Children's home run by Blue Mountain Homes Ltd in Ealing

Inspection report for children’s home: SC490364 1 SC490364 Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd

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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 and operated by a private provider. It offers 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 this inspection, 4 children were living at the home. The inspector spoke with 3 of the children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 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: 17 September 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC490364 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/09/2024 Full Outstanding 12/07/2023 Full Good 07/06/2022 Full Good 08/03/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC490364 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have created a warm, welcoming and settled environment in the home. The home is spacious, and staff enjoy close and stable relationships with the children. As a result, children were seen to be happy, relaxed and having fun with staff. Children themselves reported that they feel happy living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have developed a strong understanding of the health needs of the 2 children who have ongoing medical issues. They have learned quickly and now demonstrate solid knowledge of each child’s condition. Staff can meet the children’s health needs effectively and work in close partnership with health professionals. This collaborative approach has contributed to noticeable improvements in the children’s overall health and wellbeing. Children’s privacy and dignity are consistently prioritised. Discussions about their health are managed sensitively and in an empowering way. On the single occasion when a medication error occurred, staff responded swiftly and appropriately. Learning from this incident was embedded into practice, and there have been no further medication errors since.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children attend educational settings. Staff have worked well with education professionals. This has supported the children’s attendance and engagement in education. Due to the working relationships, children have made improvements in their behaviour and attendance at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use a variety of approaches to gather the children’s wishes and feelings. This includes regular one-to-one catch-ups and informal conversations covering a wide range of topics. Staff listen carefully and take the children’s views into account. Examples of this include making changes to the decor of the children’s bedrooms, planning trips and shaping the day-to-day running of the home. Staff ensure that children have access to a wide range of activities that reflect their interests. These activities are purposeful, often educational, and frequently linked to the community. Recent examples include taking part in a charity walk and organising a charity sale to raise money for a local hospice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to maintain positive links with both their immediate and extended family. When families live at a distance, staff enable these relationships to continue through planned day trips and extended weekend visits. Staff also welcome the children’s friends into the home when this is what the children want, helping to promote an inclusive and social environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively promote children’s identities to a high standard. They recognise the importance of family connections as a key part of each child’s sense of self. They ensure that children can access cultural experiences and resources that are meaningful to them. This includes supporting them to overcome societal barriers, such as accessing specialist hair salons and appropriate hair-care products. Inspection report for children’s home: SC490364 4

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

Staff ensure children are appropriately safeguarded. Children themselves said they felt safe in the home and had people they could talk to. One social worker said that any safeguarding is ‘dealt with swiftly, with an action plan put in place’. Staff know the risks for each of the children, and this is also referenced in their risk management plans. Staff respond to risks to children in a relational and open way, talking through risks to promote learning.

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

Staff respond to online risks in a proactive manner. Staff ensure children learn and understand about how to be safe online. When there have been concerns about children’s engagement online, staff respond in an open and honest manner, so children know what staff are concerned about.

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

There have been 4 incidents requiring staff to use physical holds since the last inspection. When these incidents occur, they are brief, proportionate and used only as a last resort. Appropriate professionals are informed promptly after each incident, and children are offered a debrief to help them reflect and recover. Staff are also provided with opportunities to debrief and reflect on their practice. Each incident has clear management oversight to ensure transparency, accountability and improvements in practice where needed.

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

When children go missing from home, there is a comprehensive response from the staff. Staff search for children, contact family and friends and notify appropriate professionals where necessary, such as the police. When a child returns, they are welcomed home in a calm manner. Staff are supported to reflect on missing-from-home episodes and adapt their practice accordingly.

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

Allegations and complaints are generally responded to promptly and effectively by staff. Children are kept informed of the outcomes, which helps promote transparency and trust. However, on one occasion, an allegation made against a staff member was not recognised as such and was incorrectly classified as a complaint. As a result, the local authority designated officer (LADO) was not notified, despite the threshold for referral being met. This highlights a gap in staff understanding and decision-making regarding LADO procedures, which has the potential to impact children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home benefits from a capable and cohesive management structure, where the registered manager and deputy manager work closely together and use their strong knowledge of the children to lead staff effectively. Staff consistently promote the child-focused and positive culture modelled by the manager, and they feel valued because their hard work is recognised. This has created a stable and motivated workforce, with staff reporting that they are happy in their roles. Their strong teamwork and close working relationships enable consistent communication and shared Inspection report for children’s home: SC490364 5 approaches. As a result, children experience reliable, nurturing care from adults who know them well and help them feel secure, supported and listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager monitors practice in the home effectively. Their quality-assurance processes are clear, structured and geared towards continuous improvement. A layered approach is used, with audits and checks completed daily, weekly, monthly and annually. These procedures cover key areas, including children’s progress, staff development and support and the maintenance and safety of the home environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team ensures that regular staff meetings take place. These meetings provide staff with a structured forum to raise any issues or concerns. Discussions routinely include updates on children, reflections on practice and consideration of learning from complaints. This helps the team to identify areas for improvement and promotes consistent, reflective practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training is delivered by an in-house training team, and all staff have completed the required mandatory courses. This ensures that staff have the knowledge and skills needed to meet children’s needs and feel confident in their practice. The training programme builds on a structured and supportive induction, which all staff undertake when they join the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision is provided to all staff. Supervision sessions focus on key aspects of staff practice, including the needs of the children living in the home and staff wellbeing. Where concerns about staff practice arise, these are addressed and risk assessed to ensure safe and effective care. However, supervision records would benefit from clearer actions and outcomes to better evidence progress. Inspection report for children’s home: SC490364 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that a concern around practice is noticed and the LADO is alerted when there is a concern about a staff member’s practice. 8 May 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure systems are in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional. In particular, ensure that staff have supervision as set out in the statement of purpose. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Inspection report for children’s home: SC490364 7

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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: SC490364 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 21 Mallard Way, Pride Park, Derby DE24 8GX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pradeep Manaktala

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Inspector

John McDonnell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC490364 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 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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