Children's home run by Parkwood Care South Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2835783 1 Registered provider: Parkwood Care South 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 owned by a provider who has other homes in the north west of England.

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Information about this children’s home

It provides care for up to three children with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager and the home have been registered with Ofsted since May 2025. This is the first inspection of the home since its registration.

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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: first inspection

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2835783 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Inspection report for children’s home: 2835783 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well looked after by a passionate and committed staff team. The staff love the children and care deeply about their well-being. Relationships are warm and thoughtful, combining unconditional positive regard and an understanding of the children’s needs with jokes and laughter.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are comfortable and confident in the environment. Their views are central to the planning of each day and for the running of the home in general. Observations showed the current child approaching any of the staff in the home to discuss what was on their mind or to show off their new clothes. The child describes the house as their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know that the adults hold them in mind, even when they are not at work. For example, staff brought them small gifts from their holidays, which the current child enjoyed showing to the other staff in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children go to school as planned and staff are effective in supporting them to overcome their barriers to learning. Daily plans are thoughtful in how to supplement education for those who are on part-time timetables. Additional activities include DJ mixing, golf and cinema trips, as well as eating out and spending time with friends. Children have the opportunity to try a range of new and different activities; while they are encouraged by staff to attend these, positive reflection is undertaken if a child decides that they did not like a particular activity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are consistently supported as a result of excellent joint working with partner agencies. Regular meetings with professionals help to inform plans and approaches to all aspects of children’s care and education. Staff are excellent advocates for the children, sharing not only the child’s views, but also clearly stating if they feel a potential decision is not in the child’s best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and emotional well-being are held at the centre of all planning; joint working with child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) is a particular strength. Staff are attuned to children’s emotional well-being and respond quickly should there be concern for a child’s welfare.

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

The child’s actions, demeanour and confidence in the home show that they feel safe and relaxed with the staff team. The child has positive relationships with a range of staff and is able to approach different people if they are worried or concerned.

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

Staff are acutely aware of the child’s current risks and their own role in keeping the child safe. They know how to respond to the risks and safeguarding concerns, and the need Inspection report for children’s home: 2835783 4 to check in with the child to determine their emotional well-being and how they are currently feeling.

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

The child’s daily activities are planned to reduce the likelihood of them feeling the need to go missing, and to keep their emotional well-being buoyant. Staff know the detail of the multi-disciplinary plans to support the child in times of crisis or if they are missing. Effective work with partner agencies, including specialist police officers, CAMHS and the social worker, ensures that there is a consistency of approach. Managers advocate for children to ensure that plans are fair and not overly risk averse, to allow children to have freedom and to experience age-appropriate activities safely.

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

The home is well maintained, and any damage or maintenance is swiftly addressed. While there are fire safety and other protective measures in the home, these are not overly intrusive and the environment has a welcoming and homely feel.

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

Recruitment practices are robust and help to ensure that the children are cared for by suitable adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership and management of the home are particularly strong. Managers and the senior team have an excellent understanding of the progress of the service since the home was registered. They have responded well to early challenges and recognise that the staff team is still forming and learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel very well supported by the management team. They are highly complimentary about the support that they receive. Staff are supported with regular supervision by the managers in the home but additionally benefit from individual sessions of clinical supervision; these sessions enable them to reflect on how they feel and the impact of working with children who have experienced trauma. Staff are particularly complimentary about this individual approach, in addition to having the full team group clinical supervision to debrief, after recent, particularly challenging times for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a wide range of training. As any new concerns or behaviours develop, staff have relevant training or team meetings to ensure that they know how to respond. All staff are enrolled on a course to achieve a suitable level 4 or level 5 qualification if they do not already hold these. They say that they have the time to complete this and are enjoying learning. However, staff have not had formal training in the home’s ethos and approach to care in a timely manner. This has had minimal impact on children’s experiences due to the managers’ role modelling of the approach to the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers make good use of external and internal monitoring to ensure that children are receiving the best quality care. They are well informed regarding the challenges or if a situation is of concern. They are constantly seeking to ensure that they are providing the best possible service to children, so that children can feel safe and grow. Inspection report for children’s home: 2835783 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have suitable training in the model of care as described in the statement of purpose, as soon as is practicably possible. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

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Information about this inspection

Inspector have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the sSocial 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: 2835783 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Parkwood Care South Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 5, Level 4, Tomorrow Building, Media City, Salford M50 2AB

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Inspector

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2835783 7 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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