Children's Home run by Oasis Adolescent Services Ltd in Oldham

Inspection report for children’s home: 1278753 1 Registered provider: Oasis Adolescent Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private organisation and provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2024.

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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

Date of last inspection: 13 February 2024

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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: 1278753 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2024 Full Good 10/01/2023 Full Outstanding 30/11/2021 Full Outstanding 12/02/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 1278753 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All three children living at the home spoke to the inspector. Three children have left the home since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are making good progress because of the positive relationships that they have with staff. Staff speak positively and fondly about the children and treat them with dignity and respect. One child was able to quickly identify their favourite member of staff and described them as ‘funny’ and ‘energetic’. A child who recently moved on from the home said, ‘They treated me like their own, they treated me like I was family.’ This child continues to have telephone contact with the staff team from time to time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are consulted regularly about the things that matter most to them, including their views around family time and maintaining relationships with other important people in their lives. The staff are proactive in developing positive working relationships with children’s friends and family members and are creative in planning activities to support them to have quality time together. This helps children to maintain relationships that are important and ensures that children remain safe during these times.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff spend time with children discussing a range of topics that are important to them, such as safety in the community, promoting healthy lifestyles, personal hygiene and maintaining standards of cleanliness around the home, promoting positive mental health and well-being and preparing for independence. These discussions help children to learn positive behaviours and encourage structure and routines that will prepare them for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children are receiving education in line with their specific plans. However, the placing local authority for one child has not made timely decisions around their education, which has led to a lack of engagement from the child. The manager has escalated concerns appropriately and has provided effective advocacy to represent the child’s views.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support from health professionals and have regular appointments to encourage progress and development. One child has been provided with visual aids, which assists them in processing information in a way that they understand and helps them to communicate their wishes and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s identity, faith and culture are positively promoted. One child is taking part in Friday prayers and is learning the teachings of the Koran. This is having a positive impact on his life and the choices he is making for himself.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to take part in a range of activities based on their individual interests. One child enjoyed going to a football stadium tour, other children attend football training, gym sessions, days out to the seaside, and all children visited the Inspection report for children’s home: 1278753 4 Christmas markets. The home benefits from a small allotment, which children help with. One member of staff is making plans for a vegetable patch to help and encourage children to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

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

Effective matching and care planning processes are in place to enable leaders and managers to make careful decisions about the suitability of a child’s placement. This assists the staff team to have a full understanding of a child’s risks from the outset of them coming to live at the home and enables the staff to manage children’s risks well.

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

There has been one missing-from-home incident since the last inspection. Staff followed the missing-from-home protocol to ensure that the child returned safely to the home. The child received a return home interview, arranged by the child’s placing local authority, to give the child the opportunity to speak to someone outside of the home.

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

Physical intervention has been used on two occasions since the last inspection. On both occasions, the intervention was proportionate and reasonable and ensured the safety of the child and others. On both occasions, the child and staff members involved had full debriefs, which were recorded and included management evaluation.

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

There has been one allegation against a member of staff. The manager took a collaborative approach to investigate the concerns with partner agencies in a timely manner.

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

Staff use positive relationships and appropriate boundaries to guide children’s behaviour. When children feel frustrated and upset, staff encourage them to talk about this to help them find an appropriate solution.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an ambitious manager who has a clear vision for the home. She is supported by an experienced deputy manager who has high expectations and has successfully supported the staff team through a period of change and transition.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is stable. Staff are consistent and resilient and pride themselves on effective communication with one another during handovers, on shift and during team meetings. Staff receive regular supervision, and annual appraisals detail learning and development goals for the year ahead. Staff say that they are happy working at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When new staff join the team, they are made to feel supported from the outset. One member of staff said, ‘I was made to feel like a valued member of the team, especially during my early days.’ This enables less-experienced staff to feel equal and valued and encourages learning from more-experienced staff who take a mentoring role. Inspection report for children’s home: 1278753 5 Staff receive regular training to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills to meet children’s needs. The manager is proactive at identifying and arranging additional training for the staff team. There are arrangements in place for training to take place with the speech and language therapist to enable staff to have a fuller understanding of one child’s communication needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Report writing and recording in some documents are not always clear and sometimes lack analysis. On one occasion, there was a lack of oversight from the staff team in relation to a visitor signing in and out of the home. A requirement has been raised in respect of this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager, deputy manager and staff team have developed positive working relationships with partner agencies and local community services. The manager ensures that staff are aware of local risks and puts measures in place to help minimise risks for children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal monitoring and auditing systems are in place. The manager is planning to make further changes to these systems to enable her to have a more streamlined approach to systems and to avoid duplication. These processes are in their infancy. Inspection report for children’s home: 1278753 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

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The provider must ensure that there is a record of all visitors to the home and to the children, including the names of the visitors and the reason for the visit. 6 March 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of clear recording. In particular, staff should read and sign all documents relating to children’s care plans, and meeting minutes should contain full and accurate recordings and be shared with relevant professionals. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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 for children’s home: 1278753 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oasis Adolescent Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hobart House, Oakwater Avenue, Cheadle SK8 3SR

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Inspector

Michelle Greenhalgh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1278753 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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