Children's Home run by SMS Nurture Care Group Limited in Manchester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2839492 1 Registered provider: SMS Nurture Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in August 2025 and is privately operated. 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, no children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2025.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2839492 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child has lived at the home since it registered with Ofsted. Leaders and managers failed to take reasonable steps to ensure the child’s sense of belonging and stability. Staff were inadequately prepared to respond to the child’s needs and were unable to support them effectively. Following the provider giving notice, the child moved out of the home with minimal planning and preparation. Subsequently, the child has found it difficult to settle in their new home. Incidents have not been well managed, which has left the child at risk of harm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child did not receive effective care and support to meet their needs. Staff were unable to build and maintain positive relationships with the child. Staff do not work in a therapeutic manner. The use of language in the child’s records and during discussions with the manager suggests institutionalised attitudes. This creates barriers to the child’s engagement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child was not supported effectively in accessing education suited to their needs. Staff did not provide any structured learning opportunities for the child. There was a lack of sustained effort from staff to motivate the child or encourage their participation. Although the child participated in activities with staff, they often spent long periods alone in their bedroom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Care planning is insufficient, and staff are not confident in putting boundaries in place to keep children safe. Leaders and managers lack decision-making skills. They consistently rely on professionals from the placing authority to establish boundaries. This resulted in delays for the child and affected the relationship between the child and their social worker.

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

The child was not always kept safe by staff. Leaders and managers lacked understanding of the child’s risks and vulnerabilities. Staff lacked the necessary guidance to ensure the child’s safety, and few actions were taken to prevent the child from being exposed to harm.

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

Leaders and managers did not ensure that staff had the necessary skills or confidence to meet the child’s needs. Staff were unable to de-escalate incidents effectively, resulting in repeated reliance on police intervention. This exposed the child to the unnecessary risk of arrest and potential criminalisation. The manager adopted an overly cautious stance regarding physical intervention and support. This contributed to staff being unable to safely manage incidents, and opportunities for proportionate, early de-escalation were missed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2839492 3 There have been a high number of missing-from-home episodes. Staff did not take appropriate proactive steps to use strategies that could have reduced the likelihood of the child going missing. Despite staff searching for the child, they failed to consistently collect them once located. This failure left the child at significant risk of harm and

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

Staff and the manager do not thoroughly understand or manage the risks associated with the use of technology. The child received no education on online safety, and safety measures to prevent access to unsuitable content were unsatisfactory. Furthermore, the manager has not sufficiently explored the potential link between the child’s use of technology and social media and the frequency of missing-from-home incidents, including contact with individuals unknown to staff. This reflects a limited understanding of the associated risks, placing the child at risk of significant harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers lack understanding of their roles and responsibilities. This has resulted in insufficient recruitment processes, poor-quality supervision sessions with staff, and team meetings that are not child centred.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not make effective use of monitoring systems and tools in the home to evaluate the quality of care. The manager has failed to evaluate missing-from-home records. Furthermore, they have failed to gather feedback from external professionals and stakeholders. These are missed opportunities to identify any learning or development for staff and to improve outcomes for the child and safeguard them from further harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have ineffective oversight of staff practice. They have not identified shortfalls in the care provided to the child. They fail to recognise the negative effects of insufficient care planning for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers failed to ensure that staff had the training, skills and confidence to meet the child’s needs. Despite agreeing to provide therapeutic care as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose, the registered manager failed to ensure that staff received the relevant training. Therefore, the child did not receive a level of care suited to their needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2839492 4

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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

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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered manager must ensure that staff understand and implement strategies to keep children safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must fully consider any known risks to children and implement clear actions for staff to follow to mitigate them. Work must be carried out with children to minimise the effects of these risks on their safety. 27 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 27 May 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2839492 5 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that their oversight of staff practice is effective. All incident records must be evaluated, taking into account any shortfalls in staff practice and putting clear actions in place to ensure effective safeguarding practice. Staff supervision sessions must include reflection on practice and consideration of the needs of children currently in their care.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that they make effective use of monitoring systems and tools in the home to monitor the quality of care. They should ensure that any external monitoring is robust and gather feedback on the quality of care from a range of sources.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(b) (2)(b)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that reasonable actions are taken to provide children with a sense of belonging and stability. All possible measures must be taken to prevent 29 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2839492 6 children from having to leave the home in an unplanned way without any notice. This includes joint working with the placing authority and other partner agencies to provide support to the child.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children’s care plans are fully understood by staff and are reviewed in line with any learning from evaluation of incident records.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour;

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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

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same; and

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(viii)(ix)(x)(xi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all possible actions are taken to build positive relationships with children. This includes creating a culture in the home where caring language is used about children. Staff must demonstrate and record the actions taken to engage the child, reflect on any barriers, and make any necessary adaptations to practice in response. 29 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2839492 7 The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all possible actions are taken to support children in accessing education that meets their needs. When children are not participating in education for any reason, staff must engage them in suitable structured activities that promote and encourage learning. 29 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2839492 8

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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: 2839492 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: SMS Nurture Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Studio, Hatherlow House, Hatherlow, Romiley, Stockport SK6 3DY

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Inspectors

Bethany Riley, Social Care Inspector Anthony Kyem, Social Care Inspector Kerri Lynch, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2839492 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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