Children's Home run by A Wilderness Way Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children's home: 2843491 1 Registered provider: A Wilderness Way 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 children's home is operated by a private organisation and provides care for up to 2 children in 2 houses under a single registration. The home offers short-term intensive stays, typically lasting for 17 weeks, for children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The manager and home registered with Ofsted on 24 November 2025. The registered manager was no longer working at the home when the inspection took place. This was the home's first inspection.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home and the inspector met with them briefly.

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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 protected or their welfare is not promoted.

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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: none Inspection report for children's home: 2843491 2

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Summary of findings

Significant shortfalls in how staff keep one child safe have been identified and have had an impact on the overall judgement.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not ensure that staff have the skills and experience to care for children prior to a child coming to live in the home.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not ensure that staff are provided with guidance on how to respond to emerging and changing risks to keep children safe.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers do not have effective oversight and are not aware of the home's strengths and weaknesses. This means that children's progress and experiences are compromised by poor safeguarding practice and lack of effective management oversight.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers have prepared an action plan to make improvements to better protect and support children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children do not have positive experiences of moving into the home. Leaders and managers do not ensure that staff have sufficient information about children's needs, risks and vulnerabilities prior to moving in. As a result, one child experienced a move into the home without any preparation or information about the home or staff, resulting in them not having a positive experience of arriving at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Managers do not ensure that staff have the skills and experience to care for children. Managers identify when staff need training that is specific to the child in their care but then do not ensure that all staff receive this. This resulted in one child experiencing inconsistent responses from staff who do not have the skills to support them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not consistently develop positive working relationships with children's family members. Although one child was supported to build relationships with their family, staff did not communicate with another child's parent. This meant that they were not updated about their child's progress and welfare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children engage in learning when they move into the home. Staff encourage children to engage in tuition and homework. Staff work with children on a one-to-one basis to help them to learn and develop new skills, such as online and road safety and skills for life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff work well with health professionals to ensure that children's health needs are met. Staff ensure that children are offered health appointments. They are supported to attend Inspection report for children's home: 2843491 3 these appointments and specialist services, including in a crisis. Additionally, staff use their in-house therapeutic resources and refer children to specialist services when these are needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home's locality risk assessment is not reviewed to reflect the suitability of the location of the home and emerging risks in the locality. Therefore, the risks are not fully explored to identify whether the location of the home remains suitable and safe for the child, or provide guidance to help staff to mitigate against risks.

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

There is a lack of clear direction from managers to ensure that staff know how to respond to keep one child safe. Staff do not always respond appropriately or with urgency to ensure that the child is safe.

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

Staff do not supervise all children consistently or effectively. On one occasion, staff retired to their bedrooms prior to their shift ending while a child with known risks and vulnerabilities was left in the communal rooms. Managers have not provided clear guidance to staff on their roles and responsibilities in checking on the child's safety and wellbeing when their night shift ends, to ensure that there is a consistent and safe response to the child.

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

Staff do not always follow one child's safety plan. One child was able to continue to access sharp objects that present a risk to them and others. Staff rarely complete room searches, as set out in the child's plan, to ensure that the child's environment is safe for them. During the inspection, a shard of glass was found on the child's bed by the inspector. Despite the known risks being detailed in the child's plans, managers do not ensure that they have oversight of how staff implement plans to keep the child safe.

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

Physical interventions take place in the home and community to reduce risks to the child and staff. Records of physical interventions are not well written, and managers lack professional curiosity to be assured of the safety of staff practice. Records are unclear whether staff have time to reflect upon their practice with a manager. This prevents managers from learning whether staff need to adapt how they respond to children in the future.

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

Managers do not ensure that children's missing-from-home procedures are followed. Staff search for children and contact the police when a child goes missing from the home. However, records of missing incidents lack detail, including the length of time the child has been missing and how staff have tried to locate the child. Not all children receive a return home interview, which prevents lessons being learned to help reduce further incidents, or someone independent listening to the child about their experiences.

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

Managers are not reviewing safety plans or staffing ratios in line with a child's presenting or escalating needs. When a serious incident takes place at the home, staff can access advice from a manager, but staff are not consistently provided with additional support for them and the child during serious incidents. Additional staffing has sometimes been Inspection report for children's home: 2843491 4 made available at nighttime. However, there is a lack of consistency for how and when this is provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The management and oversight of the home is not effective. There has been a recent change in management of the home, with interim arrangements in place. Although leaders and managers have identified some shortfalls in management oversight, they have not identified that staff have not been following safeguarding procedures consistently, which has placed one child at further risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not have effective monitoring systems in place. Managers' scrutiny and quality assurance of the child's records lack professional curiosity about the child's safety. For example, one record, which was reviewed by a manager, did not highlight that staff had fallen asleep with a child, then left the child with a sharp object in their possession. Therefore, quality assurance and safeguarding systems in place are not working to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The systems for managers to monitor staff training are not effective. Training records are not kept up to date. Managers fail to ensure that staff receive training in a timely manner, to ensure that they have the skills to meet children's individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive regular supervision sessions from a manager or senior who has the skills and experience to provide this. Supervision sessions are reflective and allow for opportunities to discuss staff development, the children and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

When complaints or allegations are made, these are managed well. Managers ensure that allegations are fully explored and recommendations clearly link to personal development plans to ensure that learning is taken forward. Inspection report for children's home: 2843491 5

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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 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home's statement of purpose;

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for 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)(b) (2)(a)(c)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff receive training that is specific to children's individual needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff supervise children at night.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff have access to accurate safety plans with guidance and strategies in place to support children. 10 May 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2843491 6 The registered person must ensure that incidents of the child being missing from the home are accurately recorded.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the monitoring systems in place are effective in supporting the manager to have oversight of incidents involving a child in their care, and that a manager regularly reviews records.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result 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)(iii)(iv)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 28 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children's home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2)) 28 May 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2843491 7 In particular, the registered person must ensure that known risks that are specific to the location of the home and developing risks for children are assessed.

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Requirement Due date

* This requirement is subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2843491 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Stoneybeck Inn, Bowscar, Penrith CA11 8RP

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Inspector

Joanne Wallis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2843491 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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