Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 1 SC361811 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

This home is privately operated. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home. Both children spoke with the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2020.

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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: SC361811 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/06/2024 Full Good 08/08/2023 Full Good 12/07/2022 Full Good 08/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made good progress since moving into the home. This is due to the developing relationships that they have with staff. Staff take time to get to know the children, their interests and how best to support them. They prioritise building these relationships at the child’s pace. The care for each child is individualised to their needs, understanding and age. Staff easily adapt their practice to the needs of each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is an emphasis on education attainment from the staff. Staff work with the children and education professionals to support the children to attend their provisions. The in-house therapist and staff have provided school with proven strategies to support children’s behavioural needs. This promotes consistency for the children, which contributes to them feeling understood and safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Staff encourage children to attend all routine appointments and, when necessary, support them to access specialist services. When there have been issues with children’s health or attending appointments, staff use activities and educational conversations to help them understand the importance of good health. There is an emphasis on healthy sleep routines and staff are creative in sourcing external professional guidance to inform best routines for the children. This has positively impacted on children’s sleeping patterns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Therapeutic care is an essential aspect in the progress made by the children. The manager and staff work closely with the in-house therapist to ensure a joined-up approach to applying the children’s therapeutic programmes. The language used by staff is therapeutic in nature. Staff also attend monthly consultations with the therapist to further embed their understanding and knowledge of the therapeutic needs of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves from the home are well supported by staff. Staff focus on the children having positive endings and provide them with meaningful personal gifts to remember their time together. Staff maintain relationships with the children when they leave, ensuring that they know that, although they are gone, they will not be forgotten.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is indistinguishable from others around it. It provides a warm, cosy and child- friendly environment. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their individual taste, and areas of the home have been dedicated to the specific theatrical interest of one child. The garden is large, with an abundant number of toys to keep the children entertained and happy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care plans are not written in child-friendly language or at the level of understanding for the specific child. The language used is not relatable or helpful to the child. Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 4

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

There has been a reduction in incidents at the home. When they have occurred, they are managed effectively by competent staff. Staff are skilled in the identified individual de- escalation techniques for each child to prevent incidents increasing in severity.

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

Children have made considerable progress managing their emotions. The creative ways staff use to help children identify how they are feeling have resulted in children now being able to label their emotions and ask for support when required. This has helped children to build resilience and develop better ways of coping.

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

Physical interventions have dramatically decreased since the last inspection. Physical intervention is only used when necessary and as a last resort to promote the safety of children and others. Conversations with children following incidents are warm and informative. Staff go at the child’s pace to find out why the incident happened, what could have been done differently and to check that they are ok. This information helps to identify the strategies to prevent future incidents occurring.

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

Missing-from-home episodes are managed well. Staff are tenacious in locating children, staying in contact and working with family and friends to locate children and make sure they are safe. Children are welcomed warmly back to the home following missing episodes. Return interviews always happen and the manager responds appropriately to each episode, identifies learning and how to work with children to prevent recurrence.

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

Allegations and complaints are managed exceptionally well in line with protocols, with clear oversight by the manager. All safeguarding and local authority professionals are consulted and updated. Children are updated appropriately on outcomes to ensure that they understand that their voice is heard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate and devoted to the staff and children at the home. She is child focused and committed to delivering and maintaining good standards of care. She promotes a clear ethos that is caring and supportive and that centres on the best interests of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and leaders are strong advocates for ensuring that children’s care plans and progress are right and benefit each child. They challenge when necessary to try get the best outcome for the children. They work with outside agencies and professionals to ensure that the voice of the child is heard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report feeling well managed and supported. Morale at the home is high, and there is a positive and energetic approach from staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is held in high regard by professionals. She nurtures and maintains a strong positive working relationship with all professionals. Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 5 Supervisions and appraisals are effective. They focus on each member of staff’s development, areas for improvement and include feedback from the children, professionals and management. This creates a personalised touch. They are child centred and provide evidence of how the manager and leaders champion career progression for their staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The monitoring and review systems do not ensure that the manager has effective oversight of the home. Important documents have conflicting information, are incomplete or not on file. Established staff know the children well, but inaccurate records do not help unfamiliar staff to fully understand the individual needs of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are encouraged by staff to see the home’s records as ‘living documents’ supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. The information that children read should be meaningful and relatable to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records are kept up to date. In particular, the registered person should have regular oversight of children’s case records through an effective monitoring system so that appropriate changes can be made when required. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: SC361811 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

Deirdre Silkstone, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC361811 8 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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Inspector

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