Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2634624 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for one child who may have emotional, behavioural or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, a child had moved out of the home and another child moved in. One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection. They contributed to the inspection.

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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 for children's home: 2634624 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/08/2024 Full Good 23/05/2023 Full Good 19/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2634624 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is inviting, is personalised and feels like a comfortable space. The child feels confident in the home and chooses to spend time relaxing with staff in the lounge. The child likes their bedroom. Their artwork is displayed proudly, and photos of the child with their family contribute to a homely atmosphere that gives the child a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is developing trusting and positive relationships with staff. Staff invest time in understanding their interests, which is used to build meaningful connections. For example, the child particularly enjoys drama and role play, and staff actively join in. This is fun, and this shared activity helps the child form positive bonds with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has made progress in relation to their education, particularly when measured against their individual starting point. Another child’s engagement with education is currently inconsistent. The manager is actively liaising with the relevant agencies to secure appropriate support and move this forward. In the meantime, the home is implementing incentive-based strategies and providing educational activities to help maintain the child’s learning and promote engagement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is also supported to take part in activities that reflect their personal interests. The child has been encouraged to create a ‘bucket list’ for 2026, and staff are supporting them to work through this. The child recently visited a theme park. They thoroughly enjoyed this trip. This demonstrates the commitment to offering experiences that are tailored to the child’s preferences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive key-work sessions. These are not yet delivered to a standard that enables them to make meaningful or sustained progress. The manager recognises this shortfall and has appropriate plans in place to improve the impact of key work going forward.

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

Children have detailed risk assessments that are kept up to date after significant incidents.

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

Children have missing-from-care protocols in place that are clear and easy for staff to understand. Children have an individual Philomena Protocol to support an effective response should they go missing. The child has been missing from the home on 4 occasions. On each occasion, staff followed the agreed protocols and acted promptly to ensure the child’s safety. Children receive return home interviews, which enable them to share their views and experiences. The information gathered is used to inform future planning and risk management, helping to strengthen safeguarding arrangements. Inspection report for children's home: 2634624 4 One child had contextualised safeguarding risks. These were managed well. There was a strong multi-agency approach with regards to ensuring that appropriate risk management strategies were in place.

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

The manager ended a child’s placement due to escalating risks. During this period, the manager implemented clear interim safety measures to ensure the child’s immediate safety and wellbeing. The manager worked with the local authority and relevant agencies and extended the notice period to ensure that the transition arrangements could be progressed.

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

The child has been held on 2 occasions. This was proportionate and necessary to ensure that the child and staff were safe. Although records show the name of the holds that were used, they do not detail which member of staff held the child or exactly where the child was held. This lack of detail limits the regulator’s ability to fully evaluate the hold.

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

During an incident, a child used a term to describe 2 members of staff that could reasonably be interpreted as a potential allegation. While the child was spoken to afterwards, there was no evidence available during the inspection to show how this specific comment was followed up with the child. This lack of recorded response limits the home’s ability to demonstrate how staff explored the child’s meaning, ensured their safety, or clarified any potential safeguarding concerns related to the language used.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a registered manager who has a clear understanding of the home’s strengths and the areas that require further development. Management oversight is overall to a good standard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed to continually improving the quality of care provided to children. Targeted training has been delivered to staff based on the individual needs of the children they care for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel well supported by the manager. They receive regular supervision and attend regular team meetings. These meetings are purposeful. A clinical lead also attends team meetings to support staff in the care planning, safeguarding and reflective discussions, which help maintain a child-focused culture in the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recognises the importance of ensuring that children can express their wishes and feelings in ways that feel comfortable to them. The child has access to an advocate, and the manager continues to develop creative and supportive opportunities for the child to share their views and influence their care. Inspection report for children's home: 2634624 5

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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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. (Regulation 7 (1)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s comments and views are explored in full and that safeguarding implications are considered. 20 March 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are offered support that helps them to reduce risks that are relevant to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should ensure that when holds are used, the recording should not only include the name of the hold that was used. There should be a description of what the hold looked like so the reader can fully evaluate this. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the s’ocial 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: 2634624 6

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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

Becky Thompson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2634624 7 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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