Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report for children’s home: SC064836 1 SC064836 Registered provider: Meadows 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 owned and run by a private provider. It offers care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home. The inspector spoke with all three children during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 18 February 2025

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC064836 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/02/2025 Full Outstanding 13/03/2024 Full Good 15/11/2022 Full Good 15/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC064836 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff are highly skilled at building relationships with children. Staff know the children well and consistently demonstrate to them that they are valued. This helps children to form secure and trusting relationships with staff. As a result, children make excellent progress from their starting points. One child said of the staff at the home, ‘I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All children living at the home attend school or other educational provision. Staff are ambitious for children and encourage them to attend and do well. Staff support children to access the right education provision for them. When children experience obstacles to attending, the team works with education partners to explore alternative options. Staff consistently celebrate all achievements with children. This helps children to recognise the progress they have made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home is warm and welcoming and provides children with a calm environment to live in. At the time of the inspection, the home was undergoing some refurbishment. The manager has a detailed plan in place, which is devised in line with the wishes of the children. This helps children to feel they have a say in what their home is like.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff are responsive to the views and wishes of children. One child is due to move on from the home to live independently. The manager has advocated strongly with the child’s local authority about the child’s wish to stay close to the home. This helps children to feel empowered to influence the care they receive. One professional said, ‘Staff have an amazing understanding of [name of child]’s needs, they go the extra mile every single day.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff help children to access a range of positive experiences and explore hobbies and interests. This includes children being part of football teams, raising funds for local charities and taking part in community celebrations. Staff understand the importance of giving children a chance to make new and positive memories. These experiences help the children to be part of their community and develop social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Photographs of the children’s experiences are displayed throughout the home. Staff also support children to make beautiful memory books. This allows children to capture memories of their time at the home.

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

Children say they feel safe living at the home. Staff have an excellent understanding of children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities. Staff have supportive discussions with children that help the children to identify risks and keep themselves safe. Children’s risks have reduced as a result of living at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC064836 4 The home’s therapeutic approach is strengthened by the consistent presence of the therapy team in the home. Staff and children benefit from regular consultations and training, which enhance the team’s understanding and approach. One child helped to deliver training to staff about the best approaches to keeping the child safe. This means children can shape the care they are given and increases their confidence in the staff.

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

Children do not go missing from the home. The manager ensures that staff are well prepared to respond effectively should a child go missing and discusses different scenarios with staff to test their knowledge of how to respond. This helps staff to maintain a strong knowledge of how to keep children safe in the event of children going missing from the home.

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

Physical interventions are rare in the home. One incident was managed well by staff, and thorough management oversight identified a training opportunity to give staff further information on how to safely manage similar incidents in the future. This helps staff to learn from such incidents and develop their practice to keep children safe.

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

When serious incidents occur at the home, the manager follows the organisation’s procedures to identify and address any areas where practice falls short of professional expectations. Individual and team discussions take place to explore the impact these incidents may have on children’s safety. This helps staff to reflect and understand their responsibilities relating to the safe care of children.

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

Staff plan for children to develop independent living skills that are appropriate to their age. Children are encouraged to complete tasks independently and solve problems for themselves. This gives children a wide range of experiences to draw on, which helps them to navigate any issues they may encounter.

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

Staff rarely give children consequences for unwanted behaviour. Only one consequence has been given to a child since the last inspection. Management oversight clearly considers the reason for and the effectiveness of the consequence. Staff then have important discussions with children to help them to understand the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is run by an inspirational manager. He is supported in his role by an effective deputy, who shares his vision for the home. The ethos of the home is based on high expectations and standards of care. The manager has an excellent understanding of the strengths of the home and which areas he wants to develop and improve. His plans for further improvements are clearly defined and communicated with the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager drives a strong learning culture in the home. He is enthusiastic about continuous development and delegates training responsibilities to staff. This helps staff to develop in their own roles and helps them to gain new skills and knowledge from each Inspection report for children’s home: SC064836 5 other. Staff say they feel supported in their roles and encouraged to progress in their careers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Team meetings take place regularly and offer staff the opportunity to discuss and agree strategies. This helps to ensure that the care in the home is consistent and effective. Staff say they feel their views are listened to and valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager maintains strong relationships with professionals and stakeholders. He gathers feedback from professionals to continually improve the care given to children at the home. Feedback from professionals about the home and the proactive approach of the manager is consistently positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager’s quality assurance systems ensure that he has comprehensive oversight of the home and tracks the progress of children. However, one child’s care plan and risk assessment contained inconsistencies in how to safely care for the child. This limits the manager from being assured that staff have access to the right information to inform their practice. This shortfall has not had an impact on the care of children or the practice of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager’s positive impact goes beyond the home itself. Examples of good practice at the home have been shared to the provider’s other homes to improve the experiences of staff and children. A piece of reflection work related to anti-bullying practice helped staff to stabilise the placements of two children in another home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC064836 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should make best use of internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. This specifically relates to having effective oversight of children’s plans and risk assessments to ensure that the information they contain is accurate and gives staff clear guidance relating to the care and safety of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: SC064836 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale OL12 9EN

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Inspector

Mark Cryer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC064836 8 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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Inspector

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