Children's Home run by Resicare Alliance Limited in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2806939 1 Registered provider: Resicare Alliance 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 managed by a private company. It provides care for up to eight children who have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Six children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. The inspectors spent time with all six children to obtain their views.

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Information about this children’s home

A new and experienced manager was appointed in March 2026 and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an onsite school that is going through the registration process. The school was not inspected as part of the inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 23 September 2025

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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: 2806939 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/09/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2806939 3

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Summary of findings

The children are receiving effective care and making good progress. Children are being effectively safeguarded by the manager and staff. However, there are shortfalls in leadership and management. The shortfalls have been recognised by senior management. There is an appropriate action plan to address the shortfalls, which has led to significant improvements on the care that children receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home, and two children have moved to the home. These moves were well managed by leaders and managers and included extensive assessment from the organisation’s clinical psychology team. Children have positive experiences of moving into and out of the home, and this helps them to settle and quickly start making progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and children enjoy good relationships. The staff know the children very well. The children have complex communication needs, and the staff work hard to understand what children are communicating to them. For example, one child uses words that have a different meaning, and staff have learned what the words mean to him. Staff encourage children to use PECS symbols and specific communication boards to help children to communicate how they wish to be cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have education places. Some children have outreach programmes and tutoring from qualified educators. One child attends a specialist school. Two children are preparing for a new school and college. Children are well prepared to engage in purposeful education and are making positive progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard with the children to overcome any health anxieties they may have and how to cope with health appointments. Staff recognise that not all children can manage appointments in the community. The manager has arranged for community health specialists to visit the home to ensure children’s health needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to spend time with their family. Children see family regularly and wherever possible children have extended overnight stays with family. Children spend quality time with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children with independence. Children are learning important skills at an appropriate pace. These include cooking basic food and understanding monetary transactions. Children have made considerable progress, becoming more independent with their personal care, and this has increased their privacy and dignity. Inspection report for children’s home: 2806939 4 Children are taking part in fun and enriching activities. Children have enjoyed theme and country parks; they enjoy swimming and climbing high ropes. Children have also raised money through a bake sale for red nose day. Children are taking part in meaningful activities in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a warm, welcoming home. The environment is large and spacious and there is a large garden for children to enjoy. There are photographs of the children displayed throughout the home. Children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms in line with their wishes. The manager has arranged for a deep clean of the home and new carpets to be fitted in the lounge. She is also in the process of removing some signage that detracts from an otherwise homely environment.

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

Staff understand how vulnerable the children are and they demonstrate a strong understanding of their responsibilities for keeping the children safe. Two social workers provided their views and confirmed they are confident in staff responses to safeguarding incidents and their ability to keep children safe.

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

There have been some physical interventions to keep children and others safe. These are proportionate and necessary. Staff have been spoken to following incidents. Staff help children understand how to manage difficult emotions safely, using social stories to help children understand what is being communicated.

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

The staff help children to manage difficult emotions and behaviour. Staff understand and implement creative strategies that are individual to the child. These include creative but effective strategies. There has been a notable decrease in behaviours that challenge staff both in severity and frequency.

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

There has been one allegation against staff. The managers promptly liaised with the local authority designated officer and the child’s social worker. Action was taken immediately to effectively safeguard the child.

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

There has been one incident that required police support. Staff took appropriate action and kept the child safe. Following the incident, staff were spoken to. However, the previous manager did not ensure that work was completed with the child around their experience with police or to check the child’s understanding. The current manager has planned a visit from a local A Police Community Support Officer (PSCO) as she understands not completing this work could mean that the child views the police negatively.

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

There are some unnecessary restrictive practices. There are additional security measures to the external doors and grounds of the property in response to the needs of one child, who is at risk of going missing. There are also locks on two of the children’s bedroom furniture to restrict access. The manager recognised that the approach is restrictive and not in line with the children’s current needs. This limits children’s ability to access some Inspection report for children’s home: 2806939 5 of their belongings and access external areas of the property. The manager has started to remove the security measures as they are no longer required.

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

The effectiveness of leadership and management has declined. The previous management arrangements did not provide staff with sufficient guidance, supervision or oversight. Senior leaders recognised these shortfalls and implemented an action plan to address the identified weaknesses.

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

A new manager has recently been appointed and is working closely with senior managers. The manager is also well supported by the deputy manager. The organisation has appointed a new responsible individual. Since taking up post, the manager has had a positive impact and introduced several improvements to care practice.

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

Staff morale and teamwork have improved. Staff spoken to said they feel motivated and empowered to provide good-quality care for children.

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

Staff benefit from access to good-quality training delivered by the clinical team and so they use psychologically informed approaches. Most staff have either achieved or are working towards the relevant qualification in residential care. However, two staff members are outside the agreed timescales for completing the qualification. In addition, training records are unclear and do not accurately reflect the training completed by staff.

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

Children are not consistently supported and advocated for by staff at important meetings relating to their education and care. This means children do not always benefit from effective representation from those caring for them.

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

Managers have not ensured that all relevant records are accessible and up to date. During the inspection, some current local authority care plans were unavailable. The manager has completed an audit and requested the missing documents.

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

There has been one internal investigation since the last inspection. The investigation was thorough and identified areas for learning. Although additional training was recommended as part of the learning identified, this had not been completed five months later. Leaders have now booked the training, which is due to take place imminently.

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

Feedback from parents and social workers was generally positive. Professionals and families spoke positively about the quality of care provided to children and the progress children are making. However, communication with parents and professionals is not always consistent. On one occasion, the outcome of a child’s complaint was not reported back to parents, and weekly reports are sometimes delayed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2806939 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 privacy of children is appropriately protected; children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises–

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Requirement Due date

is necessary and proportionate; is kept under review and, if necessary, revised;

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Requirement Due date

and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c) (1)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that any unnecessary restrictions on children’s privacy are removed.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated again from the previous inspection. 7 September 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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(c)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that staff attend the children’s meetings and advocate effectively on behalf of children, that communication with parents and professionals is consistent and timely and promotes the children’s welfare, that all records are accessible, accurate and kept up to date, and 7 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2806939 7 that the identified learning and development for staff is monitoring to ensure that all staff complete a relevant level 3 qualification within the required timescales.

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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: 2806939 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Resicare Alliance Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 147 Stamford Hill, London N16 5LG

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Inspector

Amy Miles, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2806939 9 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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Inspector

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