Children's Home run by Alcedo Gold in St Helens

Inspection report for children's home: 2847810 1 Registered provider: Alcedo Gold

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

A private provider operates this home. The home is registered to provide care for one child with emotional or social difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

This is home's first full inspection. One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The manager and home registered with Ofsted in October 2025.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

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

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection : none Inspection report for children's home: 2847810 2

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improvement to be good

A child has recently moved into the home. This child has a diagnosed learning disability and attends a specialist education provision. The home is not currently registered to accommodate children with these needs and has therefore been operating outside of its conditions of registration. Leaders have submitted a variation request, which was considered as part of this inspection.

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improvement to be good

Several documents were not in place to enable staff to support the child's needs. These included an up-to-date occupational and physical therapy plan and an up-to-date education, health and care plan. Although leaders and managers have escalated these gaps, having this information earlier would have enabled them and the staff team to be better informed about the child's care needs before they moved into the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff complete direct work sessions with the child to discuss topics such as personal hygiene, appropriate relationships and managing emotions. As a result, the child is developing a better understanding of their new environment and learning what behaviours are expected.

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improvement to be good

The child has not been in education for some time. Staff and managers have worked closely with the child's school, attending meetings and devising a plan for the child to return to school. Feedback from school professionals was positive.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the child's preferred method of communication and engage with them effectively. Although there has been a recent decline in the child's verbal communication, staff have sought support from the speech and language therapist to explore this further.

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improvement to be good

The child has access to a wide range of fun activities in the local community. They have enjoyed trips, such as local walks and a recent visit to a safari park. Activities are captured in the child's journey book. This gives the child a sense of belonging and supports his life story.

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improvement to be good

There are shortfalls in safeguarding practice and the implementation of safeguarding policies. For example, when staff raised concerns about the practice of an external professional, leaders and managers did not take sufficient action in line with the home's child protection policy. However, the provider took the necessary steps to address this during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Medication in the home is stored appropriately, and administration is recorded using an electronic system. However, medication records contain discrepancies in the times and Inspection report for children's home: 2847810 3 dates recorded. In addition, the manager has counter-signed medication entries on the electronic system despite not being present in the home at the time of administration. This practice has the potential to compromise safe medication management. The manager acknowledged this during the inspection and is taking steps to address it.

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improvement to be good

The manager has ensured that fire practices in the home are safe. The child has a personal emergency evacuation plan that provides staff with details of the support that child requires in the event of a fire. All staff are suitably trained in fire safety.

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improvement to be good

The child is helped to manage their behaviour and receives support from the child adolescent mental health practitioners and the organisation's positive behaviour support lead.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment procedures and practices are safe and effective. All staff are checked and vetted prior to starting work. These checks ensure that only suitable adults are employed to work with children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a suitable manager in post. Staff say that they are well supported and the manager is visible and approachable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager values the external monitoring of the home. The manager has acted on guidance from the independent visitor and has recently improved the recording of incidents and the overall monitoring of records in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the home registered, there have been 2 serious incidents in the home that required the manager to submit a notification to the regulator. One of these notifications was poorly written and did not include all relevant information and the second incident was not sent to Ofsted in line with regulation. This does not help the regulator to understand what actions are being taken to safeguard the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have received training online and classroom-based learning. However, not all staff have received training in sexualised behaviour, learning disability and communication. This does not ensure that all staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to support the child they are caring for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is required to keep the home's statement of purpose under review and share this with the regulator in line with regulation. Information about the staff knowledge, skills and experience should also be present. Inspection report for children's home: 2847810 4

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that when concerns are identified about a professional's practice, action is taken in line with the organisation's child protection policy. 6 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

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 6 March 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2847810 5 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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;

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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

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;

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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)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that all staff have the knowledge and skills to support a child's individual needs in sexualised behaviour, learning disability and communication.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

that each child's relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that all relevant plans are sourced from relevant professionals and that children are only admitted into the home for conditions of the home's registration. 6 March 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2847810 6 The registered person must compile in relation to the children's home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b)) 6 March 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children's home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that there is an accurate record of when medication is given and counter signed. 6 March 2026

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. 6 March 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2847810 7 A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)(i) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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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: 2847810 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Alcedo House, Unit 14, Slaidburn Industrial Estate, Slaidburn Crescent, Southport PR9 9YF

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Inspectors

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Julia Edwards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2847810 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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