Children's Home run by Voices Homes Ltd in Oldham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2836276 1 Registered provider: Voices Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. It provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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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

At the time of this inspection, one child was living in the home and was spoken with during the 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 good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 12 November 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2836276 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/11/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2836276 3

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Summary of findings

The child is making progress in all areas and their risks have reduced. There is a warm and caring family atmosphere in this home, and the child is happy to live there. Staff prioritise the child’s education, emotional wellbeing and safety, with the child experiencing a sense of security and consistent care. The home is well managed by an experienced manager. Staff work well together and advocate on the child’s behalf when necessary. Staff work closely with other professionals to ensure that the child’s needs are met. Some improvement is needed in terms of the records staff complete and the monitoring of this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is receiving good care from staff who are invested in making a difference to the child’s life. The child said they are happy in the home and that there is nothing they would change. Professionals said staff go ‘above and beyond’ for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has made progress in all areas since moving to the home. Staff have played a central role in supporting the child to return to school, as the child had previously not attended for a significant period. Staff have supported the child to identify suitable college courses in line with their interests. The child is now positive about education and aspires for further education. Furthermore, staff support the child sensitively to manage their health needs and are helping the child to develop independence skills at a pace that suits them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide emotional security, focused on building trusting relationships and stability for the child. Staff spend lots of time with the child and they do lots of activities together, including holidays and trips out. The child said they love the activities they do. The child recently attended their school prom with the support of staff, who ensured that the child had a memorable experience. Staff make sure that special occasions are celebrated and take care to promote the child’s individual cultural needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to spend time with their family as often as possible, and have helped the child to rekindle relationships with people who are important to them, but who had been out of their life for some time. Staff keep records of activities and family time, including lots of lovely photos, so that the child has a memorable record of their time in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The house is homely and generally well presented. There are photos of the child and their family around the home and the child’s bedroom is personalised. However, there are some parts of the home that are less well maintained and need some redecorating. The manager has plans to rectify this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2836276 4

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

The child’s risks have reduced since living in this home. Structured routines and boundaries help the child to feel safe. Staff work closely with other professionals to manage the child’s risks, and safety planning is regularly updated to ensure that staff know what to do to help the child.

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

Incidents and missing-from-home episodes are infrequent. Professionals say that the child no longer goes missing from the home because of the trusting relationships the child has developed with staff. When the child has gone missing, staff took swift action to locate the child and return them to the home. The manager’s oversight identified avoidable gaps in practice prior to the child going missing. The manager took action to address the areas of weakness in respect of this. Thorough discussions with staff have enabled them to reflect on what happened. Follow-up work with the child helped them to share their feelings and the reasons for going missing from the home.

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

Risks of exploitation have reduced for the child. Staff help the child to understand risks better, including risks from the internet and being online. Regular discussion with the child about their risks and unsafe situations are helping them to make safe decisions and navigate increasing levels of freedom, so that they are better prepared for having fewer restrictions, which have been in place to keep them safe.

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

Complaints by the child are not often made, but when a complaint was made it was taken seriously. The manager investigated it thoroughly and acted promptly to address the child’s worries.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is enthusiastic about providing good care to the child, and this enthusiasm runs throughout the staff team. The manager advocates for the child effectively and is quick to address any issues that are affecting the child’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said they enjoy working in the home and being part of creating a supportive family atmosphere for the child. Staff feel that they can learn and develop and that they benefit from the support available, including when issues arise. As a result, staff feel confident to share concerns with the manager. When there are issues with staff practice, these are managed appropriately, and development plans are put in place and followed up to address shortfalls in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Practice-related supervision sessions are reflective and thorough, and there are also intermittent single-issue supervision sessions used where necessary to provide support to staff. Team meetings take place each month and offer further opportunity for staff’s input on, and reflection about, the needs of the child. Training is up to date, and this means staff are well equipped to meet the child’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2836276 5 The manager’s oversight of the home is generally effective. They understand the team’s strengths and areas of development, and know what is happening in the child’s life. Oversight of incidents is thorough. However, there are some important areas where the manager’s oversight does not reach. Some poor and inaccurate records, completed by staff, are unhelpful to the child, and this had not been identified. Furthermore, the child’s wishes and feelings are not always accurately recorded in their plans to reflect

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

their voice. Words used by staff have not been captured from consulting with the child and mispresent the child’s views about their care and support needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2836276 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)) 31 August 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2836276 7

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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: 2836276 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 212 Oakland House, 21 Hope Carr Road, Leigh, Wigan WN7 3ET

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Inspector

Amy Groom, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2836276 9 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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