Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report children’s home: SC064836 1 SC064836 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 privately owned home provides care for up to three children. The provider’s statement of purpose states that children may have severe emotional and behavioural difficulties (social and emotional difficulties). The provider also has a school on the same site. The inspector only inspected the social care provision at this site.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2021.

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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 4 January 2021 to carry out 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: SC064836 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/05/2019 Full Good 24/07/2018 Full Good 26/09/2017 Full Good 26/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC064836 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in this home make good progress. They are supported to build trusting relationships with the adults who are caring for them. Staff know the children well and help them to keep safe. The security that this brings has allowed children to build their confidence and to progress positively from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is comfortable and well decorated. The children have individualised bedrooms and have input into how their rooms are decorated. There is a well- equipped games room where children play games with each other and staff. A lot of thought has gone into providing a comfortable home with a family feeling.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are making excellent progress with their education. They have achieved good GCSE results and have moved on to college placements or skills-based education. Education staff are extremely pleased with the progress children are making. An instructor said, ‘I wish we had 10 of [name of child]. We have a good relationship with staff, they are always available to speak with us and will follow things through.’ The clear communication, consistency and boundaries gives a positive message to children about the importance of their engagement with education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Independence skills are promoted with children. They have individual plans where they are supported to plan, shop for, and cook their own meals. Children are helped to understand about budgeting and other life skills they will need in preparation for the next step on their journey into adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. Their physical and emotional health needs are identified, and they have easy access to individual therapeutic support provided by the home. Staff are supported by the company’s therapeutic department, which provides monthly opportunities to help them understand and support the children in their care. This ensures that children receive appropriate support to enable them to develop and maintain stable physical and emotional health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and support children to engage in activities in the community. Children access the local gym, they meet their friends for days out, they take drives out and go for countryside walks. Children also go on trips to the cinema together without staff, as part of their move towards independence. Activities such as these will support the children to feel like they are a part of their community and will give them a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to see their families when this is appropriate. Staff ensure that visits are safe and on the children’s terms. This support has enabled the children to maintain family relationships. This is important for children as it helps them to retain a sense of identity and belonging. Inspection report children’s home: SC064836 4

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

Children feel safe, supported and happy. They respond to the calm and nurturing support offered by staff. A social worker said, ‘The home itself is a very calm place, very welcoming.’ Staff know the children very well and there are effective risk assessments and safety plans in place.

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

Staff understand the risks that using the internet may pose for children. Staff have undertaken training to identify and respond to sexual and criminal exploitation and have strategies in place to help keep children safe if these issues occur.

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

The home has effective links with social workers, local authority designated officers and other safeguarding agencies. Social workers are pleased with the communication they have with the home. A social worker said, ‘Communication is brilliant. I get in-depth information from the staff.’

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

Staff are offered training to help them to understand and identify safeguarding issues and procedures. However, through discussions with staff, it was clear that some staff have not retained all the learning, particularly with regards to the whistle- blowing policy.

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

Safer recruitment practices are in place. Staff are carefully vetted to ensure that they are suitable to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high expectations and ambitions for the children. Children receive high levels of individualised care and support. There are detailed plans in place for the children and every effort is made to support them to achieve their goals. As a result, children are settled, and they have ambition for their futures and are working towards achieving their goals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager supports staff to enable them to carry out their work to a good standard. Staff are offered regular supportive supervision sessions and annual appraisals. They are given training to ensure that they are informed about how to meet the needs of the children in their care. Children benefit from being looked after by adults who understand how to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works proactively with other agencies and professionals. He has good working relationships with social workers and partner agencies. This communication with other agencies and strong advocacy for the children means that everyone working with the children is clear about how to support them to achieve good outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has effective monitoring systems in place to help to ensure that the quality of children’s care, including the safety of the home, is regularly checked. Inspection report children’s home: SC064836 5 The statement of purpose is out of date and describes some aspects of the home that are no longer in place. Inspection report children’s home: SC064836 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have full awareness of the whistle- blowing policy to assist them in keeping the children safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s statement of purpose accurately reflects the facilities available in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 11.4)

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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: SC064836 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: Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale, Lancashire OL12 9EN

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Inspector

Cathy Wilkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC064836 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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