Children's Home run by Rockhopper Children’s Services Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report for children's home: 2648868 1 Registered provider: Rockhopper Children's Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. The home provides care for up to 5 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, 4 children were living in the home. One child moved out of the home during the inspection. Two of the children were spoken to as part of the inspection and one child replied to a letter written by an inspector.

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Information about this children's home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in June 2024.

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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: 18 February 2025

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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: 2648868 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/02/2025 Full Good 23/05/2023 Full Good 05/07/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2648868 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good care and support from a dedicated staff team. Staff build trusting relationships with children and create a relaxed environment for children to feel comfortable. There are positive interactions between the staff and children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand how important it is for children to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. Staff support children to spend time with their family when it is in the children's best interests. For one child, the registered manager paid for them and their adult sibling to go on holiday to London.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with relevant health services and benefit from support from the home's clinical psychologist. Staff recognise children's difficulties in attending routine health appointments and liaise with health professionals to overcome these barriers. For one child, arrangements were made for them to have a private space at the optician. This helped the child to attend the appointment and choose new glasses.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress since they moved into the home based on their individual starting points. Children are supported to attend education. However, for children who do not attend formal education, plans are not in place to provide alternative educational activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with opportunities to share their wishes and feelings through discussions, home meetings and an independent advocate. However, staff do not provide consistent support to children in respect of their religious beliefs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide opportunities for children to experience a variety of activities in line with their interests, such as going to the gym, going to the cinema and days out to a seaside towns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is clean and comfortable. Children are supported to personalise their own bedrooms and are involved in the decoration. However, some areas of the home are not well maintained. There is evidence of damage to some walls and doors, and the bathroom sink does not have a plug.

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

Staff understand children's risks and vulnerabilities well. Children's plans include clear strategies and guidance for staff to follow to safeguard children. Staff engage children in meaningful conversations when new risks emerge.

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

Staff support children effectively at times of distress and help children to manage their emotions more effectively. This means that staff can de-escalate incidents without the Inspection report for children's home: 2648868 4 need to physically intervene. As a result, there have been no incidents of children being physically held.

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

Staff are adept at managing incidents of children self-harming. Records demonstrate that action is taken to safeguard children appropriately. Staff ensure that medical support is provided to children and that children's emotional needs are met, both during and after any incidents. Regular welfare checks are undertaken to ensure that children are safe. However, on one occasion, staff did not carry out checks in line with what was recorded in records on a child who was under the influence of alcohol.

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

Staff respond appropriately to children when allegations are made. Information is shared with managers and relevant professionals in line with safeguarding procedures. Staff share outcomes with children in a sensitive and age-appropriate way. However, action was not taken by the manager to address delays in a staff member sharing this information with them.

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

Incidents of children being missing from the home have reduced. When incidents do occur, staff respond sensitively to children when they return, offering reassurance, conducting debriefs and helping them to reflect on how to keep themselves safe. However, staff did not follow children's plans on one occasion when the children were missing overnight. The manager identified this and addressed the shortfall appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced registered manager who knows and understands the children's needs well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel supported by their leadership team. This contributes to good retention of staff and consistency of care and support for children. Staff receive regular supervision that provides opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice and identify any additional training or development needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are strong advocates for the children. The manager escalates concerns and challenges professionals and external agencies to ensure that the children's needs are met and that their rights are upheld. There is good communication with professionals following incidents to ensure that they are kept up to date on all relevant issues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular team meetings. These provide staff with opportunities to reflect on the care being provided to the children and seek guidance on how to meet the children's individual needs from the in-house psychologist, who attends on occasion. However, records do not demonstrate that any actions set in the meetings are followed up or reviewed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a range of training opportunities, both online and face to face. Most staff members have completed the mandatory training. For those staff who have not yet undertaken certain training packages, plans are in place to manage this shortfall in Inspection report for children's home: 2648868 5 knowledge. However, training for one child's specific needs has not been provided to any of the staff in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Systems are in place to review staff practice and identify any patterns or trends in relation to incidents. There is evidence of these monitoring systems being effective at times, but they don't always identify shortfalls in staff practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2648868 6

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) This specifically relates to ensuring that all incidents are reviewed and that staff take appropriate action to safeguard children. 4 March 2026

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child.

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(h)) This specifically relates to ensuring that all staff have completed training to meet all children's needs, that outcomes from team 4 March 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2648868 7 meetings are reviewed and actioned and that action is taken to identify and address any shortfalls in staff practice.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child's education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when children are not attending an education setting, they are actively encouraged to engage in alternative educational activities and provided with a structured routine that is kept under review. 4 March 2026

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child's needs, as recorded in the child's relevant plans, taking account of the child's background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)) 4 March 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2648868 8 This specifically relates to ensuring that staff provide consistent support to children in regard to exploring their religion.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home meets the needs of the children, is homely and is maintained to a good standard, and that maintenance repairs are completed. Specifically, that action is taken to remedy the damage in the home and ensure that all bathroom furnishings are maintained and in full working order. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality and purpose of care standard', page 14, paragraph 3.3 and page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2648868 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Rockhopper Children's Services Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Unit 7, Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Cowley, Uxbridge UB8 2FX

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Inspectors

Michelle McGrath, Social Care Inspector Chibuzo Otache, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2648868 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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