Children's home run by Rochdale Borough Council in Rochdale

Inspection report for children's home: 1237582 1 Registered provider: Rochdale Borough Council

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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 operated by the local authority and is registered to provide care for up to four children. The home’s statement of purpose states it offers care to children on a short-term basis, alongside outreach support services.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home. The inspector spoke to both children.

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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: 25 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: 1237582 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/02/2025 Full Good 10/10/2023 Full Outstanding 19/07/2022 Full Good 08/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1237582 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care that supports them to make progress from their individual starting points. Staff know children well and understand the impact of previous life experiences on their behaviour and emotional wellbeing. As a result, children feel valued, listened to and cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between staff and children are warm and trusting. Children benefit from being cared for by staff who are engaging and emotionally available. One child said, ‘They [the staff] are really warm, they make you feel comfortable and welcome.’ Staff respect children’s wishes and actively involve them in decisions about their lives wherever possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Alongside support and practical skills, staff play with children. They take them on activities such as long bike rides and swimming; they involve them in cooking and baking at the home. Special trips are arranged such as one child’s ‘bucket list’ wish to go zip wiring in the Snowdonia mountains. Children have fun with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide purposeful and creative individual sessions through play that help children explore their emotions, reflect on past experiences and develop coping strategies. This work is effective and contributes to improved emotional understanding and safer choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work sensitively with children and professionals to prepare children for moves into and out of the home. Outcomes for children are positive. Several children have successfully transitioned to longer term placements following their time at the home, reflecting the stability and quality of care they experienced.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s experiences are occasionally affected by the complexity of peer relationships. Some children’s behaviours have an emotional impact on others living at the home which has led to some retaliation and bullying.

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

Staff take their safeguarding responsibilities seriously. They work proactively with children to help them understand risk and develop safer behaviours. There has been an overall reduction in risk. Children go missing from home less frequently and serious incidents have reduced, despite the complexity of children’s needs and behaviours.

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

Staff respond promptly when children are at risk. They work closely with partner agencies and provide children with reassurance and support following incidents. Children generally feel safe and protected. Inspection report for children's home: 1237582 4 Children’s voices are represented in risk assessments. These assessments reflect children’s views and identify individual risks and protective factors. However, staff practice is not always consistent. For example, some staff do not consistently follow agreed missing from home procedures. Management oversight does not always identify this promptly.

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

During a short period over the summer, challenges arising from group dynamics led to an increase in incidents. Leaders recognised this promptly and took action to stabilise the home and reduce risk.

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

Following incidents involving self-harm, aggression or significant damage to property where children have been physically restrained to keep them safe. Staff debriefs and notifications to relevant professionals are not always clearly evidenced. Children are kept safe in practice, but the written records do not always reflect how this has been achieved.

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

One child left the home via a bedroom window during the night and staff were not aware. Leaders responded appropriately and introduced measures which prevented further such incidents. On another occasion, children accessed the staff office overnight while staff were asleep. The manager has developed a plan to prevent this from happening again, but this is not yet embedded in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager demonstrates commitment to children and to continuous improvement. They manage the day-to-day running of the home effectively and use a range of quality-assurance tools, including audits, observations and performance monitoring, to reflect on practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

During a challenging period at the home, management oversight was in place but not recorded consistently. The manager recognises this and has since strengthened systems to improve consistency, oversight and accountability. These actions are beginning to have a positive impact.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular, reflective supervision that supports their development and emotional resilience. Appraisals are established and contribute to staff development. Team meetings take place regularly and focus on relevant themes relating to children and practice. These forums provide opportunities for staff to reflect, share learning and develop skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals speak positively about the home. They describe staff as child centred and communicative. One professional said, ‘It’s a nice place to live, it feels like a home.’ Professionals value staff’s trauma informed approach and willingness to challenge constructively. Positive partnership working supports children’s stability and progress. Inspection report for children's home: 1237582 5 Some training records are not consistently complete or up to date. This does not ensure that leaders can always demonstrate that all staff are competent in key areas. This limits assurance of staff skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders do not always ensure that children are compatible with each other before accepting a new child to come and live at the home. Incompatible placements have contributed to periods of instability for children. The referral pathway and information required from referrers has now been changed, this has increased the information that the manager has about a child before they make a decision about admission. Inspection report for children's home: 1237582 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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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

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)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff consistently follow the children’s risk assessments.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the home is arranged in such a way that the staff can have a greater awareness of children movements at nighttime. 27 February 2026

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust; 27 February 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 1237582 7 an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that any incidents of bullying, racism or homophobia are followed up with consistent and targeted direct work and that measures are in place to prevent this.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 27 February 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 1237582 8 the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure;.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when physical intervention has been used, the record is reviewed, and any shortfalls are identified.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, particularly in ensuring that all team members have completed the training tracker. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: 1237582 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council, Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1XU

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Inspector

Cathy Wilkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1237582 10 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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