Children's Home run by Barracare Limited in Calderdale

Inspection report for children’s home: 2803734 1 Registered provider: Barracare 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

The home is owned by a private company. It provides care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living in the home and all 3 were spoken with.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2026. The registered provider has recently appointed a new responsible individual, and we are currently checking this person has the relevant capacity, experience and skills to carry out the role.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 2803734 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/05/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2803734 3

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Summary of findings

Children in this home are cared for by staff who know them well and make them feel safe. The children trust staff to help them when they are upset.

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Summary of findings

Children’s rights are respected and promoted. They have access to a range of activities that support their wellbeing and encourage positive relationships.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not help children to understand risks and learn from incidents, specifically when they have been missing from the home.

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Summary of findings

The registered manager is new in post. She is continuing to develop her oversight of the home. The wellbeing of the children is her priority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living in this home and are happy. They describe close relationships with the staff. Children said they trust the staff and one child said, ‘They make me feel loved.’ Colourful and informative child-friendly care plans are being introduced to help children understand their care. This is helping the children to feel involved and develop a sense of stability and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged by staff to make positive choices about their use of free time. They have access to regular activities, gain new experiences and they enjoy spending time laughing and joking with the staff. Children have taken up new hobbies such as golf and enjoy walks. They have also visited places, including the seaside, for the first time. These activities are captured in memory-books along with other celebrations that are important to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress with their education. Staff and managers routinely advocate for the children to ensure that they are allocated a school placement. Managers recognise that delays in the sourcing of school provision limits the level of progress and achievement for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into or out of the home, staff make this as welcoming and as easy as possible. Children are kept informed about new children moving into the home. Staff manage these moves sensitively and children said that they felt at home straight away. However, the risk assessments that reviews the compatibility of children did not consider all known risks and restrictions or the potential impact of these for each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is cheerful, welcoming and homely. There are books and games available to children. Photos are on display throughout the home and children feel comfortable to display personal photos of themselves and of people who are important to them. The home is well maintained and the manager ensures that any repairs are made promptly. Inspection report for children’s home: 2803734 4 Families said they felt involved in the care of their child and they were helped to prepare for them to move into this home. They said staff made them feel comfortable and their children are happy and making good progress. Families said staff were ‘amazing’ and ‘nurturing’.

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improvement to be good

Children feel safe. They are supported and helped by staff when they are upset. One child said, ‘Staff make me feel safe inside’. Staff help the children to manage and understand the decisions and challenges that the children experience in their daily lives. However, when incidents happen, the concerns are not always reviewed with children. Children are not consistently helped to understand their risks or talk about preventative strategies.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from the home, staff do not always look for them or make timely attempts to contact them to assist their safe return. The information recorded by staff does not support staff and children to reflect on missing-from-home incidents. Strategies to mitigate further incidents are not explored and children continue to go missing from home

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improvement to be good

When children feel that their medication is not helping them, staff support them to speak with a medical professional. Medications are generally well-managed and children are encouraged to learn how to manage their own health. However, on one occasion, staff did not take the appropriate action when a dose of medication was missed. Staff did not ensure that this was shared with leaders and managers and addressed effectively.

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improvement to be good

When children harm themselves, the support received from staff is kind and considered. Medical attention is gained when necessary and staff maintain good communication with outside agencies, so children receive the right support. Action has been taken by leaders and managers to reduce the use of the police to manage the behaviour of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has continued to develop her oversight of the home and there is regular monitoring of the quality of care. Staff speak positively about the manager. They said she is supportive of the team and checks on their welfare. Staff said they all work well together and support each other; they describe the home as ‘a family’. Staff are helped to progress in their roles and receive good support. The manager is described as approachable, fair, calm and a good listener.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular supportive staff supervisions and team meetings take place. The manager offers good support to staff formally, informally and through staff appraisals. Children and families were asked to give their feedback for the manager’s annual appraisal, and this fed into the review. This is being introduced for other staff members. Inspection report for children’s home: 2803734 5 Feedback from professionals and families is very good. Family members said that the staff and manager always make themselves available for them and there is good communication. Professionals said the culture of the home is ‘very child centred’ and the best interests of the children is at the centre of staff practice. One professional said, ‘The genuine care and commitment shown to [Child’s name] has had a significant positive impact on their outcomes and experiences.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Systems are in place to ensure that safer recruitment processes are followed, including when agency staff are used. The manager reviews the use of agency staff and ensures that they are familiar to the children and understand their needs. However, the management of children’s information and the gaps within records do not help staff to maintain their overview of children’s care needs effectively. Inspection report for children’s home: 2803734 6

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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

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child's relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)) 31 August 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the dynamic and compatibility of all children has been carefully considered and assessed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should ensure that they make themselves familiar with regulations 35-39 that detail the records that must be kept in children’s homes. All children’s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely while they remain in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2803734 7 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: 2803734 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Limes, Barkerhouse Road, Nelson BB9 9NL

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Inspector

Jo Cansfield, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2803734 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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