Children's Home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report for children’s home: 1250915 1 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 is a privately owned home which provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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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

There were three children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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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 for children’s home: 1250915 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/07/2022 Full Good 22/02/2022 Full Good 12/02/2020 Full Good 08/08/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1250915 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care and support are central to the practice in the home. Children and staff have positive relationships and children say that they feel valued and listened to. Staff reinforce with children that they are cared for. They implement clear and consistent boundaries to help the children feel safe, treating each child as an individual and recognising their individual needs. Professionals comment on the positive relationships between the children and staff. One social worker said, ‘No matter what is going on for the child, [name of child] always views the home as her safe space and wishes to stay there until she is ready to move on to semi- independence.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff communicate effectively with external professionals to make sure that there is open and honest dialogue to support the all-round needs of each child. This includes placing authority social workers and education and health services, as well as children’s parents. This further supports children in their overall progress. However, the home has not received some updated placing authority care plans. These are needed to demonstrate that the home’s care plans are reflective of placing authority plans. Social workers recognise there has been a delay in providing plans. The manager provides placing authority social workers with regular progress reports for each child. This helps them have a good overview of how each child is progressing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good support to meet their individual healthcare needs. They are all registered with community healthcare professionals and encouraged and supported to attend health appointments. Annual healthcare assessments further underpin their individual needs and how these are to be met. Emotional health and well-being are supported by the in-house therapy department, which is also involved in supporting staff to understand and deliver support to each child to support their emotional health daily. Therapy plans are also kept under review and progress is clearly monitored.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have mixed outcomes in relation to attending education. School attendance is consistently promoted by staff. However, some children do not attend on a regular basis. There has been some improvement recently with one child, following increased discussions with them, their school and education support. The manager is hopeful this will continue.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported and encouraged to develop their own interests and leisure pursuits. They are offered a range of activities, including joining football clubs, using local leisure facilities and planning their activities as a group and on an individual basis.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a welcoming environment. Children are encouraged to personalise their own bedrooms to reflect their individuality. There is plenty of room for children to Inspection report for children’s home: 1250915 4 spend time together as a group but also to have space to follow their own individual interests.

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

Staff understand the children’s behaviours well. Some children display complex and challenging behaviour. They are supported through detailed behaviour management plans which are developed in partnership with the therapy team.

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

When staff have been unable to manage children’s increasingly challenging behaviour and the impact of this on the other children living at the home, the manager and staff work with other professionals to make sure the children receive the care and support they need to move to a placement more suited to their individual needs.

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

Comprehensive risk management plans are in place for each child, and are reviewed on a regular basis to make sure that they remain current. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of individual risks and work effectively to minimise these.

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

Staff follow clear procedures in the event of a child going missing from care. They maintain contact with them whenever possible, are proactive in encouraging them to engage and support them to return to the home safely. They also request and ensure that children can speak with someone independent on their return. This helps to identify if there is a particular reason for the child going missing and to address any concerns they may raise.

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

All staff have received training and guidance in the event of needing to hold a child to keep them safe. When physical intervention has been used, clear records are kept which identify the measures taken to try to reduce the risk of any physical hold. Children are able to share their views about the incident and behaviour management plans are amended if required.

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

Consequences are rarely used as a response to negative behaviours. If they are, they are fair and proportionate. The views of the child involved are sought and this enables them to reflect on their behaviour.

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

Recruitment and selection procedures are robust and in accordance with safer recruitment practice. This helps to make sure that suitable people are appointed to work with children.

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

The manager and staff complete regular health and safety checks, including fire safety checks. Children are helped to understand the procedure to follow in the event of a fire. There is a clear maintenance programme in place to contribute to making sure the home remains suitable for the children living there. Inspection report for children’s home: 1250915 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by a suitably experienced manager with the necessary skills. She holds a level 3 qualification and is currently working towards her level 5 in leadership and management, which she is due to complete in the next few months.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

She has high aspirations for all children, which is reflected in her practice and that of the staff team. The staff team benefits from the manager’s positive and supportive guidance. All staff spoken with say that this guidance has helped them to increase their knowledge and skills, as well as providing continuity of care and support to the children. The manager makes good use of effective internal and external monitoring systems to have good overview of the home, with detailed records showing the action taken to address any shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose is kept under review and updated as required. Staff work in accordance with this document to deliver the aims and objectives of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been some changes to the staff team. However, this has had minimal impact on the children living at the home. Children say they have good relationships with staff and have felt that the introduction of new staff has been a positive addition to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from comprehensive induction and training, as well as regular supervision, which is detailed and enables them to reflect on their practice. In addition to formal training, the manager and lead therapist for the home deliver ongoing informal training during staff meetings to further enhance staff skills and practice. This has included training on report writing, to ensure reports are clear and unambiguous.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirement made at the last inspection to develop a quality of care report has been addressed by the manager. The requirement in relation to children maintaining attendance at education has not been met in full and is therefore raised again. The recommendation in relation to staff completing training in recording and report writing has been met. Inspection report for children’s home: 1250915 6

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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(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the home has up-to- date placing authority care plans for children. 1 October 2023

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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

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children maintaining attendance in education.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 1 November 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1250915 7

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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 for children’s home: 1250915 8

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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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Alison O’Donnell

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Inspector

Sarah Oldham, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1250915 9 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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