Children's Home run by Goldfield Care UK Ltd in Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2782919 1 Registered provider: Goldfield Care UK Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private provider. The home provides care for up to 3 children who require support in respect of social, emotional and mental health difficulties’, including learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, no children have moved out of the home or moved in. There were 3 children living at the home at the time of this inspection. All children were observed and 2 children were spoken to.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2026.

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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: 9 December 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: 2782919 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/12/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/12/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2782919 3

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Summary of findings

Staff provide children with nurturing and compassionate care that helps them to develop positive, trusting relationships. Children are treated as individuals, and staff celebrate their unique personalities, strengths and interests, helping them to feel valued, respected and understood. Staff have created a warm, welcoming and fun environment that balances enjoyment with a responsive approach to meeting children’s emotional and practical needs. The manager and staff work effectively in partnership with children, their families and other professionals to develop plans that promote children’s safety and wellbeing. These plans are personalised and enable children to take appropriate risks, learn from their experiences and develop greater independence. Staff provide consistent support across all aspects of children’s lives, including their health, education and relationships with people who are important to them. As a result, children are making

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Summary of findings

positive progress from their individual starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use a therapeutic approach when caring for children. This means children live in a home characterised by fun and laughter. If children become distressed, staff respond quickly and compassionately, helping children to feel safe. This approach promotes stability and creates a calm and nurturing atmosphere.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a strong understanding of each child’s individual communication needs and have developed clear plans to support this. Staff have worked closely with a social worker to increase their understanding of one child’s communication needs. This has enabled the social worker to develop the skills and confidence to have meaningful discussions with the child, supporting the child’s views to be better understood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff consistently support children to access and engage in education, which is contributing to positive progress and improved outcomes. This support has enabled one child to sit examinations and successfully apply for college. Another child, who had been out of education for an extended period, is now attending part time, with a planned programme to gradually increase attendance. For one child who is not currently accessing education, the manager has been a strong advocate, successfully securing tutoring and supporting an assessment of their educational needs. This proactive and child-centred approach helps to remove barriers to learning and ensures that children are provided with meaningful opportunities to engage in education and achieve their potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s health needs and ensure they have timely access to universal healthcare services, including routine appointments and health checks. Where children require additional support, staff work proactively with specialist health professionals and their therapist to help meet their identified needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2782919 4 Leaders and managers have continued to improve the home environment. Recent work has included redecoration both inside and outside the home and the purchase of new play equipment and furniture. A child’s bedroom has been cleaned and redecorated. When asked how they feel about their bedroom, the child said they ‘love it’. Although further improvements are still required, leaders and managers remain committed to maintaining and enhancing the home. This is providing children with a comfortable place to live.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have developed plans to help children build their independence, including practical skills such as learning to cook and keeping their bedrooms tidy. However, for one child who is approaching adulthood, progress in developing independence skills has been limited.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively support children’s individual identities and interests. For example, an area of the garden is being developed into an allotment to nurture a child’s interest in nature. The same child is receiving support to learn how to ride a bike. For another child, staff are planning a trip to see their favourite band and are also helping them build positive friendships in the local community. These approaches help children feel understood and valued and support the development of trusting relationships between staff and children. Staff regularly take photos and record positive moments so children have memories they can take into adulthood. However, on occasion, staff have used personal devices to capture these moments, and the manager is not clear on whether these images are stored securely.

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

There is effective communication between the manager and children’s placing authorities when concerns about children’s welfare escalate or when their needs change. The manager works collaboratively with placing authorities, partner agencies and the children themselves to develop plans that promote safety while supporting children’s independence and development. For example, when a child was learning to use the internet safely, staff worked closely with the placing authority and the child to agree a plan that balanced appropriate safeguards with opportunities to develop independence.

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

A particular strength of practice is the extent to which children are involved in shaping their own safety plans. Staff recognise the importance of helping children learn through experience and, where appropriate, support them to take managed risks and make mistakes safely. This approach helps children to develop their understanding of risk, reflect on their decisions and build resilience, while knowing that they have the support and guidance of trusted adults.

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

Staff’s approach to supporting children with their behaviour has meant that physical intervention has not been required to keep children or others safe. Staff are skilled at helping children understand their emotions and develop strategies to manage their feelings. When staff need to search children’s belongings or bedrooms as part of agreed Inspection report for children’s home: 2782919 5 plans to keep them safe, this is done sensitively and, where possible, with the child’s consent. Staff take the time to explain the reasons for the search and make sure children feel respected and involved in the process.

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

Staff listen to children if they make allegations about others and take their concerns seriously. Managers prioritise the safeguarding of all involved and take prompt action to understand what the child is communicating to ensure that they feel heard and supported. The manager works closely with safeguarding agencies and follows advice given.

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

Staff respond promptly when children go missing from the home. They search for the children, attempt to contact them and report them missing to the police. When the children return home, the manager ensures that they are offered the opportunity to speak to someone independent to explore the reasons for going missing. This consistent approach has meant children are going missing from the home less often.

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

The manager notifies safeguarding agencies when they deem an incident to be serious. However, these notifications are not always made within expected timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear understanding of the strengths and areas for development within the staff team and uses this knowledge to drive improvements in practice. This insight has enabled them to implement changes that have enhanced the quality of care provided to children and strengthened staff responses to emerging needs. The manager has also introduced quarterly analysis of incidents involving children to identify patterns, trends and underlying factors influencing behaviour. Findings from this analysis are used to inform practice developments and targeted support strategies. For example, the manager identified that one child required additional support during the night and implemented changes to their care arrangements. As a result, the child now receives more tailored support that better meets their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual and the manager have established clear plans to support senior staff to develop. This approach has strengthened leadership capacity, provided staff with the opportunity to grow and contributed to staff stability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they are happy working at the home, enjoy caring for the children and feel well supported by managers. They receive regular supervision that focuses both on meeting children’s needs and supporting staff wellbeing. Staff also benefit from regular team meetings, which provide valuable opportunities for shared learning, reflection and the ongoing development of practice, helping to promote a positive and supportive culture within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is an effective advocate for children and is confident in challenging professionals when they feel responses fall short. For example, the manager challenged Inspection report for children’s home: 2782919 6 a decision made by police regarding how to keep a child safe, as they felt the approach did not adequately protect the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff support children to understand their rights and to know how to raise concerns or make complaints. The manager has introduced a ‘Your Voice Matters’ box, which provides children with an opportunity to raise concerns or make suggestions anonymously and promotes children’s participation in the running of the home. When children have made complaints, the manager has taken action to address the issues raised and improve staff practice. However, these actions have not always been informed by a full exploration of the concerns. In addition, where staff have raised concerns in response to complaints, these have not been clearly recorded, and it is not evident what consideration has been given to them or what action has been taken. As a result, records do not always provide a clear account of decision-making, limiting managers’ understanding of concerns and reducing opportunities for evaluation, learning

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

and improvement. Inspection report for children’s home: 2782919 7

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1) (3))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there is a full investigation of complaints made. 30 September 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should seek to involve the local authority and other relevant people whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. They are also required by regulation 40 to notify placing authorities, Ofsted and other relevant persons about serious events. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.4)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records and information are stored securely while they remain in the home. This includes any pictures taken of children on mobile devices. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, 62, paragraphs 14.2 and 14.3)  The registered person should ensure that the local authority regularly consults both the child and the home regarding plans that affect the child. This should include timely agreement and implementation of independence plans so that children are

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Recommendations

appropriately supported to prepare for adulthood. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.11) Inspection report for children’s home: 2782919 8

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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: 2782919 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Goldfield Care UK Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Dannielle Millington

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Inspector

Laura Copus, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2782919 10 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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