Children's Home run by A Wilderness Way Limited in Cumberland

Inspection report for children’s home: 2864327 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 home is privately operated. It provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties, or have a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

This home and manager registered with Ofsted in October 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children have lived at this home since it was registered. There is currently one child living in the home. They were seen and spoken to during this 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 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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2864327 2

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Summary of findings

Children make positive progress while at the home due to the positive relationships they have with staff. They engage in education, participate in challenging activities, and get to know themselves. Their risks reduce and time with family increases due to the consistent support they receive from staff.

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Summary of findings

Managers use the positive relationships they have with children, families, and professionals to work together to reduce risks. Conversations about risk are natural and frequently initiated by the child. Children and families feel listened to and contribute to children’s risks reducing.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers are ambitious for the children and the staff and encourage an atmosphere of positivity in the home. They know the home well and generate ideas to make improvements in the care they provide for the children. Some improvement is needed in how the independent person captures feedback from relevant people from outside of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have meaningful and regular time with their family. Family members are very happy with the support that the staff provide their child and for them. The managers and staff have positive relationships with the family members of the children they care for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager works closely with the therapeutic and activities teams to complete a detailed suitability assessment when a child moves into the home. An individual programme of support and activities that reflect the child’s needs and interests is developed. Staff are adaptable and plans change as staff get to know the child. Staff support the children to engage in a range of enjoyable experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to engage with therapeutic and educational sessions. Children make good progress in their education and reflect on their life experiences. Children feel confident to talk to staff about things that worry them and ask for help with their emotions. Staff help to develop children’s confidence and encourage them to engage in a variety of activities that support their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff ensured that relationships were maintained when a child went to stay with family in an unplanned way before the child moved on from the home. Staff’s supportive relationships with the child’s parents helped to maintain the child’s care, in readiness for the child formally leaving. The child did not return to the home. However, staff followed the plan for the child as originally agreed, providing support to help prepare the child for independence and a move on to semi-independent living. Staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2864327 3 consistently offered and planned time with the child throughout the child’s time with their family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff encourage children to participate in the running of the home. The child is a keen interior decorator and is being supported to express their personality throughout the home. The child has also contributed to the children’s guide and is working with the training team to share their experiences of neurodiversity with staff.

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

Detailed and regularly reviewed risk assessments support staff to keep the children safe and help the children to see the progress they make. The manager recognises the effect of the location of the home and high staffing ratio in the initial reduction in risk. They plan appropriate interventions to reinforce and further reduce children’s risk. Furthermore, children are supported through therapy, helping them to learn new and safe ways to manage their emotions.

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

Behavioural incidents are infrequent, but when they do occur, they are well managed and staff record them clearly. Staff and children participate in discussions, and the manager’s oversight is clear, often recommending positive feedback to the child for the good choices they have made during an incident. When the manager identifies the need for additional training or other actions for staff to reduce risk, this is completed quickly. Staff feel confident to raise issues and identify their training needs, knowing they will be addressed.

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

The staff work with the children and their families to support them to reduce risks and resolve complaints. Together, they create safety plans covering room searches, vaping, and phone use, which the child understands, agrees to and which help to keep the child safe. Open and transparent conversations with children help to support them to reduce risk. Children feel safe and initiate and contribute openly to discussions. This helps children feel heard and valued.

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

Children do not go missing from the home due to their relationships with staff. However, staff know what to do should a child go missing due to the regularly updated protocols and refresher training they receive. Staff have extensive experience of supporting children who go missing from home. Local police are confident in staff’s approach to children at risk of missing and exploitation.

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

The manager and staff respond proportionately when a child makes an allegation or disclosure. The manager understands the role of the local authority designated officer and seeks their advice when necessary. Allegations and disclosures are managed well and children feel supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Inspection report for children’s home: 2864327 4 The manager provides excellent leadership to the team. Their management oversight is highly effective, showing detailed analysis of the children’s care and decision-making to meet the children’s needs. Furthermore, the manager regularly attends training and shares their learning with the whole staff team. The manager has brought learning from other settings that informs their work in this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager understands the significance of clear and meaningful recording for children’s future understanding of their experiences. The manager is working with staff to improve this. They take inspiration from research-based practice, as well as suggestions from the children and staff to develop resources to support staff practice. The manager uses creative exercises to build a positive, reflective team of staff who support each other. The manager and staff are committed to learning and development to continuously improve the care they provide for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager uses staff from their other homes when there are gaps in the rota. All staff have the training and checks and understand how the home functions. This means children are cared for by staff who are familiar to them and who know and understand them and the ethos of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive regular, reflective practice-related supervision sessions and benefit from positive praise and supportive advice. Staff wellbeing is prominent in the sessions and staff feel valued. Staff have access to a wide variety of training that helps them to improve practice and the outcomes for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The managers escalate appropriately when there is missing documentation for a child. Staff record their own minutes of external meetings to minimise delays and ensure that the child’s needs continue to be prioritised. The manager has acted quickly to ensure that miscommunication from a child’s social worker has not negatively affected the relationships that staff had built with the child and their family. The manager challenges robustly when other professionals are not working in a child’s best interest.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Social workers and their managers comment on the excellent communication from the home, their relationships with families and attention to detail when children move in and out of the home. Social workers and families receive weekly email updates and a monthly newsletter filled with photos of their child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is visited monthly by the independent person, who provides scrutiny about the children’s care, the quality of leadership and the effectiveness of safeguarding practice. The manager uses this process effectively to support continuous development in the home. However, there is limited consultation with any person external to the home and this may lead to important feedback being missed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2864327 5

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Recommendation

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and facilitate the individual providing this scrutiny in gaining feedback from people external to the home (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: 2864327 6

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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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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Charlotte Stainton-Stevens

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Inspector

Kirstie Sutherland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2864327 7 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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