

A good entry says who, what, when and where, what the child said or did, what you did in response, and what needs to happen next. If a colleague on the next shift could act on it without asking you a question, it is complete.

A practical checklist for each entry:

• The time, or the part of the shift, and where it happened.
• What you actually saw or heard, including the child's own words where you can recall them.
• Who else was present.
• What you did and why.
• How the child was afterwards.
• Anything that needs following up, and who is doing it.

Record good days with the same care as bad ones. Inspectors read case records for evidence of the child's everyday life and their achievements, and for how the records relate to their plans.^[5] A file made up almost entirely of incidents tells a false story about the child.

How do you separate fact from opinion?

Write down what you observed, then, if it is useful, add your interpretation and label it as yours. The Guide expects staff to record information in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information.^[2]

The test is whether another person standing in the room would have seen the same thing. "Slammed his door" is closer to fact than "was in a mood". "Told me he was angry about the phone call" is fact, because it is what he said. "Seemed to be anxious about contact" is opinion, and fine to include when it says why you think so.

Third-party information needs its source. "Mum told Jade on the phone that she would visit on Saturday" is better than "Mum is visiting Saturday", especially if she then does not come.

Weak and good entries, side by side

The same event, written two ways. These are invented examples for illustration, not taken from any real record.

An evening with a child who is upset

The weak entry uses labels ("kicking off", "manipulative") that tell the next reader nothing, and the child would not recognise himself in them. The good entry has times, his own words, what staff did, and a note for the next shift.

A routine day

"No issues" is not wrong, but it gives a social worker, an inspector or the child nothing to read. The second entry shows school progress, her voice in the home and a relationship with a member of staff.

Language to avoid

• "Attention seeking", "manipulative", "wound up", "kicking off" and similar labels. Describe what the child did and said instead.
• "Refused to" when the child had not been given a real choice or a clear request.
• "Absconded" for a child who has left the home. Say when you last saw them, what you did to find them and who you told.
• "As usual", "again" and "typical" without saying what happened.
• Abbreviations and initials that only your team understands.

Writing for the child who will read it

Children in the home should be encouraged to see their records as living documents and to contribute to them.^[6] The Guide also expects staff to record information in a way that will be helpful to the child, and to encourage children to read their records and add to them.^[2] Inspectors look for records that are written clearly enough to increase children's understanding of their histories and experiences.^[5]

A simple habit helps: before you save an entry, imagine the child reading it with someone they trust. If a sentence would hurt or embarrass them and is not needed to keep them safe, rewrite it. If it is needed, keep it, state it plainly and say what you did about it.

Where a child has something to say about an entry, add their comment next to it rather than replacing your words. A restraint record is the clearest case: the Guide says children should be encouraged to add their views to it, and the record must show within five days that someone has spoken to the child about what happened.^[7]

Time limits that apply to specific records

Most daily recording has no fixed deadline in the regulations, so your home's policy sets one. Write it up during the shift or before you leave. Memory fades quickly, and an entry written three days later is weaker evidence.

Some records do have a legal clock. A record of any control, discipline or restraint must be made within 24 hours.^[7] The manager's deadlines that follow are set out in our guide to incident follow-up.

Cutting duplicate paperwork

Duplication is a process problem. When staff enter the same event in the daily log, the incident form, the handover book, the key worker notes and an email to the social worker, the five versions drift apart, and the time comes out of the hours that staff could spend with children.

Work through it in this order:

1. List every place a typical incident, a family contact session and a school day are written down in your home. Ask the team, because managers rarely know them all.
2. For each, ask who reads it and what decision it supports. If nobody can answer, stop using it.
3. Choose one place where the full account lives. Everything else links to it or summarises it in a line.
4. Write the handover from the daily log, not from memory and a second round of writing.
5. Agree what a key work session record needs, and drop headings that always get the same answer.
6. Check again after a month. New forms creep back in.

Be careful about what you remove. Some duplication is a safeguard: an incident that is also reported to the registered manager and, where required, notified under Regulation 40 is one event with several statutory routes. The aim is to write the facts once and send them where they need to go.

For handovers in particular, see our guide to shift handovers. A good handover should be a summary of records that already exist.

What managers should check

The registered manager is responsible for the standard of records. A short regular audit works better than an annual sweep.

• Pick three entries from different staff each week and read them as an inspector would.
• Check each is signed and dated by its author and written close to the event.
• Look for labels, unexplained abbreviations and opinion presented as fact.
• Look for the child's voice, and for good days as well as incidents.
• Give feedback in supervision with the actual entry in front of you, and say what a better version would look like.

Reading across many entries is a different skill. Records written well, one entry at a time, are what make it possible to spot patterns across a child's records later.

Where recording software fits

ARC is care recording software for children's homes. Staff can record quick logs, incidents and handovers on a phone, and dictate entries rather than type them. Software does not make an entry good. If you are weighing up a system, our buyer's guide to children's home software covers what to ask, including how many places the same fact has to be typed.

Common questions

Who has to sign case record entries? The author of each entry. Regulation 36 requires every entry to be signed and dated by the person who wrote it.^[1]

How long must a children's home keep case records? For 75 years from the child's date of birth, or 15 years from the date of death if the child dies before 18.^[1]

Can a children's home keep records electronically? Yes. The Guide says records may be kept electronically if anyone with a legitimate need can easily access them and they can be reproduced legibly.^[4]

How soon should a daily log be written? The regulations give no general deadline for daily entries, so follow your home's policy and write them before the end of the shift. The exception is restraint and other measures of control, which must be recorded within 24 hours.^[7]

Can a child ask to see their records? Yes. The Guide says children should be actively encouraged to read their records and add to them, and to be reminded of their right to see information held about them.^[2]

What do inspectors look for in daily records? They look for records that reflect the child's everyday life and achievements, relate clearly to their plans, and are written in a way that helps the child understand their history.^[5]

Sources

1. The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, regulation 36. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/541/regulation/36 Checked 22 October 2026.
2. Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards (DfE, April 2015), paragraphs 14.4 and 14.6. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-homes-regulations-including-quality-standards-guide Checked 22 October 2026.
3. The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, Schedule 3. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/541/schedule/3 Checked 22 October 2026.
4. Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, paragraph 14.2 (keeping records electronically). Same publication as source 2. Checked 22 October 2026.
5. Ofsted, Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): children's homes. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-care-common-inspection-framework-sccif-childrens-homes Checked 22 October 2026.
6. Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, paragraph 11.19. Same publication as source 2. Checked 22 October 2026.
7. The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, regulation 35, and Guide paragraph 9.60. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/541/regulation/35 Checked 22 October 2026.