Children's Home run by A Significant Other Limited in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC429995 1 SC429995

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Registered provider: A Significant Other Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private provider and provides care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, the home was providing care for 4 children, and the inspector spoke with all 4. One child has moved out during the inspection cycle.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 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 outstanding

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC429995 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/05/2025 Full Good 14/05/2024 Full Good 06/07/2023 Full Good 25/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC429995 3

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Summary of findings

Children make good progress living in this home and say that they feel happy and safe. Staff know the children well and build meaningful relationships with them. This helps staff provide individualised care to children that meets their needs.

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Summary of findings

The staff’s nurturing, trauma-informed practice helps to create a homely environment where children feel loved, secure and understood.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers have high ambitions and aspirations for children, which supports children to achieve their full potential. Managers lead by example and provide high levels of support for staff. This helps upskill the staff team and embed a family environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences living in the home. They say that they feel like a family and are listened to by staff. Children’s bedrooms are personalised, and the home environment is warm and welcoming.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience well-planned moves to the home. Their needs and those of other children are fully considered, and children have opportunities to meet staff before they move in. The manager seeks relevant information about children’s presenting needs from a variety of sources. This is used to consider how staff can best meet children’s needs and to inform clear plans, which are in place before children move in. This helps children to settle and feel at home as well as to manage any anxieties they may experience at times of change

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support to make progress in education. Two children have been supported back into formal education, achieving their GCSEs and going on to college. Staff help education professionals to understand children’s barriers to engagement, which has helped children’s emotional and behavioural needs be consistently met

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are actively engaged in their local community and undertake charity work. Staff use incentives and rewards to encourage positive behaviour and recognise children’s achievements. Children enjoy a wide range of activities. One child said that they are extremely proud to have the opportunity to ride horses. These experiences strengthen the children’s sense of identity, self-worth and skillset.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with some support to develop their independence skills. However, there is a lack of planning in this area, meaning that work to support children who are due to move on is lacking in focus. This means children are not being provided with effective support to prepare them to live independently. Inspection report for children’s home: SC429995 4

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

Children say that they have positive relationships with staff and can speak to staff when they are worried. Staff understand the children’s risks and needs well. They tailor their support depending on the child’s level of need. Risk assessments and care plans are updated regularly and include clear strategies for staff to manage risks. Staff know these well and work in line with them.

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

Children’s behaviour is generally settled, with presenting risks in many areas minimal. However, staff complete regular training relating to risks that are not a current concern to ensure that they know how to respond should these risks arise. This ensures that children are cared for by staff who have a good understanding of how to meet their needs.

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

Children are helped to understand risks relating to online safety, bullying, sexual health, relationships and contraception methods. Staff create a supportive and open culture that helps children to be able to volunteer information and seek support from staff around sensitive matters. This helps children understand how to keep safe and learn to develop healthy and trusting relationships.

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

Children are provided with consistent routines and boundaries. Staff are skilled in supporting children and understanding their previous trauma, with help from the home’s psychologist. Staff work with children to help them reflect on any incidents that occur and understand consequences from these. Children have benefited from these discussions with staff, and this has contributed to a reduction in some unwanted behaviours.

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

The manager takes prompt action in responding to concerns about staff practice raised by children. Children are provided with quick responses, and there is good partnership working with other professionals to ensure that any concerns are fully investigated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is highly ambitious for children. She uses regular feedback from children to focus on improving outcomes for them. Professionals say that the staff team is a strong advocate for the children and responds quickly to their wishes and feelings. Excellent advocacy has helped secure additional resources to support children and contributed to effective long-term planning for children in line with their wishes. This helps children to live in a stable and nurturing environment where they receive consistent and stable care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders are fiercely loyal to the children and are tenacious in escalating any concerns about their care. When children are not being provided with equal opportunities, the manager strongly and appropriately challenges external professionals. This has resulted in children accessing opportunities they may otherwise have missed out on and helps children feel included and valued. Inspection report for children’s home: SC429995 5 Staff have fantastic relationships with children’s family members and external professionals. Trusting relationships have been developed, and the manager offers safe alternatives to promote family time when risks to children have occurred. This has contributed to children maintaining positive and safe relationships with their wider family.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has highly effective and robust monitoring systems that enable her to have excellent oversight of all aspects of the children’s care and practice of staff. Leaders ensure that staff are supported in understanding what improvements are being made to children’s care through reflective and regular supervision sessions and team meetings where all children are spoken about. Training and learning opportunities, which are specific to children’s needs, are regularly provided for all staff. This helps staff be confident in caring for children and understand how to respond to their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Feedback from children, their families, wider professionals and staff is regularly gathered. Managers value their comments and use them to make improvements to children’s care and the experiences that they have. Inspection report for children’s home: SC429995 6

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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 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)) 9 July 2026

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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: SC429995 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: A Significant Other Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

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Inspector

Amey Henry, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC429995 8 regulates and inspects to 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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