Children's home run by Greenacre Care Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2828169 1 Registered provider: Greenacre Care 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

This home is operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living at the home, and both were spoken with.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager were both registered with Ofsted in September 2025.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2828169 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like living at the home and speak positively about the care they receive. Children make progress such as healthier routines, improved attendance at education, improved self-care, and self-esteem. Their achievements are recognised and celebrated through certificates proudly displayed in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop positive and trusting relationships with staff. Staff want the best for children and are ambitious for them to succeed. The ethos of the home is built on nurturing care and mutual respect. Laughter and healthy competition when playing games creates a fun and vibrant atmosphere for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The importance of education is promoted in the home and staff help children to value their education. Children have increased attendance at school. One child has completed mock exams in preparation for their final GCSE exams. Furthermore, staff help children with homework tasks, for example, helping one child prepare to deliver a presentation at school. This increases children’s opportunities and future options.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in their health. For example, making healthier food choices and being more active. Children attend medical appointments and staff have a strong knowledge of children’s medical conditions. Children are helped to manage their own health conditions, and they feel confident to ask for support. Furthermore, staff are curious about children’s wellbeing and recognise when children need more support, and they make referrals to specialist services. As a result, the children’s emotional wellbeing has improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of family ties. Staff support children to spend time with family members and family pets when possible. Family members are welcomed into the home and invited to celebrate special occasions. This helps children to have a support network outside of the home and that parents are important and valued. One parent said they have a good relationship with staff and value the care their child receives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to attend groups and to try out new activities. Staff support children to enjoy their individual hobbies and interests. This helps children to develop social skills and have fun. Staff capture special moments and day-to-day events with photos. Children are involved in creating their own memory book, that celebrate their enjoyable experiences and achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Positive behaviour is promoted in the home. Children thrive on incentives that they work towards and complete tasks around the home. Children like their bedrooms, which are personalised and well maintained. Children understand what is expected of them and Inspection report for children’s home: 2828169 3 contribute to tidying their rooms each week. This helps children to develop independence skills and learn how to care for their personal belongings.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs and vulnerabilities. Risks to children reduce, helping the children to be increasingly safer. Children are involved in creating their own child-friendly plans and understand why staff are worried for them. This enables children to be involved and have a say about how they want to be helped.

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

Children talk to staff about things that matter to them and receive guidance from staff that helps them. Supportive discussions that take place are specific and meaningful to children's needs and vulnerabilities. Examples include, healthy relationships, internet safety and managing health needs. Staff use creative methods such as a debate club to help children learn about societal issues and current news, to broaden their views of the world.

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

Children know how to make a complaint and feel their views are heard and understood. This helps children to understand that their views are important and that staff will act on their behalf.

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

Children take age-appropriate risks as part of their development, such as increased independent time out of the home and use of social media. Staff implement strategies that reduce the risk while supporting the child’s freedom and ability to make independent decisions.

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

Medication procedures are taken seriously. Staff understand the seriousness of one child’s diagnosis. The manager ensured that all staff have appropriate training about the child’s health needs before they moved in. This has ensured that the child receives appropriate responses to their medical condition to keep them safe.

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

Incidents in the home are rare. Staff adopt a therapeutic approach in response to unwanted behaviours, and this helps children to feel safe. Therefore, children have not been missing from the home or needed to be held to manage unsafe behaviour. However, children’s behaviour support plans do not include actions that staff should take to respond to children’s behaviour. This does not help the manager keep under review with staff the identified strategies that help children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads the home with enthusiasm and dedication. He is committed to making a difference to children's lives. He is visible in the home and demonstrates good practice that staff can model. He has high standards and expectations that staff share. He understands children’s care journey and past trauma, and he uses this knowledge to help staff provide nurturing care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2828169 4 The manager spends time with staff and children on a daily basis. He recognises the importance of children having positive childhood experiences and developing self-care skills. The children benefit from this and feel confident to ask questions and share thoughts about their day.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The small staff team are newly formed and provide children with consistency. The manager knows the staff well and recognises strengths and areas of develop for some staff. When staff practice falls below what is expected and he addresses any concerns appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular team meetings take place that are well attended. The manager uses team meetings as a learning opportunity by discussing specific topics that include children missing-from-home, drug and alcohol misuse and child exploitation. Furthermore, staff have completed a wide range of training that relates to the children’s needs. This helps to ensure that staff are suitably skilled and knowledgeable to care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are overwhelmingly positive about their role and the support from each other and the manager. Staff describe positive morale in the home and say they feel listened to and consulted about important decisions. This helps to create a harmonious atmosphere in the home that the children recognise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has developed relationships with family members and professionals in the children’s network. He welcomes feedback and external scrutiny. He sees this as a learning and development opportunity to make improvements in the home, for staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s monitoring and oversight of the home is generally effective. However, audits have not identified that children’s records do not contain all their current statutory documents. This limits staff’s ability to ensure that they provide care in line with the children’s assessed needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2828169 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that behaviour management strategies are understood and applied at all times by staff. In particular, the registered person should ensure that children’s behaviour support plans are completed, kept under review, and revised where appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 46, paragraph 9.34)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s records are kept up to date. In particular, the registered person should ensure that they have the most up to date statutory care plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: 2828169 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ashurst House, 17a Duke Street, Formby, Liverpool L37 4AN

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Inspector

Cat Makel, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2828169 7 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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