Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2560639 1 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

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home, and both children were spoken with.

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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

Date of last inspection: 6 November 2024

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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: 2560639 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/11/2024 Full Good 25/07/2023 Full Good 08/06/2022 Full Good 29/06/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2560639 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children build a sense of community and belonging in the home. Staff encourage children to take small, realistic steps towards socialising and building their confidence. Children regularly join in with community and in-house activities, including volunteering, football and charity events.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend education. Children have achieved, or are working towards, their GCSEs. Staff keep close links with schools and celebrate children’s progress and achievements regularly and often.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide consistent support and prepare children well for moving on from the home. When children move on, staff maintain professional boundaries while finding appropriate ways to stay in touch with children. In addition, staff ensure that children have continuing support networks into adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive regular health check-ups from the optician, dentist and GP when required. Children receive emotional support through specialist in-house staff, which is led by the children. However, staff felt they are not always able to offer children as much variation of nutritionally balanced meals as children have requested within budget. Children are sometimes offered processed food when they would prefer to eat healthier food.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The interior decoration of the home and some general maintenance showed noticeable signs of wear and tear. Aspects of the home such as burnt-out lightbulbs, marked walls and worn surfaces are not always attended to in a timely way, and this detracts from the otherwise homely environment.

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

Children feel safe living at the home. Staff support children to understand their vulnerabilities through constructive discussions and encourage them to make choices that keep themselves safer. This helps children to develop and take appropriate risks reflective of their age.

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

Staff are confident and knowledgeable about safeguarding procedures. They understand the individual risks for each child and take prompt, appropriate action when concerns arise. Staff also know how to manage allegations in a safe way.

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

Staff take a consistent and balanced approach to behaviour management. Consequences and restorative work help children reflect on their actions and learn from experience. Staff also respect children’s views about their behaviour and support them to express these safely. Inspection report for children’s home: 2560639 4 Physical intervention is avoided wherever possible. Staff use proactive and environmental strategies to reduce risks and prevent situations from escalating. When physical intervention is used, it is proportionate, and all holds are recorded in full, and any learning is shared among the staff.

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

The manager reviews incidents thoroughly. Staff and children involved are offered the chance to share their views, and investigations are thorough. Appropriate action is taken when needed, including when this relates to staff practice.

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

Staff have a strong understanding of children’s individual risks. However, some written risk assessments are not updated accurately. This creates gaps between daily practice and recorded information.

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

Staff do not always review the use of children’s door alarms in a timely way. For one child, the rationale for the use of their door alarm had not been assessed in over a month. This could lead to unnecessary monitoring of children’s movements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager supports staff well, both personally and professionally. Staff speak highly of the manager and say they receive effective supervision sessions and ongoing learning opportunities that strengthen their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work collaboratively and maintain a strong sense of shared purpose. Children are at the centre of decision-making, and staff capture children’s voices and preferences. Staff meetings are constructive and help staff develop individually and collectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff promote diversity and inclusion in the home. Children enjoy learning about topics such as Black History Month. Children carry out internet research, so they learn more about individual topics and are better informed. Children learn about difference, respect and relationships through discussions and activities that are engaging and informative. Staff take a proactive approach to ensuring that everyone feels valued and understood.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works positively with professionals who describe partnership working with the home as ‘positive and effective’. Professionals value this collaborative approach. They said that joint planning and problem-solving leads to good outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children moving into the home have their needs thoroughly assessed. The manager analyses all risks to ensure safe and suitable matching, and staff take a realistic and measured approach to how they can meet each child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has monitoring systems that provide effective oversight of daily practice and children’s records. However, reviews do not always capture recent changes or identify opportunities for development, such as how learning from discussions with children could shape practice. The manager recognises this as an area for further improvement. Inspection report for children’s home: 2560639 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the staff meet children’s basic day-to-day needs and provides the correct physical necessities. In particular, staff should ensure the environment is clean, that there is ample variety and nutritionally balanced food available and this is reviewed regularly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should ensure that the use of door alarms is routinely assessed on an individual basis and kept under regular review to ensure that this is proportionate and a reflection of children’s risks and needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and any arrangements in place to protect them and ensure children’s documents include up to date details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed

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Recommendations

risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: 2560639 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Vikki Thwaites, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2560639 7 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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