Children's home run by Thrive Residential Care Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2833469 1 Registered provider: Thrive Residential 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

This privately owned children’s home is registered to provide care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in May 2025. The registered manager’s post is currently vacant. A manager has recently been appointed, and recruitment checks are ongoing.

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Information about this children’s home

This inspection was brought forward due to specific concerns received by Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home and spoke to the inspector about their experiences of living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2833469 2

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls in leadership and management arrangements and care planning mean that children’s experiences have been varied.

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improvement to be good

Poor planning for children moving in to and out of the home have resulted in one child moving into the home in an unplanned manner and leaving shortly afterwards. The child did not have a positive experience of living in the home. As a result, their access to consistent care, education and support was disrupted, limiting their opportunities to make progress and achieve positive outcomes.

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improvement to be good

The child who lives in the home says they are happy living there. Staff continue to build positive relationships with them and offer consistent emotional support and opportunities to talk about how they are feeling. Staff speak about the child with genuine care and interest, showing a clear commitment to their progress and happiness.

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improvement to be good

The child’s experience of education is significantly limited. Although there has been some progress in identifying an appropriate education provider, it is unclear how staff are preparing the child to return to education. There is no consistent daily routine, and staff are not engaging the child in any structured learning. As a result, their access to education is restricted, which is impacting their ability to make progress and achieve positive outcomes.

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improvement to be good

The health needs of the child living in the home are being met effectively. They are registered with the appropriate health services and attend routine appointments. Staff encourage healthy habits and ensure that the child has access to support for both physical and emotional health. They are responsive to any concerns and take proactive steps to maintain the child’s overall well-being.

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improvement to be good

Staff enable the child to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. They facilitate and support family time and approach this sensitively, ensuring that arrangements are in place which reflect the child’s needs and promote positive relationships.

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improvement to be good

The child says that they feel safe in the home. Incidents of them going missing from the home have reduced. However, on one occasion, staff were unaware that the child had gone missing from the home in the early hours of the morning. Leaders took swift action Inspection report for children’s home: 2833469 3 to introduce strategies to address this and to ensure that monitoring systems were effective.

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improvement to be good

On one occasion, leaders and managers did not take sufficient action to obtain oversees employment checks for a member of staff employed since the home was registered. This does not ensure that only suitable individuals are employed to work in the home.

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improvement to be good

Key conversations are being used effectively to help the child explore and understand various issues that affect their health and well-being. Staff have tried to engage the child to understand the risks associated with going missing, healthy lifestyles and vaping. These sessions are contributing to the child’s growing awareness and ability to make safer choices.

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improvement to be good

Strategies implemented to reduce risks for the child are not always reviewed to measure their effectiveness. This is a missed opportunity to support the child to better understand risks online, in the community and in the home.

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improvement to be good

An investigation undertaken following concerns about the previous manager’s conduct has highlighted potential weaknesses in the safeguarding culture and accountability within the home. Leaders are now taking steps to strengthen internal processes and ensure that staff feel confident to raise concerns in the future and to ensure that any learning is shared with the team. The concerns did not directly impact the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager was recently dismissed following serious concerns about their conduct. The deputy manager and responsible individual are currently overseeing the management of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff supervision has not been carried out in a timely or consistent manner. This lack of regular oversight limits opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice and address emerging issues. Staff have raised concerns that the previous manager’s supervision records did not accurately reflect the discussions held. This undermines the integrity of the records and has compromised safeguarding within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Senior managers are supporting the onboarding of new permanent members of staff. The home has relied on a small number of core staff and staff from another home. There has been a high use of agency staff. Efforts to build a more consistent and cohesive workforce are underway but have yet to show a measurable impact.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff report feeling more positive about the current working environment. They describe improvements in team morale and communication which are contributing to a more settled and supportive culture within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are emerging signs of improved management oversight. Leaders have completed a thorough audit of the home and are beginning to address previous shortfalls that were Inspection report for children’s home: 2833469 4 identified, including a missed safeguarding notification. Steps are being taken to ensure that such omissions do not recur.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Professionals acknowledge that there have been challenges in the home but recognise recent improvements and say that the staff and deputy manager maintain good communication and offer consistent support to the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2833469 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— that staff—

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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

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that effective safeguarding measures are in place so that children are not able to leave the home at night without staff being aware. 6 November 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— 6 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2833469 6 helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— 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;

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 6 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2833469 7 In particular, the registered person must ensure that all pre- employment checks are completed prior to any staff member commencing employment.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children are supported to make measurable progress towards achieving their education 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

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 through the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(viii)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s daily routines encourage and promote their engagement in education. 6 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff are supervised in line with the organisation’s supervision policy. 06/11/2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2833469 8

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2833469 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Thrive Residential Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Guardian House, Capricorn Park, Blakewater Road, Blackburn BB1 5QR

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Inspector

Colin Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2833469 10 regulates 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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