Children's Home run by Rochdale Borough Council in Rochdale

Inspection report for children’s home: SC034851 1 SC034851 Registered provider: Rochdale Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A local authority operates this home. The home is registered to provide care for up to 5 children who may have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, there were 4 children being cared for at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspector spoke to two children during the inspection. Two children were happy to provide written feedback. One child has moved out since the last inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2026.

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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 good

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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: SC034851 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/04/2025 Full Good 07/05/2024 Full Good 05/07/2023 Full Good 07/06/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC034851 3

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Summary of findings

Four children live at the home. They feel safe and happy. They enjoy positive experiences and are making good progress. They have respectful relationships with one another and staff.

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Summary of findings

Children’s needs are understood by staff who provide an appropriate response to children’s changing risks, which ensures that children are protected from harm.

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Summary of findings

An experienced and suitably qualified manager leads the home.

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Summary of findings

Some areas for improvement were identified at this inspection: the need for modernisation, repair and maintenance in the home; staff debriefs being completed following physical intervention; room searches being carried out sensitively; and the recording of discussions with children about consequences. In addition, fire drills in response to changing risks are not completed, and some staff have not received timely training in relation to exploitation risks. The manager does not consistently challenge the quality of the reports completed by the independent person. Collectively, these shortfalls limit opportunities to strengthen practice and improve the quality of care provided for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and settled in the home and are making good progress from their starting points, including improved health and education outcomes. Children enjoy positive and affectionate relationships with staff, who treat them with dignity and respect.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel confident to share their views with staff and trust that they will listen and respond to them. Staff prioritise meaningful conversations with children about what is happening in their lives. Some conversations are planned, while others take place following significant events, ensuring that children receive timely and relevant support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to maintain relationships with their families and friends. They demonstrate appropriate challenge when contact arrangements are not meeting children’s needs. As a result, children enjoy spending positive and meaningful time with the people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well met. Staff ensure that children attend routine health appointments and work closely with specialist services when required, such as child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and epilepsy nurses. This collaborative approach leads to improved health outcomes for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034851 4 Staff prioritise children’s education. When there are difficulties with attendance and engagement, staff work closely with education colleagues and the virtual headteacher to find ways to improve their attendance and engagement. As a result of this collaborative approach, one child now has an education, health and care plan, ensuring access to education provision that meets their individual needs. When children are not in education, staff provide structured activities for informal learning, such as educational visits and physical activity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively promote children’s independence and help them to build confidence and self-esteem. Children take part in a variety of activities that reflect their interests, and staff encourage them to try new experiences. Some children have enjoyed their first holiday.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to move into the home through effective planning, using available information to ensure that staff can meet their needs. Risks, including the impact on other children, are carefully considered and recorded. When children move on, decisions are made in the best interests of all, and staff stay in touch with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is generally warm, welcoming and personalised to reflect children’s individuality. Shared areas provide ample space for children to relax and engage in their preferred activities, including the use of a games room. However, some areas require modernisation and repair, and the garden area is not well maintained to enable children to enjoy the outdoor space.

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

Children feel safe and do not go missing from the home. When children leave the home unexpectedly, staff follow them and ensure their safe and prompt return home.

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

Children are supported to understand how to keep themselves safe through meaningful conversations on topics such as fire safety, knife crime, substance misuse and online safety.

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

Staff demonstrate effective incident management practices, including undertaking welfare checks, key-work sessions and maintaining communication with social workers and other relevant professionals. They work in partnership with CAMHS, youth offending services and complex safeguarding teams to manage risks associated with criminal exploitation.

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

Room searches are carried out on some occasions when there are concerns for children’s safety and welfare. However, they are not consistently undertaken when required. When shortfalls occur, managers take prompt action to address practice, demonstrating oversight and accountability. Children are informed and their consent is sought where possible. However, when consent is not given, searches are not always conducted sensitively, which has caused distress to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034851 5 Staff treat children with respect and provide regular praise, promoting a positive and therapeutic approach to care. This has resulted in fewer incidents and a reduction in the use of physical intervention. However, staff are not always given opportunities to reflect on their practice.

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

The use of consequences is rare, and when used, the manager provides oversight to ensure that they are fair and restorative in nature. However, their effectiveness is not consistently reviewed, and it is not always evident that timely discussions take place to support children’s understanding of their behaviour.

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

There are routine fire safety arrangements in place, and children and staff understand how to keep themselves safe in the event of a fire. However, the manager does not consistently ensure that additional fire drills are completed in response to changing risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an experienced registered manager in post who has a clear vision for the children and the development of the staff team. She is a strong advocate for improving children’s experiences and speaks proudly of their progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is now a stable team of staff who work well together. The manager addresses inconsistency in staff practice and promotes a positive, open culture. Children are cared for by staff who know them well and provide support that promotes their safety, emotional wellbeing and stability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager supports staff through regular supervision and annual appraisal, which staff report as valuable for their professional development and wellbeing. Team meetings are well attended and used effectively to share information about children. Targeted sessions delivered by external experts have strengthened practice, including improving the quality of staff’s interactions and conversations with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have the appropriate qualifications and skills to perform their roles, and they complete a range of training to meet children’s needs. However, not all staff have completed criminal exploitation training in a timely manner to respond effectively to one child’s emerging risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has effective monitoring systems in place and uses these to identify good practice and address shortfalls. However, she has not consistently challenged the independent person when reports lacked clarity or when feedback from children, parents and professionals has not been obtained. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034851 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 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

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—

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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

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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff have access to regular training that relates to the needs of the children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must support the independent person to capture the views of children, staff, parents and professionals. They must also provide appropriate challenge where the independent person has not fully demonstrated professional curiosity or thoroughly explored key events in the home in their report. 17 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 17 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC034851 7 the effectiveness and any consequences of the use 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)(vi)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that incidents of physical intervention are evaluated with scrutiny, and that staff involved in the restraint have the opportunity to debrief and take into consideration any possible learning outcomes that can be implemented in children’s risk management plans and support the development of staff.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are supported to understand the use of consequences in helping them to learn from their behaviours.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that room searches are conducted sensitively to reduce children’s distress.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that additional fire drills are completed when necessary to reduce risk. 17 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC034851 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are able to experience living in a home that is homely and well maintained. Signs of wear and tear should be repaired or replaced in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC034851 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Rochdale Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council, Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1XU

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Inspectors

Samantha Cooper, Social Care Inspector Sarah Probert, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC034851 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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