Children's Home run by ROC Northwest Limited in Wigan

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1264537 1 Registered provider: ROC Northwest

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is one of several homes owned and managed by a private company. It provides care for up to six children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There are currently four children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is yet to submit their application to register with Ofsted.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit was carried out due to an increase in notifications about serious incidents in the home.

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This monitoring visit

Staff do not manage children’s behaviour consistently or effectively. Staff are unable to de-escalate situations, which has led to them relying on calling the police to help them manage children’s behaviour in the home. Leaders and managers have not equipped staff with detailed plans and guidance to enable them to take appropriate action to keep children safe.

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This monitoring visit

Staff do not take appropriate measures to ensure the security of the home. Children have been able to gain access to keys, allowing them to enter and manoeuvre the car belonging to the home. This has placed children and others at significant risk of harm and danger.

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This monitoring visit

When children have been physically held, the quality of recording the intervention is poor and the method of the hold used by staff is not clear. Debriefs with children Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1264537 2 have not taken place and so do not demonstrate any follow-up work completed with children to help them understand why they have been held.

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This monitoring visit

When children have been subject to bullying, staff have not taken adequate action to safeguard all children living in the home. This has left children feeling scared and vulnerable. Additionally, children’s education and daily routines are impacted when serious incidents in the home have taken place. This is due to the duration of the incident, often occurring at nighttime, and the amount of disruption caused to the home.

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This monitoring visit

Staff are not up to date with their training, specifically missing from home, substance misuse and behaviour management training. Staff’s hours are recorded on a rota and within the home’s logbook. However, these records are not clear, and several versions were found. Similarly, the hours recorded in the visitor’s book did not hold an accurate recording of who has visited the home, what time they entered the premises and what time they left.

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This monitoring visit

The home environment is poor. Damage to the home is not repaired quickly. Several repairs are required to make the home safe for children to reside in. The home environment is lacking personalisation, and general improvement in all areas of the home is required.

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This monitoring visit

Two compliance notices were issued to the provider following this visit. They have been issued under Regulation 12 (the protection of children standard) and Regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard). Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1264537 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/05/2024 Full Good 31/07/2023 Full Good 11/10/2022 Full Good 02/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1264537 4

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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 with 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded; 30 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1264537 5 that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that children do not gain access to the keys to the vehicle in the home.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that staff practice is effective and consistent when managing challenging situations to prevent negative impact on children’s lives, including their sleeping routines and their attendance in school following significant events.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that risk management plans for each child are based on individual children’s circumstances and contain clear strategies that set out what action staff should take to manage the risks.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that staff undertake training that is relevant to the safeguarding of children and their individual needs. Specifically, managers must ensure that staff undertake training for behaviour management, substance misuse, going missing from home and exploitation.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that the home is safe for children to live in and that all repairs are carried out immediately to prevent further harm.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 30 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1264537 6 lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; and

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that staff work collaboratively to provide consistent care that is in line with children’s individual needs and their agreed plans.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; 30 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1264537 7 communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that staff are fully trained in missing from home, substance misuse and behaviour management to be able to manage situations confidently and to ensure the safety of children and others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(vi)(ix)(x)(xi)(xiii))

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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— 30 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1264537 8 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(x))

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 30 March 2025

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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. 30 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1264537 9 The registered person must—

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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 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.

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1264537 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspectors

Michelle Greenhalgh, Social Care Inspector Sarah Gilbert, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1264537 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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