Children's Home run by Oaktree Childcare Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2740375 1 Registered provider: Rubik Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in August 2023 and is operated by a private provider. It offers care for up to three children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2025.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2740375 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/01/2024 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2740375 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child spoke with the inspector about what it is like for them living at the home and the experiences they have enjoyed so far.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves into the home are supported well. The child moved into the home with limited notice. Despite this, the manager met with the child before they moved in to ease their worries and make the transition as smooth as possible.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s education is promoted. They enjoy attending school and are well supported by the staff. In consultation with the child, staff also facilitated the child’s learning activities during the school holidays to help maintain structure and routine.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child in maintaining relationships with people who are important to them. They actively encourage and promote positive relationships with family members.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the child to participate in various activities, such as ice skating, trampolining and spending days out in the countryside.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Not all the required documents from the placing authority are in place to inform the child’s care. The manager is not aware that the child does not have an up-to-date care plan and has not taken action to request it or escalate requests for other plans, such as the child’s personal education plan.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is maintained to a good standard, and the child receives support to personalise their bedroom.

p.3

improvement to be good

One professional shared positive feedback about the child’s relationships with the manager and staff. The child expresses their views, wishes and feelings to staff, and they feel comfortable talking with them when they are worried or upset. This demonstrates that the child is beginning to feel safe and secure at the home.

p.3

improvement to be good

Behaviour management is effective, and staff understand and implement the child’s behaviour support plan. It has not been necessary to hold the child to keep them safe, and the staff have successfully prevented any incidents of the child going missing from home.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the child’s risks and vulnerabilities, including the specifics of their deprivation of liberty order and how to keep them safe. However, the child’s risk plans do not contain all known risks or provide clear guidance to support staff in responding effectively to concerns. Inspection report for children’s home: 2740375 4 Allegations are not investigated in line with the provider’s policies and procedures. Leaders and managers do not consistently keep records that clearly demonstrate the steps taken during investigations or the outcomes achieved.

p.3

improvement to be good

Systems for sharing information are not effective. There have been delays in reporting allegations to the relevant authorities. Furthermore, Ofsted is not consistently made aware of all allegations as required in regulation. This limits the regulator’s oversight.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified manager who has aspirations for the child, the staff and her own professional development. She is working hard to instil a culture of personal and professional development in the staff team.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development and acknowledges the shortfalls identified in monitoring and oversight. Leaders and managers have begun introducing monitoring tools to support oversight; however, they are not yet embedded in practice.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they feel supported and are regularly supervised. Supervision sessions are well recorded and demonstrate that they are a protected time to support reflection and professional development for staff.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are held regularly and provide the staff with an opportunity to engage in reflective discussions, share learning and understand the effect of trauma on the child’s behaviour.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The locality risk assessment has not been updated following changes in the immediate area and the opening of holiday homes. The manager took action to update the plan during the inspection.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff have received training specific to the child’s identified needs. As a result, the child is cared for by knowledgeable and confident staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2740375 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

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;

p.5

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

p.5

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

p.5

Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

p.5

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;

p.5

Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

p.5

Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the organisation’s safeguarding policies are known, understood and followed at all times. 2 January 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2740375 6 Furthermore, the registered person must ensure that children’s risk plans detail all known risks and vulnerabilities and include clear actions for staff to follow to keep children safe.

p.5

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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;

p.6

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

p.6

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(a)(f)(g)(h))

p.6

Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care delivered to the children. 2 January 2026

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

p.6

Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

p.6

Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that each child has all relevant statutory documents in place. 2 January 2026

p.6

Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

p.6

Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; 2 January 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2740375 7 seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

p.6

Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c))

p.7

Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that requests for documents that inform children’s care, such as care plans and personal education plans, are escalated to the placing authority.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.7

Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 2 January 2026

p.7

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the location risk assessment is regularly updated to include all known risks in the area so that children are safeguarded effectively. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 3.9)

p.7

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: 2740375 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ground Floor, Seneca House, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool FY4 2FF

p.8

Inspector

Kelly McCurdy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2740375 9 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9