Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It provides care for up to two children who experience social and emotional difficulties and may have experienced childhood trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since January 2024. A new manager has been appointed from within the organisation and started in post on 1 May 2025. They have applied 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 good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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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: 2724044 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/07/2024 Full Good 18/07/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the inspection, the inspector spoke with both children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has welcomed one child since the last inspection. Effective planning before their admission supported them in starting to build positive relationships with the staff team and the child who was already living at the home. As a result, both children experienced this move in a positive way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled and are making good progress in all aspects of their lives. Children are making exceptionally good progress with their education. Before moving into the home, one child had missed a lot of school. This child has now attended school every day and told the inspector how proud they are to have achieved 100% attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel proud of the progress they make while living at the home. Staff regularly celebrate children’s achievements. Rewards and incentives are consistently reviewed with children to ensure that they remain relevant and personal to each child’s individual needs. This motivates children to achieve their individual goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with staff and enjoy spending time with them and engaging in activities. Both children have planned to go on holiday with staff in the summer. There are warm and nurturing interactions between children and staff, resulting in children feeling valued, understood and cared for. However, there have been periods of instability in the staff team, leading to the use of many different agency staff members. One child expressed their negative views of agency staff with professionals during an education review meeting. The management team has reviewed these issues and has now recruited a full permanent staff team. As a result, there is a significant reduction in the use of agency staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff prioritise gathering children’s views. They work effectively with children when making decisions that affect their day-to-day lives. Children attend regular home meetings, have one-to-one sessions and spend time with the manager to express their views. Both children shared positive feedback about their experiences of living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well presented. Children’s bedrooms are personalised according to their individual interests. Both children have their own pets that they take responsibility for caring for. This further creates a very nurturing and warm home environment for children.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s risks and manage them well. Risk assessments, which provide guidance to staff, are thorough and updated regularly. Staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 4 show good insight and understand the protocols in place to keep children safe. Staff carry out regular educational work with them to explore and assess their understanding of the associated risks and carry out regular checks on their online activity. This supports children in developing ways to ensure their online safety.

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

Staff understand the actions to take if children go missing from the home. When they do, staff work effectively to locate them and follow individual plans correctly. Staff engage in direct work with children to facilitate reflection and learning when they return.

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

Staff spend quality time with children to build a clear understanding of their individual needs. This enables staff to identify the most effective ways to help children safely manage their feelings. As a result, physical intervention is minimal and is only used as a last resort to keep children safe from harm. Incidents are appropriately recorded by staff. Children are spoken with promptly to reflect on the experience and ensure that their rights are upheld. There is a strong culture of learning from incidents, and staff are encouraged to reflect and think about what can be done differently to reduce the need for children to be held.

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

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted. All children have their own reward charts that represent goals that are specific to their individual needs and interests. The effectiveness of the reward charts is regularly reviewed by staff with children to ensure that they are meaningful and support children to reach their full potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have developed very good working relationships with the children’s professional networks. They work well with social workers and teachers to ensure that each child’s needs are met. Feedback from professionals is consistently positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide a highly supportive environment for staff to learn. Staff feel supported and receive regular, good-quality supervision that provides them with an opportunity to reflect on their practice and identify areas for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate about creating a nurturing home environment so that children feel safe and able to confidently express their views. The manager is very reflective of the home’s strengths and areas for development and consistently considers the long-term needs of each child and how she can develop the skills of the staff team to provide children with opportunities to reflect on their future aspirations and reach their full potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers sometimes fail to promptly inform Ofsted about serious incidents relating to children’s welfare. During the inspection, the manager reflected on this issue and reviewed the existing system to ensure that incidents are reported consistently. Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 5 Most systems for monitoring children’s care are effective. However, the manager’s systems have failed to identify shortfalls, particularly in relation to independent person reports and information about safeguarding incidents. This also includes a missed opportunity to identify a significant delay in speaking with a staff member following their direct involvement in a physical restraint of a child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 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 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;

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 22 August 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and use the information obtained through independent and internal monitoring (including under Regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should strive to maintain a consistent staff team so that children’s attachments are not disrupted. This includes ensuring that the employment of temporary staff does not affect the continuity of care that children require. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1) Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 7  The registered person should ensure that all staff members have the chance to promptly discuss incidents involving the restraint of a child to make sure that their welfare needs are met and to provide an opportunity to reflect on any identified

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Recommendations

learning or support needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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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: 2724044 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 and 5 Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Charlotte Tippett, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2724044 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 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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