Children's Home run by Esland North Limited in Kirklees

Inspection report for children’s home: 2735196 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 owned and managed by a private provider. It offers care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties and have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living at the home at the time of 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2735196 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/05/2025 Full Good 17/06/2024 Full Good 06/02/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2735196 3

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Summary of findings

Two children have lived at the home during this inspection period. One child moved out of the home in October 2025, and the child currently living in the home was admitted in March 2026. There has been a period when no children were living at the home, and the staff team was deployed to other homes in the organisation.

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Summary of findings

Children make progress from their individual starting points. They enjoy positive relationships with staff, who provide them with a good standard of care. Staff understand children’s risks and vulnerabilities, and they take appropriate steps to mitigate some of those risks.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers have not always made child-centred decisions about children’s transitions. This means that children’s experiences when they move into and out of the home have been mixed. One child moved into the home in a planned and positive way, whereas one child moved out of the home in an unplanned way that was not helpful to the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a good standard of nurturing care, and structure and boundaries are promoted. The child living at the home declines to engage fully in their care plan. Staff are creative in their approach to identifying alternative ways to help the child to establish a positive routine.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in their education while they are living in the home. Staff understand the barriers to children’s education, and they advocate for children to ensure that they receive the right support. Children have opportunities for informal learning alongside their formal education arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to enjoy a healthy lifestyle and help them to have a better understanding of healthy eating and exercise. Staff have implemented a plan to support one child with menu planning and to monitor their diet. The in-house clinical team provides staff with an additional layer of support, which equips them to have a better understanding of children’s emotional wellbeing and mental health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming. Each child is consulted about their home environment, and staff involve them in the decoration of their bedroom. The home is personalised with the child’s belongings throughout.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers have not always made child-centred decisions about children’s transitions. This means that children’s experiences when they move into and out of the home have been mixed. One child moved into the home in a planned and positive way, whereas one child was not told that they were moving out of the home. This move Inspection report for children’s home: 2735196 4 happened suddenly, giving the child no time to prepare practically or emotionally. They could not say goodbye to staff or take their belongings with them. This was not helpful for the child.

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

Children’s individual risks are identified and assessed. Risk assessments provide staff with clear guidance, and they are kept under review by the manager. Staff understand children’s risks and vulnerabilities, and they are clear about the steps they should take to mitigate some of those risks.

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

When children show unwanted or risky behaviour, staff use their relationships with the children to manage the situation. When one child was physically restrained, this was necessary to keep the child safe. Staff and the child were provided with the opportunity to discuss the incident.

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

When children go missing, staff are proactive in their response. They search for children and report them as missing to the police. Children’s individual missing-from-home plans are detailed and clear, and staff understand their responsibility to children who go missing.

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

Allegations are taken seriously; they are investigated in line with safeguarding procedures, and appropriate action is taken.

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

Children’s safety online is well managed. There are safeguards in place, and staff talk to children about risks. Staff are creative in their approach, which means that children are more likely to engage with the learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the home, and the systems to review the quality of care and staff development are effective. Staff said that they feel supported by the manager and that the morale in the team is high.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, which provides them with the opportunity to reflect on their practice. Team meetings take place regularly and are well attended. These meetings are used as opportunities to refresh staff’s safeguarding knowledge and for reflection with the clinical team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a range of core training. The manager ensures that staff have access to additional training to better equip them to meet individual children’s specific needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have built positive relationships with professionals involved with the children. One professional said, ‘Communication is good. Staff’s approach to [name of child] is child centred.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2735196 5 The manager and staff advocate for children. The manager confidently challenges others to ensure that the child’s plan is fully implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Changes to the staff team and staffing insufficiency have led to a period of instability that negatively impacted on the continuity of care provided to one child who previously lived at the home. Additional staff have now been recruited, the staff team has stabilised, and the continuity of care for the child has improved. Inspection report for children’s home: 2735196 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 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

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Requirement Due date

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

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

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iii)) 24 August 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that there are suitably trained staff (including someone in a management role) on duty to meet the assessed needs of all children in the home, and that those staff are able to respond to emergency placements, where accepted. The registered person should demonstrate every effort to achieve continuity of staffing so that children’s attachments are not overly disrupted, including ensuring that the employment of any temporary staff will not prevent children from receiving the continuity of care that they need. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1) Inspection report for children’s home: 2735196 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: 2735196 8

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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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Inspector

Rachel Webster, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2735196 9 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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