Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report for children’s home: SC372117 1 SC372117 Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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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 registered with Ofsted in April 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were three children living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/07/2023 Full Outstanding 10/05/2022 Full Good 01/11/2021 Full Good 15/04/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC372117 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children flourish in this nurturing, positive environment. This is because staff place a relentless focus on children and what makes them unique. This results in bespoke and highly individualised care which leads to significant improvements to children’s physical and emotional health, educational outcomes and relationships with others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children achieve exceptional and continued progress because of the actions of the skilled and committed group of staff. They know children extremely well and value and nurture each child. They promote children’s self-esteem, recognise and celebrate their talents and listen to what they have to say. This helps children to develop secure attachments to staff, gain a positive outlook on life and be aspirational for the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children experience considerable improvement in their emotional health because staff implement the home’s model of therapeutic parenting with great success. Together with support from the in-house psychology service, this has a marked impact on helping to repair earlier emotional harm, as well as promoting resilience. Staff listen to children’s worries or problems they may have, help them to work out how to resolve such issues and escalate concerns when necessary.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s health needs are met, with healthy diets and attendance at routine health appointments. Specific health needs are managed particularly well, with focused intervention that guides children towards making the right decisions to improve their health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Overall, children’s educational progress and outcomes are excellent, given their starting points. The majority of children enjoy the academic and social rewards that attending school can bring. They are motivated to attend school and make plans for their further education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

When children are not fully integrated into education, alternative provision is provided through one-to-one tutoring, along with additional learning opportunities and consistent support and encouragement from staff. This has resulted in an improvement in children’s learning and engagement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have a meaningful say in how they are looked after. They have frequent opportunities to express their preferences and are given an appropriate degree of freedom and choice in relation to the day-to-day arrangements for their care. Children enjoy holidays at home and abroad, and have recently chosen which members of staff they wish to accompany them on holiday. They may do their own thing at weekends but often go out with staff. They stay in bed late, offer to help with the shopping and cook meals for each other. They try their best to keep their rooms tidy and their pets in order. Inspection report for children’s home: SC372117 4 Promoting children’s independence in decision-making and coping with the daily practicalities of life is an area of strength of the home. According to their specific needs and levels of understanding, children are also supported to take responsibility for managing aspects of their lives in a way that feels safe and comfortable for them, such

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

as managing their own medication. This enables children to develop confidence in these matters, ready for when they move on.

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

A strong safeguarding culture protects children from harm. The manager and staff place significant importance on the relationships they build with children and recognise this as an important protective factor.

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

Children are increasingly safe at the home because safeguarding is understood in its broadest sense; not only in protecting children from significant harm but in the day-to- day challenges of life. Staff are constantly alert to the way in which exposure to risk may change as children seek more independence. They adjust their management of risk accordingly, remaining flexible and adaptable when situations change.

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

As children grow and develop, they are supported to understand the consequences of their decisions and behaviours, and how they can manage these risks. The highly positive impact of this approach is evident in the way that, since the last inspection, there have been only two missing-from-home incidents, one consequence, no behavioural management issues and no other major incidents.

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

The manager has recognised that staff do not often get the chance to manage missing- from-home or serious behavioural incidents because these rarely occur. To address this, she arranges for staff to occasionally work shifts in other homes and introduces case scenarios into staff supervision. This ensures that staff remain confident and skilled at dealing with such matters should they arise.

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

Children develop relationships outside of the home but also do things together. Some play the piano and drums, gaining or losing interest but being encouraged all the same. Within clear safeguarding parameters, risks are tolerated. When children make mistakes or poor decisions, they are helped to learn from this without blame or consequence.

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

Children live in a home that is calm and nurturing. Positive behaviour and relationships are reinforced, praised and encouraged. As a result, children develop understanding and empathy towards each other. Children offer friendship, help each other out and care for each other.

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

Recruitment of new staff is thorough and ensures that all necessary background checks have been carried out. This means that only adults who have been appropriately vetted are able to work with children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC372117 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is confident, tenacious and ambitious in her desire for children to make exceptional progress at the home. She achieves this by creating the right environment for staff to work effectively and ensures that the home’s therapeutic and safeguarding ethos is fully embedded in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager sets clear standards and expectations. She proactively advocates for children to ensure that other professionals play their role in delivering the high-quality support that children deserve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is determined that children are afforded the chance, despite their often- challenging backgrounds, to live their lives like any other child in the community. This is an outstanding feature of the home and, from a child’s point of view, with the desire to fit in and identify with their peers, perhaps the most important.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Once they move into the home, children stay put, often for several years. They are looked after by a core group of staff who have also worked at the home a long time. This means that children experience stability of placement and gain a sense of permanence, attachment and belonging. They clearly recognise this as their home in the truest sense of the word.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

This is all made possible because the manager ensures that staff practice replicates the elements of good parenting, and that the atmosphere of the home is one of a warm, nurturing environment. This is evident not only in the behaviour of staff but is also reflected in the high-quality fixtures and fittings and the continual maintenance of the property. This demonstrates to children that they are valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager presides over a cohesive staff team who not only know each individual child very well, but who are well equipped to deliver the bespoke and nuanced care that the home rightly prides itself on. The training and input that staff receive on therapeutic parenting is excellent, tailored not only to the learning requirements of the staff group but to the needs of each individual child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Through highly effective and rigorous monitoring, the manager makes certain that all the structures and processes for safeguarding children and promoting their well-being are in place. These elements function well in practice and contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children. Inspection report for 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 for 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: Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale, Lancashire OL12 9EN

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Inspector

Stella Henderson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC372117 8 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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