Children's Home run by Esland North Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties and have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home offers short-term care placements of 12 weeks to assess children’s care needs before they move to alternative carers who can meet their long-term needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

During this inspection period, 6 children have moved on from the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There were 2 children living at the home at the time of the inspection, and they both contributed to the inspection process.

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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: 1245565 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/06/2025 Full Good 09/04/2024 Full Good 02/05/2023 Full Good 04/04/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 3

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Summary of findings

Children and staff benefit from a manager who provides a strong sense of stability and consistency. Children are supported to build relationships with staff over a relatively short length of time. Children have made progress from their individual starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is welcoming and feels homely. There have been some changes to improve the way the space is used to better suit the needs of the children. For example, the conservatory has been designed as a separate area for children to focus on education. Children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms, and they feel comfortable spending time in their rooms and relaxing with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy participating in activities and learning new skills and hobbies, such as ice skating and go-karting. This helps children build relationships quickly with staff and contributes to building their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to experience a period of stability and consistency during the assessment process. This helps them to develop routines. This is progress from their individual starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from an in-house tutor who helps them access education and achieve qualifications. Some children have been out of education for a significant length of time, and staff are skilled at supporting them to re-engage. One member of staff thoughtfully allowed a child who was interested in hairdressing to cut their hair.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Six children have moved on from the home since the last inspection. Five of them stayed for the whole assessment period and experienced a planned move. This helped inform future care planning for each child. The manager takes a child-focused approach and allows for flexibility, allowing children to stay longer when it is deemed to be in their best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Robust assessment and information-gathering processes ensure that the manager makes well-informed decisions about staff’s ability to meet children’s individual needs. Transition planning, both into and out of the home, is thorough, highly considered and an overall positive experience for children.

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

The manager and staff have a good understanding of children’s risks and understand how to respond to ensure their safety. Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 4 The manager maintains robust oversight during periods of escalating risk, working effectively with the relevant agencies to safeguard children. In response to a recent, highly challenging period of instability for one child, the manager demonstrated a creative, child-focused approach in an intensive effort to reduce risks and sustain the placement.

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

Staff carry out targeted key-work sessions with children to help them understand risks and how to reduce them. Children are supported to access specialist services when there is an identified need, such as support and education services relating to drugs misuse.

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

Children do not often go missing from this home. However, when they do, staff respond confidently by following the missing-from-home protocol. Information is shared with professionals and relevant family members in a timely manner. Staff actively search for children, and when they return home, staff prioritise their safety and wellbeing.

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

When incidents occur during the night, staff are confident in seeking support from the on-call manager. This helps ensure a timely response and the implementation of additional safeguarding measures, such as waking night arrangements where necessary.

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

Staff apply a consistent approach, which helps children feel safe and secure. Physical intervention is used rarely and only as a last resort to maintain safety. Staff consistently ensure that children’s views are heard after they have been held. This practice ensures that children feel heard and helps repair and strengthen relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a registered manager who is aspirational for children. He shows compassion and wants the children in his care to have positive experiences. The manager knows the children extremely well and shows a high level of understanding and patience towards them. Professionals and family members have commented on the manager’s professionalism and his ability to not give up on children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported by the manager; they receive high-quality supervision, and regular team meetings take place. Staff have reflective conversations with the manager, which provides them with a safe space to reflect and contributes to their ongoing learning. This positively impacts outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has created a great sense of stability for staff and children. Staff morale is good. Staff retention is high, meaning that children benefit from staff who they know well and have positive relationships with.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses a ‘you said, we did’ approach so that children can see the difference their views make. This helps children feel valued and heard. The manager has created a positive learning culture among the staff team. Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 5

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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: 1245565 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 and 5 Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Neil Harcourt-Poole

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Inspector

Becky Thompson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 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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