Children's Home run by Hopscotch Care Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 1 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

This home is run by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in August 2023. The manager is currently on maternity leave and there is an interim manager in place. They have made an application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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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.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/03/2025 Full Good 20/02/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s experiences of living in the home are significantly impacted by poor safeguarding practices and ineffective leadership and management arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not consider children’s specific vulnerabilities before they move into the home. The shortfalls in robust assessment have led to serious safeguarding incidents occurring.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children have relationships with the staff who care for them. Children can identify trusted adults who they can talk to about their wishes and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s basic health needs are met. Staff try to encourage children to attend specialist health appointments. However, this is not always effective. This could impact negatively on children’s overall emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Recent incidents have had a negative impact on children overall well-being. Staff respond and take sufficient action to ensure that children’s immediate needs are addressed in a timely way. Staff talk to children about their feelings. This helps children to feel listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child has made some progress in education. This led to them passing functional skills tests. Children complete online courses in line with their individual interests. Staff look for ways to encourage children to learn in their day-to-day activities. Staff use incentives and provide positive feedback to children about their engagement with educational activities. However, the gaps in children’s education could impact negatively on future opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children engage positively in activities with staff in line with their interests. A child who recently moved to the home has tried out new activities, such as fishing, darts and playing pool.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff support children to maintain and develop relationships with people who are important to them. Staff work with family members to ensure that they are involved in their children’s lives.

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

Since the last inspection, serious safeguarding incidents have occurred between children. Leaders and managers review these incidents and take some action to keep children safe. Staff respond to safeguarding incidents and take action to address risk. Staff work with relevant safeguarding professionals. However, staff practice is reactive rather than proactive. Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 4 Leaders and managers’ review of safeguarding incidents does not identify any shortfalls in staff practices. This impacts on leaders and managers improving staff safeguarding practices to reduce the risk of incidents reoccurring.

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

Children’s risk assessments do not include clear strategies for staff to follow to reduce the risk of harm to children. This does not support staff in practice.

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

Staff do not consistently support children with a level of staffing in line with their needs. This potentially leaves children vulnerable to harm.

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

Staff talk to children about incidents. Records are detailed and child centred. However, they do not demonstrate that staff show professional curiosity to help them better understand the risks that children may be exposed to.

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

Leaders and managers do not notify all serious incidents to Ofsted in line with regulation. This impacts on the regulator’s monitoring to ensure that staff practices are safe.

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

Processes regarding safeguarding incidents have improved. For example, in relation to incidents when children are missing from home. Processes have improved following suggestions from the independent visitor. Records include the actions staff take to find children when they are missing from home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager is currently off work. An interim manager is managing the home. He has applied to register with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and manager’s oversight of incidents is inconsistent. Leaders and the manager do not review the effectiveness of staff practice, identify any follow-up work needed or consider patterns, trends or opportunities for learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

External monitoring reports do not include feedback from professionals working with staff. This impacts on the overall review of the home. However, the provider has taken action to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager escalates concerns with placing authorities. This is regarding safeguarding incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all staff attend team meetings. Records do not demonstrate that staff reflect on their caring practices. This is a missed opportunity to discuss any improvements to the quality of care staff provide for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff supervision is not good quality. This is another missed opportunity for staff to talk about their practice to identify any improvements. Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 5 Staff spoken to say that they are well supported in their roles. Some staff said that managers are present and approachable. Staff who are new to the home describe how they are supported to develop relationships with children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 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)) 26 October 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— 26 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 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

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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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; Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 8 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;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 14 (1)(a)(2)(ii)) 24 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 9

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision and engage in team meetings which allow them to reflect individually and as a team on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2742263 10

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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

Andrea Foreman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 11 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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