Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report children's home: 2680726 1 Registered provider: Esland North 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

The home is owned by a private company and is registered to provide care for one child with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

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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 children's home: 2680726 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/03/2025 Full Good 21/06/2023 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2680726 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved in, and one child moved out of the home. Both children have made progress from their individual starting points. The inspector engaged with the child, currently living in the home, through play. The child interacted confidently and positively with the inspector and staff in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are supportive of children’s education and encourage children to engage positively. The manager has worked hard to secure a formal school place for the child currently in their care. While waiting to start at school, staff have ensured that the child’s time with their tutor has increased giving them the best chance of achieving.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with opportunities to engage in activities and try new experiences. For example, one child was able to overcome a fear of water through regular swimming lessons. Another child enjoys reading and this is encouraged with a range of books made available to them. This helps to build children’s confidence and enables them to have fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain important relationships with loved ones. Family time is well managed. Staff are mindful of how important relationships are to children and help to keep these experiences positive. This helps children to feel loved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a homely environment. The home is clean and spacious. The child’s room is personalised and contains items that are appropriate to their age and understanding.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff do not consistently manage children’s health needs well. Children are supported to attend health appointments as needed. However, staff do not consistently follow advice given by health professionals. For example, medicines are not always administered as prescribed and adequate support is not provided to ensure children adopt habits that enhance their health and wellbeing. These shortfalls have the potential to impact on children’s health in the longer term.

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

Staff are nurturing in their approach and have built positive relationships with children in their care. Staff have a good understanding of children's needs and how to care for them. This helps children to feel safe and secure in their environment.

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

Staff implement clear and consistent routines and boundaries. For one child, this has helped them to develop healthy sleep patterns. This has had a positive impact on their general wellbeing and behaviours, helping them to become more engaged and settled in the home. Inspection report children's home: 2680726 4 Children are supported to raise complaints when they are unhappy with the care provided. When they do, their concerns are taken seriously, investigated and acted on as appropriate. Children are informed of the outcome which gives them confidence that they are valued and will be heard.

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

Staff make use of incentives to help children to make positive choices. Children have individualised goals that they work towards in exchange for rewards. This helps them to understand behaviours that will help them to progress.

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

Incidents are generally well managed. When children are distressed staff de-escalate incidents quickly with minimal need for physical intervention. Approaches taken by staff help the children to understand and manage their own emotions effectively.

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

When physical interventions are used, they are appropriate and proportionate to keep children safe. There is good management oversight of incidents. However, the learning from this is not always shared within the team to help staff reflect on practice.

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

There are sometimes missed opportunities for children to understand how to keep safe. For example, there is limited use of important discussions in areas such as online safety, safety in the community or in relation to their health. This would help equip children with the knowledge and understanding that will help them to keep safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a supportive manager who has high aspirations for children. They advocate well for children which has helped ensure children receive the support they need to progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a stable and consistent staff team in place. The majority of staff either hold the relevant qualification in residential childcare or are making progress to do so. This ensures children are cared for by staff with the appropriate knowledge and understanding to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they feel supported by leaders and managers. They work consistently as a team and have access to regular training opportunities and meetings with a therapist to help them best support the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and wider leadership team have good monitoring systems in place. This allows them to have effective oversight of children’s care. In addition, this enables the manager to identify the home’s strengths and areas for improvement and take action to improve the quality of care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that systems are in place to help ensure the safe recruitment of staff. Appropriate employment checks are undertaken to ensure staff recruited to the team are suitable for the role. Inspection report children's home: 2680726 5 Professionals speak well of the manager and staff team and the care they provide for children. One professional described the team as ‘fantastic,’ while another professional said, ‘we fell lucky with this home.’ Inspection report children's home: 2680726 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, 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child's health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child's health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child's age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child's health and well-being needs; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child's well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children receive appropriate support in maintaining good dental health and for existing health conditions in line with their plans. Also, medication must be administered as prescribed. 20 February 2026 Inspection report children's home: 2680726 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children feel safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. This specifically relates to supporting children to understand risks such as online and community safety appropriate to their age and understanding. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 43, paragraph 9.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff consistently follow the home's policies and procedures for the benefit of the children in the home's care. This specifically relates to the sharing of learning following incidents with staff to support ongoing improvements in the quality of care provided. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 54, paragraph 10.20)

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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 children's home: 2680726 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 & 5 Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Louise Naylor, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2680726 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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