Children's home run by Bright Futures Care Limited in Bolton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC456149 1 SC456149 Registered provider: Bright Futures Care Limited

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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 owned and managed by a private company. It is registered to care for up to 6 children who have learning disabilities and sensory impairments.

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Information about this children’s home

There were 6 children living in the home at the time of this inspection. The inspector spent time with all 6 children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2023.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 10 February 2025

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC456149 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/02/2025 Full Outstanding 20/03/2024 Full Good 23/11/2021 Full Good 05/12/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC456149 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children living in the home make exceptional progress from their starting points due to the high-quality care staff provide.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff develop warm and trusting relationships with children. They understand the difficulties children face in communicating with others and support them to be able to communicate more effectively. Staff help children to expand their horizons and abilities by gently pushing them outside their comfort zones. As a result, children are happy and are making excellent progress. One parent said: ‘I never thought I’d see the progress that my child has made. I never thought these things were possible.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff ensure that children’s health needs are met. The care they provide means that children feel safe to attend medical appointments, which helps them to overcome barriers in engaging with health professionals. This resulted in one child successfully managing a necessary surgical procedure and attending for follow-up care. Some children have moved into the home on high levels of medication to manage their behaviours. Managers and staff have successfully worked with medical professionals to reduce the intake of unnecessary medications.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children to try varied activities and have successfully supported children to reduce their dependence on screens. This has significantly improved the quality of one child’s life, who is now able to engage with the world around them. Because children are more active, children are overall healthier.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children who are working towards a plan of more independent living to contribute to how they learn the skills that they need. Independence skills are naturally woven into everyday life, supporting children to gradually but consistently improve their own abilities. One child has plans to support the provider’s induction training to improve new staff’s understanding of children’s lived experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children to maintain and develop their relationships with people who are important to them. Because staff help children to engage more and cope with different experiences, parents can spend quality time with their children. One parent said: ‘They’ve saved our family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff help children to connect with their personal culture and heritage. One child who grew up in a European country enjoys bedtime lullabies, background music and DVDs in their native language. In addition, one member of staff from the same background brings in traditional cultural clothing and food for the child to enjoy. Staff take the child to the local shop that sells products from their home country. This enables the child to experience the opportunities that they would have if they were living with their family. Inspection report for children’s home: SC456149 4 Staff support children to contribute to their own care. They seek regular feedback from children to understand their views and feelings. Staff support children to make choices about their daily activities and food, and respect children’s wishes.

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

Children feel safe living in the home. Staff respond to children with a warm and nurturing manner, identifying their needs quickly. One parent said: ‘I can just see, they love my child. I feel very happy to know that there are such lovely people caring for [child’s name].’

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

Staff help children to achieve new goals each month, working towards these daily. This helps children to improve their self-care skills, their understanding and their abilities. Due to the intensive and ongoing efforts of staff, children’s risks are reducing.

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

Staff understand each child’s individual needs and vulnerabilities. This enables them to help children to calm when they become distressed. When children need to be held to keep them safe, this is done as a last resort.

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

When staff have any concerns, they speak to the managers about these to ensure transparent practice. Managers respond quickly and effectively to any allegations of harm, and keep professionals and parents closely informed. When managers identify areas for improvement, they work attentively with staff to ensure that these improvements are made.

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

Staff and managers are responsive to any changes in children’s needs. Managers are quick to seek additional support and resources when concerns arise. Managers are strong advocates for children and recognise when additional intervention is needed. Managers and staff work well with other professionals to ensure that children get the help they need at the right time. One social worker said: ‘They are very proactive and forthcoming with information and are very good at being the voice for the child.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is managed by a committed and experienced registered manager. She possesses strong leadership skills, which means she manages the home effectively. The registered manager fosters a nurturing and supportive environment for staff and children. This enables an open and reflective culture where staff want to keep striving to improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff benefit from regular team and individual discussions which help them to think about the needs of the children and how these can best be met. Staff say that their contributions are valued, and staff feel able to respectfully challenge each other and managers. One member of staff said of the team: ‘It’s very collaborative and inclusive.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC456149 5 The registered manager ensures that safer recruitment checks are completed before new staff come to work at the home. Staff are provided with thorough induction training which prepares them well for their roles. This means that all adults in the home are knowledgeable and safe to work with vulnerable children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers ensure that staff have access to ongoing training opportunities. When staff want to develop their knowledge or experience in a particular area, managers support them to do this in a planned way. The management team regularly identifies ways for staff to continue to improve their practice and the quality of children’s records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers support staff’s ongoing learning by encouraging them to research key themes and share their findings with the team. By supporting staff to complete and deliver their own research, the associated learning is better understood and therefore more strongly embedded into practice. This enables staff to implement new findings and continue to aspire for more progress for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager makes good use of internal and external monitoring. They keep a keen oversight of all safeguarding incidents and children’s daily care. Managers use this oversight to identify themes and trends in children’s behaviour to enable them to reduce triggers for children and provide a better quality of life.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager ensures transparent practice in the home, providing parents with daily updates and access to the online recording system where children’s daily records are stored. Parents value the reliable communication from staff and the natural relationships that form. One parent said: ‘It’s like I have a family in them as well.’

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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: SC456149 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bright Futures Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Asher House, Barsbank Lane, Lymm WA13 0ED

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Inspector

Aislinn Cooper, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC456149 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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