Children's Home run by Orchard Adolescent Care Group in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2794973 1 Registered provider: Orchard Adolescent Care Group

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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 owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home currently does not have a registered manager. An interim manager is in post, who has started the process to register with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 11 February 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2794973 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2794973 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child receives care from well-informed staff who have high aspirations for them. The staff use a range of strategies and approaches to understand the child’s presenting needs and flexibly consider how they can best support these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of the child’s restrictive legal order and they implement it with care. Staff consistently implement the necessary actions required to keep the child safe. Managers and other professionals regularly review the restrictions, which creates opportunities for the order to be lifted at the earliest appropriate time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to participate in and contribute to the planning of healthy routines, including sitting together for dinner and going to bed at a reasonable time to prepare them for the following day. This gives the child a sense of belonging and predictable routine, which has made them feel more settled.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have meaningful engagement with the child, providing regular activities that are tailored to their interests. Additionally, staff hold discussions with the child about healthy and safe friendships, supporting them in forming positive peer networks outside the home and enriching their social experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager understands the barriers to education for the child. The manager and staff have worked with the child, placing authorities and virtual schools to address the barriers and look at more suitable options for education that meet the child’s individual needs. Due to the manager’s advocacy, the child is now in an appropriate educational setting. The manager and staff have regular communication with the child’s school. As a result, the child is beginning to settle into their new routine.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that they create and capture memories for the child. The child and staff take part in activities, and photographs capture the shared times together so that the child can look back at their time living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s views are respected, and they are listened to by the manager and staff. The child was observed talking confidently to staff and sharing their views and opinions. The child appeared at ease moving through the home and interacting with managers and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child spends time with people who are important to them. This includes having visits in convenient locations or taking the child to spend time with their family. The child receives creative support to build and maintain friendships. Inspection report for children’s home: 2794973 4

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

Staff have a good understanding of the child’s risks and vulnerabilities. There are clear, updated risk management plans in place, which are individual to the child. Risk management and care plans provide the staff with guidance on how to reduce and minimise risks and how to support the child to meet their needs.

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

Staff are caring and attentive to the child’s needs and have a good understanding of the child’s behaviour. When the child becomes upset or distressed, staff use a variety of strategies to help them with their emotions, such as reassurance and distraction. As a result, incidents are well managed, and the use of holds has reduced.

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

Staff demonstrate that they understand their roles and responsibilities regarding safeguarding practices and know how to respond to safeguarding concerns. Following incidents, the staff reflect on and identify any learning to implement change. However, some incident records lack clarity around which staff members provided and participated in the debrief.

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

The child has access to an online games console. Staff closely check to make sure that the child is kept safe when online and have had ongoing discussions to help the child understand their worries about being online.

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

Safer recruitment practice is not yet robust. Gaps in employment and confirming the reasons why some staff have left roles with children or vulnerable adults have not been explored. This does not ensure that children are only cared for by staff who are suitable to work in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager recognises that a caring approach to supporting the child’s needs is yet to be fully embedded. Staff have demonstrated elements of good care practice. As a result, there is a firm basis on which to make improvements in the quality of care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager ensures that staff have training that is relevant to the child’s specific needs. However, they have not ensured that records of staff’s skills are up to date or that records are maintained, which impact staff’s ability to meet the child’s needs effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff say that they are well supported by the manager, who they feel is supportive and approachable. They feel that the changes he has brought are positive and have had an impact on the care the child receives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Professional feedback is positive, both in response to the child’s care and in respect of the management and staff support across the home. One professional said that the new manager was ‘like a breath of fresh air’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2794973 5 The statement of purpose has not been updated or provided to the regulator with the details of new staffing in the home, including the new manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager recognises that staff have development needs, and they are working on helping them to strengthen their knowledge, skills and practice. However, they also recognise that staff need clear guidance, which has been lacking. Interim managers have devised a plan to stabilise the home. Changes are under way, but they are in their infancy. Inspection report for children’s home: 2794973 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

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—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff are included on the training matrix. 17 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements.

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; 17 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2794973 7 the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The provider must ensure that gaps in employment and reasons for leaving previous roles are scrutinised and evidence of this is recorded.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b)) 17 July 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered manager should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. This relates to ensuring that the names of the person performing and receiving a debrief on incident records are clearly captured. (‘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: 2794973 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Orchard Adolescent Care Group

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Inspector

Sally Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2794973 9 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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Inspector

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