Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report children’s home: SC372117 1 SC372117 Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and run and is registered to provide care for up to three children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since 2016.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 9 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC372117 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/04/2019 Full Good 24/09/2018 Full Good 30/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC372117 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from the care they receive. They are valued as individuals and develop trusting and secure relationships with staff. The staff show a good understanding of children’s needs and work hard to support their development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Positive relationships between children and staff underpin children’s sense of belonging. This in turn helps children to address and overcome previous life traumas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Over time, children begin to learn how to better manage their emotions and accommodate other people’s views. Staff act as good role models for children as they demonstrate and reinforce positive behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have invested in their placements and feel that the care staff offer has made a positive difference to their lives. They speak with warmth and affection about the staff who care for them. One child described the staff as ‘genuine’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, children make good progress. Some children are unable to maintain consistent or suitable levels of educational attendance. Although staff have attempted to address this in numerous ways, they have not been fully successful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they feel listened to and that their views are important to the staff. Children are supported to have positive contact with their families, and they are given advice on identifying and maintaining positive relationships.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children say they feel safe, and professionals spoken to concur with this view. Staff understand children’s vulnerabilities and how to keep them safe. They provide guidance and advice and respond appropriately when risks are seen to increase.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Drug and alcohol misuse is not a current feature of children’s lives, nor are they at risk of child exploitation.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Incidents of children going missing from home are infrequent. When they do occur, staff act and respond appropriately.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff help children to understand risks, improve their behaviour and mature in their outlook. As such, there has not been any need for staff to restrain children or impose any penalties as a result of poor behaviour.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children are offered consistent boundaries, routines and praise. This supports the progress they make in their lives. An independent reviewing officer commented on the progress for one child and said, ‘She has the chance of a good life now.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC372117 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the children well and how the care offered affects their progress. She has well-developed systems in place to monitor and improve the running of the home. She is child-centred and leads a committed staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff spoken to are enthusiastic about their work and complimentary about the manager’s style of leadership. They receive good levels of supervision, guidance and support from the manager. Staff take a team approach to caring for children, which provides stability and consistency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a wide range of training available to the staff. The manager monitors staff’s progress towards achieving the relevant qualifications and provides additional levels of support to ensure that they complete these within regulatory timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records are kept up to date and are reflective of their lives at the home. However, it is not always clear whether individual sessions are planned, achieve the desired outcome or whether they have been reviewed for their efficacy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, the home is maintained to a good standard and offers a welcoming and homely feel. There are areas that would benefit from improvement, such as renewal of the kitchen work surfaces and replacement of the bathroom flooring and bath panelling. Inspection report children’s home: SC372117 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child's education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome such barriers. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children maintain regular school attendance. Plans should address underlying causes of children's refusal to attend school and be reviewed and evaluated against progress. 31 December

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is maintained and that all areas of the home remain in good order. This specifically relates to repair or upgrade of the children’s bathroom, and kitchen work surfaces being renewed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that work with children reflects planning and focus. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children’s home: SC372117 6

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC372117 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meadows Care Limited, Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale, Lancashire OL12 9EN

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Inspector

Pauline Yates, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC372117 8 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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