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

Inspection report for children's home: 2872370 1 Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children's home

This children's home is operated by a private organisation. The home offers short-term intensive stays, typically lasting for 17 weeks, for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children's home

The manager and the home registered with Ofsted on 4 November 2025. This was the home's first inspection.

p.1

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.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2872370 2

p.1

Summary of findings

Staff care for one child with complex needs who is placed a distance from their family and friends. Clinical and learning support is readily available for children and staff. Staff have built positive relationships with the child and have engaged them in activities, and this has helped the child make progress during their short-term stay. However, attempts to manage risks in the home and community compromise the child's independence, and the child's views do not lead managers to engage the social worker to challenge care- planning decisions. In addition, the registered manager's limited presence in the home leads to shortfalls in the leadership and management of the home. Overall, the home provides good care and experiences for children but requires improvement to be good in leadership and management.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers ensure that staff have the skills and experience needed to care for a child before they move in. When a child is placed a significant distance from their home and without a planned move, staff do all that they can to welcome the child. Staff understand that a move to a rural setting may be difficult for some children to adjust to.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have helped the child develop trusting and positive relationships from an early start. This has supported the child to settle after a difficult start to their time in the home and ensures that they have staff they can speak to openly about their needs and wishes.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed to ensuring that the child is engaged in activities or has someone to talk to. They are proactive in motivating the child to take part in activities in the home and community and to take advantage of the home's location. The child is therefore gaining experiences that they may not otherwise have had.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is offered learning within the home and community during their short-term stay. Home tuition is available, and education professionals assess what support the child needs. Staff work creatively to offer opportunities to develop learning and skills, such as practical tasks or exploring work experience.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work with health professionals to ensure that the child's health needs are better understood. This ensures that the child has specialist services included to help them with smoking cessation, substance misuse awareness and reviews of medication. However, managers did not ensure that staff followed up a recommendation for the child to have a further health appointment when recommended. This means that the child has not been supported to access all the health appointments they need. Inspection report for children's home: 2872370 3 Staff transport the child to spend time with their family. Staff help arrange for them and their family to spend time together and will stay with them if this is needed. This helps the child to stay connected with their family and loved ones.

p.2

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

Staff have important conversations with the child to help them understand risks they may be vulnerable to. Challenges in the child's behaviours have reduced because of time staff spent with them helping the child to develop strategies to understand and manage difficult emotions and feelings. This helps the child to reduce known risks and vulnerabilities that may affect them.

p.3

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

Staff only physically intervene to hold the child as a last resort to keep them and others safe. Staff are trained to use their skills to support the child in crisis, and there are few occasions the child has been held. Staff and the child are offered time to have reflective conversations, and this helps the registered manager to decide how best to support the child in the future.

p.3

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

The child has plans in place for their time in the home and community, but these do not provide all guidance staff need to support the child. The child's plans lack details about how the child will be supported if a serious incident takes place and staff feel their safety is compromised. Therefore, the child may receive an inconsistent response from staff if a serious incident takes place.

p.3

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

Staff follow the child's safety plan if the child goes missing from home. Staff actively search for them to secure their safe return prior to notifying emergency services to support. The registered manager does not engage the child's placing local authority to arrange a return home interview for the child. An independent service is commissioned to contact the home after an incident of a child going missing from the home to speak with the child. This is not always successful. Therefore, the child is not receiving the right support from their placing authority to understand the child's views about why they have been missing and any lessons that can be learned from this.

p.3

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

There are safe procedures in place for the administration of medication. The child requires a prescribed controlled medication, and core staff who work at the home receive training to administer medication. There have been no errors identified through management audit of medication records.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager does not ensure that they are regularly present in the home to have oversight of the child's care. This includes when there has been a serious incident in the home, or following whistleblowing by staff. In addition, leaders and managers are not ensuring that they record their time in the home accurately. It is therefore unclear how leaders and managers are assured of how well staff are meeting the child's needs or how well staff are being supported. Inspection report for children's home: 2872370 4 The registered manager does not always engage the child's social worker about the plans for the child. One child has been restricted in the time that they can spend on their own outside of the home, despite their age. Managers have not challenged the social worker about their plan for the child, nor when the child has complained about the restriction of their freedom and how this has made them feel. Therefore, managers are

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

not actively engaging the child's placing authority effectively in the child's care.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers ensure that staff have the skills needed to meet the child's complex needs. Staff are given a well-structured induction into the home, and training is provided that will help them better support the child's individual needs. The registered manager is keen to develop staff within their roles, and this is discussed in staff supervision sessions.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Safe recruitment practice is embedded. The registered manager ensures that staff recruited to work in the home are subject to appropriate scrutiny to ensure that they are safe to work with children. In addition, the registered manager extends this due diligence to any agency staff who may come to work with a child. Inspection report for children's home: 2872370 5

p.4

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.

p.5

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—

p.5

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.5

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;

p.5

Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

p.5

Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

p.5

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)(f)(g)(ii)(h)) 12 June 2026

p.5

Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

p.5

Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child's placing authority effectively in the child's care, in accordance with the child's relevant plans; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority's or a relevant person's performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child's needs are met in accordance with the child's relevant plans (Regulation 5 (a)(c)) 12 June 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2872370 6

p.5

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to the child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include accurate details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. In particular, the registered person should ensure that the child's plans are reviewed and include up-to-date and correct information. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standard,' page 42, paragraph 9.5)

p.6

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: 2872370 7

p.6

Children's home details

Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Ltd

p.7

Children's home details

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

p.7

Inspector

Joanne Wallis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2872370 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8