Children's home run by Hopscotch Care Limited in Lancaster

Inspection report for children's home: SC479632 1 SC479632 Registered provider: Hopscotch Care 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

The home is operated by a private company and provides care for up to five children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in August 2014. The manager registered in February 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home and were spoken to by the inspector.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC479632 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/04/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/06/2023 Full Good 14/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC479632 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s experience, progress, safety and care are compromised by poor safeguarding practice and ineffective leadership and management oversight. This means that children’s safety and progress are adversely affected and have left one child who has lived in the home for over one year feeling unimportant to the adults who care for them. The child said, ‘The house is empty. I am literally invisible. [Name of manager] knows nothing about me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The manager has not ensured that children’s risk-taking behaviours and vulnerabilities have been thoroughly considered. Additionally, there is a lack of consideration about how the staff team can meet the children’s needs alongside the children already living in the home. This has led to a child moving into the home in an unplanned way, creating more disruption to their lives and giving them a negative experience of living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not understand all the children’s individual needs. They do not have access to some of the children’s relevant plans. This includes placing authority care plans, individual health assessments and local authority review minutes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

All three children do not participate in formal education, employment or training. Staff do not have effective strategies in place to ensure that two of the children complete any educational activities. This does not support the children to reach their full educational potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child has not attended routine health appointments with the optician or dentist since coming to live in the home, nor have they received an annual health assessment. This leaves the child with potential unmet health needs and staff not knowing how best to support them to ensure that they receive the required intervention.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The combined failures to provide children with primary care mean that the children are not making sustained progress in relation to their education, health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The children said that staff help them to see their family and other significant people in their life. This means that the children are helped to maintain relationships with people who are important to them.

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

Children are not adequately protected due to the manager’s and staff’s safeguarding failings. The risks to children have significantly increased since the previous inspection. Records of safeguarding incidents do not demonstrate a proactive response to risk. Inspection report for children's home: SC479632 4 The manager has not notified Ofsted of all serious incidents, allegations or the start of a child protection enquiry. This does not allow the regulator to have sufficient oversight and scrutiny in a timely manner.

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

Risk management plans are not always followed. For example, one child requires a two- to-one staffing ratio. However, on occasions, there are insufficient staff to manage the child’s needs alongside the other two children’s needs effectively. This has resulted in the child being missing far away from home on numerous occasions. Staff do not actively search for children if they are missing from home late in the evening or during the night. This leaves the children vulnerable and at significant risk of harm.

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

Leaders and managers fail to recognise and understand significant risk of harm to children and do not adequately challenge the local authority or request a review of the children’s care when risks remain high. For example, one child was attacked by a gang with knives when missing from home and was later arrested by the police for carrying a bladed article. In a further example, the child set fire to paper in their bedroom, and no follow-up action was taken with external agencies such as the fire service, nor did the child hand in the lighter or matches. The lack of staff action left the child at risk of criminalisation and all involved at significant risk of harm.

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

Managers and staff have not routinely spoken to children about their exposure to risky situations. Additionally, children are not supported to understand how to keep themselves safe. This means children are unable to identify potential risks to themselves and the risks they pose to others.

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

On several occasions, staff have had to hold a child to keep them safe and from hurting their peer. Staff record the physical intervention. However, on three occasions, the manager has been involved in the incident and debriefed the staff along with another manager who was also involved on one occasion. This means that there is no independent scrutiny of the intervention used to ascertain if the holds were safe, necessary or proportionate.

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

Not all allegations are managed in line with safeguarding procedures. On occasions, allegations have been reported to senior leaders late and to the local authority designated officer (LADO). Furthermore, the manager and staff have remained working with the children until an outcome was received from the LADO. This left the children being cared for by adults who had not been assessed as suitable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a new registered manager in post. She has a childcare qualification and is working towards a residential management qualification. The manager has not ensured effective leadership and management of the home, although some staff say there have been improvements in recent months. Inspection report for children's home: SC479632 5 Significant shortfalls in the management oversight of incidents and poor staff practice leave children inadequately cared for. Leaders and the manager have not implemented effective monitoring systems to ensure that there are improvements in the quality of care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A high staff turnover and three full-time vacancies have led to a lack of consistent staff to meet the needs of the children. This has also contributed to low staff morale and children feeling they do not have good relationships with most of the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children and some staff say that there are communication and language barrier difficulties between some of the current staff team and children. This could mean that children and staff do not always feel listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff are receiving supervision. However, on occasions, this is not regular. Team meetings occur monthly; however, not all staff attend. This is a missed opportunity for the manager and staff to evaluate their practice and to identify any areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has ensured that all staff have received training to meet the needs of the children in their care. For example, safeguarding, child exploitation, substance misuse, anti-bullying, knife crime, fire safety and foetal alcohol syndrome disorder. However, despite the training, the manager and staff have failed to protect the children from significant harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Two recommendations raised at the last inspection have not been met and have now been raised as requirements. Inspection report for children's home: SC479632 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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)) 10 August 2025

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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— 10 August 2025 Inspection report for children's home: SC479632 7 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

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;

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

*The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. 10 August 2025 Inspection report for children's home: SC479632 8 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well-being;

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(c))

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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

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about 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)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that if managers are involved in any incidents or the holding of a child, further independent scrutiny of the incident and/or restraint should be conducted. 10 August 2025 Inspection report for children's home: SC479632 9 The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs; and

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Requirement Due date

the child is, or has been, persistently absent from the home without permission. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(e)(i)(ii)) 10 August 2025

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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—

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Requirement Due date

that staff— 10 August 2025 Inspection report for children's home: SC479632 10 help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment; and

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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)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; 10 August 2025 Inspection report for children's home: SC479632 11 an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all serious incidents, such as fire setting, allegations against staff and section 47 enquiries starting and ending, are reported to the regulator in a timely manner and that all relevant information and detail are included.

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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: SC479632 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hopscotch Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 19 Lancaster Road, Carnforth, Lancashire LA5 9LD

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Inspector

Julie Elder, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC479632 13 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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