Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2775268 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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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. The home and manager registered with Ofsted in August 2024 and provides care for up to one child with social and emotional difficulties. Only one child has lived in the home since it was registered.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2775268 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home. The move was well planned by the manager, with input from key professionals to ensure that identified risks could be managed and that the home could meet the child’s needs. The child spoke to the inspector about the move to the home and reported a positive experience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a cosy and comfortable environment. The child’s bedroom is personalised, and they are consulted regularly on how the home looks and what changes they may like. This helps to increase the child’s feeling of comfort.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide good therapeutic care to the child. This is further supported by a therapeutic team that provides support to the child and staff. This has helped the child build positive and trusting relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers have collaborated well with professionals to ensure that an appropriate educational provision was secured for the child. The child had not been in education for a significant period, and managers were instrumental in securing this. Staff provided good educational support while this provision was being identified and promoted a ‘school day’ to support their move back to school when the time came. This has ensured that the child has had a positive move and is able to engage with their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff meet the child’s health needs well. They secured appropriate health appointments that were overdue for the child, which has ensured they remain healthy. Staff have also supported the child to develop better self-care skills, which is promoting their physical health and independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers strongly advocate for the child to see people who are important to them. Staff have ensured that the child spends time with their family consistently and safely, which supports the child with their identity. Feedback from the child highlighted this as a positive of living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s voice is gathered in multiple ways and informs their care and support plan. Staff work hard to ensure that their wishes and feelings are gained consistently, and this further supports the child to sustain their positive relationships with staff.

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

The registered manager understands the identified risks for the child and produces a robust risk assessment and support plans, which are reviewed regularly to ensure that the child receives safe care. The child is supported to be part of their care and safety planning to ensure that it meets their needs. As a result, they feel involved Inspection report for children’s home: 2775268 3 and valued and have a clear understanding of their care and progress that they are making.

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

Staff provide good, consistent boundaries that are informed by therapeutic practice. This supports the child with feelings of security and enables them to trust staff.

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

There has been one episode when a child has gone missing from the home. When staff became aware of this, they followed the appropriate protocols and ensured that the child was safe and supported. The registered manager provided good oversight and put preventative and safety plans in place to mitigate the risks. The child was consulted in these plans to increase their understanding of the risks and safety.

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

Staff have a good understanding about children who harm themselves. They use therapeutic strategies consistently that explore incidents to better understand a child’s emotional well-being.

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

The manager has good working relationships with professionals. He works well with the wider professional network to creatively lessen restrictions on the child’s liberty safely and supports the child to make safer decisions. This is positive for the child and has reduced incidents, which means that the child has become safer.

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

Most staff are confident in the safeguarding policies and procedures within the home to support children being safe. However, some staff demonstrated a lack of confidence in this area, which could potentially have significant consequences. The manager is aware of this and will support staff in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is ambitious and committed to children and has high expectations for staff and how they can support children to achieve and make progress. He is well supported by the responsible individual, who shares the same ethos and values. This supports good and consistent care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have a prominent level of oversight and good monitoring systems. These provide opportunities for learning and development across all areas for staff to better the care that they provide.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about working in the home and feel well supported by the management team. Training and development of staff are a focus for managers, and staff have shared positive feedback. Staff also have regular supervision meetings that are reflective and ensure consistent and good care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend regular team meetings and meetings about the child that are further enhanced by the regular attendance by the therapeutic team. Staff speak highly about these meetings to further enhance their practice to therapeutically care for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2775268 4 The manager has a sound understanding of the home’s development needs and provides clarity on how they will be achieving these. Managers ensure that the child’s views are gathered and included in these plans to continue to provide good experiences and progress for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2775268 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(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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 roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to staff not confidently knowing safeguarding procedures within the home. 20 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 careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, records of direct work with children should be clear to help understand the benefit of this work, and records should be consistent in style. (‘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: 2775268 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Esland Ltd, Suite 1 & 5 , Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Hayley Booth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2775268 7 and inspects 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 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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