Children's Home run by Blue Mountain Homes Ltd in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 1 SC047978

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Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes 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 is a privately run children’s home. The home is registered to care for up to 5 children. There were 2 children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is registered with Ofsted and is suitably qualified.

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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: SC047978 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/06/2025 Full Good 19/06/2024 Full Good 06/06/2023 Full Good 25/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 3

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Summary of findings

Children are cared for by the staff in the home, who know them well and provide consistent care and support. Staff build trusting relationships with children and place children’s voices at the centre of their care practice. Consequently, children are supported to make good progress in all areas of their lives. Staff have a good understanding of their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. However, the manager has not consistently identified or analysed patterns and trends within incidents, which limits the team's ability to learn and adapt proactively. The manager leads by example and promotes high aspirations for children and staff. Despite this leadership, care planning could be strengthened to better support children’s moves out of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, there were 4 children living at the home. The home is welcoming, spacious and tastefully decorated. Children’s bedrooms are personalised, and children have their say in many aspects of the running of the home. Staff ensure that children develop a sense of belonging and stability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have a range of opportunities that enrich their lives. Children are encouraged to pursue interests, engage in community activities and to have new experiences. This helps children to make memories, grow in confidence and have their achievements celebrated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a voice in how the home is run and they see this as their own home. Regular house meetings and discussions are used to seek children’s views and wishes, ensuring that these are acted on and children feel listened to and involved in matters that affect them. One child said, ‘This is the best home I have lived in.’ The child also felt that ongoing care and support improved their emotional wellbeing and behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have high aspirations for the children, and education is valued and actively promoted. Staff advocate effectively for children and support them to access learning opportunities, achieve qualifications and develop aspirations for the future. The on-site education provision supports children’s engagement in learning, particularly during periods of transition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have built safe, trusting and meaningful relationships with staff. Staff show children emotional warmth. This enables children to make progress in all areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been several moves into and out of the home since the last inspection. While staff have taken steps to plan children’s move into the home, they have not consistently considered the impact that new arrivals have on those already living there. In particular, Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 4 a lack of thoughtful planning around how changes to the group dynamics affect existing children has resulted in increased instability. This has had a direct negative impact on the care provided for children, with some experiencing heightened distress and disruption, contributing to moves out of the home being earlier than expected.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and are able to identify early signs of distress and respond appropriately. Detailed risk assessments provide them with thorough guidance, identifying known risks, triggers and strategies that are in place to reduce harm.

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

Children say that they feel safe and cared for. Staff talk to children on a regular basis about potential risks and use their specialist training to guide their practice to keep children safe. Staff demonstrate confidence in responding to serious incidents and work proactively with partner agencies to safeguard children and promote their wellbeing.

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

Staff take immediate action when children are missing from home. They show considerable commitment to locating children and work closely with other professionals to keep children safe and support them to return home. Staff keep in touch with children where possible and share information in a timely way. However, the manager has not identified patterns and trends in incidents of children going missing from care. This has the potential to hinder lessons learned.

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

When physical interventions are used, these are appropriate and proportionate. Staff support children during periods of crisis and use a range of strategies before considering physical intervention. Following incidents, children are offered opportunities to discuss and reflect on their experiences. However, staff reflections are often brief and focus primarily on describing events rather than critically evaluating practice. As a result, staff do not always clearly identify the lessons learned or how those lessons have informed their practice.

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

CCTV is used to monitor external areas of the home. However, the manager has not consistently demonstrated how the use of surveillance has been considered within children’s plans and assessments. It also does not reflect how children’s rights to privacy have been balanced against their safeguarding needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced and committed manager, who is ambitious for children and focused on improving their experiences and outcomes. The manager has created a nurturing culture in which children are cared for by a team of staff who understand their individual needs and experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they feel well supported by the manager, who is visible and accessible to them. As a result, staff say that they enjoy working at this home, and staff turnover is low. In Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 5 turn, this ensures children are provided with consistent care by a team, whose members know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a strong advocate for children. She challenges partner agencies appropriately when services do not meet children’s needs and remains persistent in securing support. For example, when the manager encountered barriers to accessing mental health services for a child, she advocated on the child’s behalf, ensuring that the child’s needs remained central to professional decision-making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers invest in the development of staff. For example, staff are encouraged to undertake qualifications and specialist training, including the home’s therapeutic approach. This helps staff to understand the meaning behind children’s behaviour and, in turn, supports children to understand and express their emotions. This is further strengthened through regular team meetings and regular supervision, ensuring that staff remain equipped to meet children’s evolving needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager maintains good working relationships with parents and professionals. One parent described the staff as ‘’fantastic’’, while commending the communication as effective and expressing confidence in the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff appropriately review risks and update plans in line with children’s changing needs, and they share assessments and safety plans across the team to support consistent care. However, the manager has not consistently evaluated the impact of significant changes within the house group, particularly when new children move in. This lack of reflective practice means staff are not consistently supported to consider how shifts in group dynamics affect the relationships of the children currently living in the home, their emotional wellbeing and their sense of stability. As a result, some children have experienced increased uncertainty and disruption. Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 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

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.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that moves into and on from the home are thoroughly assessed, including the impact on the children who already live there. 18 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

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 kept under review and, if necessary, revised.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 21 (a) (c)(ii)(iii)) 18 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 7 In particular, the manager must ensure that the use of CCTV and any other surveillance measures are necessary, proportionate and used in accordance with children’s individual needs and risks.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that incident reviews, staff debriefs and management oversight are sufficiently evaluative and clearly identify what worked well, what could have been done differently and what learning has been identified. Records should demonstrate how learning is shared with the staff team and how it informs changes to practice, risk management and care planning. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, p.61, paragraph 13.4)

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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: SC047978 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd, 21 Mallard Way, Pride Park, Derby DE24 8GX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pradeep Manaktala

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Inspectors

Patrick Rowell, Social Care Inspector Jibin Vakanil, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC047978 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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