Children's Home run by Your Chapter Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: 1271998 1 Registered provider: Your Chapter Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home was registered with Ofsted in 2022 and is run by a private provider.

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Information about this children's home

It provides care for up to 3 children who may have social and emotional difficulties or special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about this children's home

There were 3 children living at the home at the time of the inspection. The inspectors spoke with 2 of the children.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2024.

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Information about this children's home

There is no responsible individual in post.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1271998 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/06/2025 Full Good 04/06/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/05/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: 1271998 3

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Summary of findings

Children living in the home say they are happy and supported. However, children's needs and risks are not always clearly understood or planned for.

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Summary of findings

Education for children is inconsistent. One child is progressing well, but others have no structured learning routine.

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Summary of findings

Safeguarding practice is not robust. Although staff respond to incidents, proactive planning is limited, particularly around online safety, fire-setting and substance misuse. Police have been called unnecessarily, increasing the risk of avoidable criminalisation.

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Summary of findings

Leadership oversight is not effective. Significant incidents have not always been reported, and learning from events is not consistently embedded.

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Summary of findings

Staff feel supported, but staff changes and inconsistent planning of staffing arrangements means that children are not provided with consistent care.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, 2 children have moved out of the home. Planning for moves into and out of the home is not robust. One child moved on from the home at short notice following an incident involving police intervention. For one child moving into the home, the rationale was not clear about how the child's needs could be met alongside the needs of the other children already living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not work together to manage children's risks and behaviours. Records are not updated, which means that information recorded in children's plans is not always accurate.

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improvement to be good

The support from staff to encourage children to attend education is variable. One child has made good educational progress, attending school full-time and preparing for college. Other children are not in education and lack any structured learning during the day. This absence of routine means that children are not engaged in meaningful or purposeful educational activities.

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improvement to be good

Staff have regular conversations with children. These include both staff-led and child-led topics. However, these interactions are generally informal rather than structured key-work sessions, which means that opportunities to engage children in purposeful discussions are missed. As a result, staff are not consistently supporting children to understand their behaviours, to reflect on consequences or to build insight that supports their development. Inspection report for children's home: 1271998 4 Following serious incidents, the manager identifies further work for staff to undertake with children. However, these do not always take place. This results in an inconsistent response from staff.

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improvement to be good

Children have access to a range of activities. Staff support the children to participate in leisure pursuits of their choosing and have discussions around other social activities in the community. Staff support children to spend time with family members and people who are important to them.

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improvement to be good

The home is clean, comfortable and suitable for children. They have contributed to the decor of the home and help to make choices about the use of their communal rooms.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding practice in the home is not consistent. Staff respond to new and emerging concerns for children when incidents occur. However, they are not proactive in implementing strategies and interventions to prevent further incidents occurring. As a result, measures are not in place to safeguard children from further harm.

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improvement to be good

Incidents of challenging behaviour are not always managed effectively by staff, with police intervention being used to manage children's behaviour. This has left children at risk of criminalisation.

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improvement to be good

Staffing arrangements in the home have not always been appropriate and have led to staff not being able to intervene in incidents when required, as they have been working in the home with injuries. As a result, they have not been able to use physical intervention to safeguard children or others.

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improvement to be good

There has been a reduction in incidents of children being missing from home. When incidents do occur, staff manage these well. Staff follow children's plans and search for them to ensure that they are located and returned home as quickly as possible. Staff welcome children back home and ensure that the relevant people are informed. Children are provided with the opportunity to speak with an independent person following any incidents of being missing.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment of staff is safe. Relevant checks are undertaken to ensure that the staff working in the home are safe and suitable to be caring for the children.

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

Managers do not have sufficient oversight in the home and has not always identify shortfalls in staff practice. When shortfalls are identified, there is no follow up to ensure that action is taken to address these and there is a lack of reflection and learning following serious incidents in the home. Furthermore, serious incidents are not always Inspection report for children's home: 1271998 5 reported to Ofsted. This limits the regulatory oversight of the care being provided in the home.

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

Team meetings and supervisions sessions take place regularly, as do staff appraisals. Team meetings are used as opportunities to support staff and discuss the children's progress as well as team issues. However, opportunities for reflection with the team on improvements needed to safeguarding practice and undertaking direct work with children are missed.

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

The home has sufficient staffing levels to care for the children. However, there has been some turnover of staff since the last inspection. This means that children have experienced care from a changing staff team. Induction processes for new staff members are detailed and structured. Members of staff know the children well.

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

Staff are clear about procedures in the home, such as missing-from-home procedures and room searches and what is expected of them. They speak highly about the supportive management team and strong culture of support in the home.

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

Feedback from professionals is positive about the leadership team and of the child- focused approach of staff in the home.

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

Managers challenge other professionals appropriately when they feel the child's needs are not being considered or met. Inspection report for children's home: 1271998 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child's relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home's child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(vi)(e))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that the manager ensures that plans and strategies are in place to manage all risks for children and that staff follow these plans. In particular, in respect of online safety, fire-setting and misusing substances. 14 July 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—

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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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— 14 July 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 1271998 7 research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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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) (2)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that there is management oversight of all incidents and that systems are in place to monitor and review the quality of care provided in the home. In addition, that the registered manager ensures that there is consistent care provided to children from a consistent staff team.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 14/07/2026

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home; and 14/07/2026 Inspection report for children's home: 1271998 8 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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child's relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that children's moves into and out of the home are well planned to ensure that children's needs can be met.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child's education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child's learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that children are supported to attend education and that 14/07/2026 Inspection report for children's home: 1271998 9 plans are in place to meet children's educational needs when they do not attend.

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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: 1271998 10

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Your Chapter Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Hobart House, Oakwater Avenue, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle SK8 3SR

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Inspectors

Hannah Longdon, Social Care Inspector Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1271998 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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