Children's Home run by The Together Trust in Bolton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC057718 1 SC057718 Registered provider: Together Trust Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children’s home registered for up to 5 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties, physical and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home specialises in caring for children with autism spectrum conditions and additional complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in June 2004, and the manager registered with Ofsted in June 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 4 children were living at the home, and they spent time with the inspector.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC057718 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/08/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/10/2024 Full Good 01/08/2023 Full Good 09/06/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC057718 3

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Summary of findings

Children receive a good standard of care from a stable and consistent staff team that knows them well. Staff have a good understanding of each child’s communication needs and adapt their support accordingly.

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Summary of findings

Staff support children to access activities and youth clubs and encourage them to spend time with friends.

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Summary of findings

Children’s individual health needs are met. However, staff do not consistently document health care appointments.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not consistently support children to develop independence skills or help them understand the physical, emotional and social changes they experience as they grow and mature.

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Summary of findings

The manager is committed to the development of practice for herself and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a good standard of care from a stable and consistent team of staff who know them well. Staff are committed to providing good-quality care and support to the children. Children live at this home for a long time, which provides them with stability. Family members say that staff know their children well and really care for them. One family member said, ‘The relationship with the staff and [name of child] is heartwarming.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of each child’s communication needs. Children who are nonverbal are supported using the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), Makaton, and emotion emojis. This helps children to express their views and wishes, resulting in them feeling listened to and understood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff promote children’s education. Children are supported to attend their educational settings and after-school clubs. This supports children to have better opportunities to learn and develop life skills to succeed in their lives. However, staff do not hold up-to-date education, health and care plans (EHCPs) and personal education plans (PEPs) for all children. As a result, they cannot be assured that they are working towards children’s current targets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff do not consistently support children to develop independence skills in line with their age and abilities. They also do not undertake direct work to help children understand puberty. As a result, children are not always helped to understand changes to their Inspection report for children’s home: SC057718 4 bodies and socially acceptable behaviours or supported to reduce their reliance on others. Staff encourage children to take part in various activities, including swimming, trampolining, walking, arts and crafts and youth clubs. The parent of 2 children said, ‘The staff will try to make all activities accessible.’ Children are also supported to arrange activities with friends outside of school. This helps children to maintain hobbies that align with their interests and enables them to develop social skills and form friendships in the local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s identity, including their religious and cultural needs. Staff support children to observe religious events and celebrations linked to their individual interests. This helps children to maintain a sense of self and their connection to family and faith.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff recognise the importance of family relationships. They support children to build and maintain these relationships, including facilitating family time at the home, in the family home and in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious, well furnished and homely. The home is designed to accommodate all the children’s needs in line with their individual accessibility needs, including walk-in showers, sensory rooms and soft play areas both inside and outside the home. The children’s bedrooms are personalised to their individual interests.

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

Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures. The manager reviews safeguarding protocols regularly in team meetings. This helps to ensure that staff respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns.

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

The manager ensures that staff receive training that is tailored to the specific needs of the children. As a result, staff have a good understanding of each child’s individual needs, experiences and vulnerabilities, and the strategies required to support them safely and effectively. Risk assessments and behaviour support plans clearly identify areas where children require support and provide staff with guidance on how to promote their safety and wellbeing and positive outcomes.

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

The manager closely monitors staff practice to ensure that safety plans are followed. She consults with relevant professionals when considering whether restrictions on children’s liberty are necessary and proportionate. When concerns arise, she addresses them promptly and provides staff with guidance to improve practice.

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

Physical intervention is rarely required. When it does take place, staff use low-level guides to prevent children from causing harm to themselves or others. Following incidents, staff help children to reflect on what has happened using PECS and emotion Inspection report for children’s home: SC057718 5 emojis to support communication. Staff also reflect on incidents to help reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

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

Staff understand children’s individual health needs well. They ensure that children receive appropriate medical treatment in emergencies and attend follow-up appointments. This helps to ensure that children receive the care and medication they need. However, staff do not consistently record the outcomes of their healthcare appointments or details of hospital admissions and discharges. As a result, children’s records do not provide a complete account of their medical history.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is invested in continuing her own development and is undertaking a leadership course in residential children’s care. Learning from this course has informed improvements in practice, including the introduction of staff champion roles and the recognition of staff achievements. These initiatives contribute to a positive team culture and help maintain staff morale.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and annual appraisals. However, the manager does not consistently seek the views of children, professionals and colleagues to inform staff appraisals. This limits opportunities to fully evaluate staff performance. The manager supports staff to progress in their careers. As a result, 4 staff members have been promoted to senior roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place monthly. Staff use these meetings to discuss safeguarding practice, reflect on children’s risks and routines, consider effective communication strategies and plan meaningful activities. This promotes collaborative working and helps staff provide consistent care. Staff who are unable to attend meetings are expected to read the minutes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager undertakes a 6-month quality of care review. However, the review does not provide a detailed evaluation of the quality of care provided in the home. The manager does not consistently consider feedback from children, staff, professionals and families. As a result, opportunities to identify areas for improvement and drive positive outcomes for children may be missed. In addition, the review does not provide the regulator with a detailed overview of the quality of care provided in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have developed positive relationships with the professionals involved in children’s care. Professionals said that staff communicate well and keep them informed about all aspects of children’s care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC057718 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff actively support children to develop their understanding of puberty and the physical and emotional changes associated with it. 20 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC057718 7 The registered person must also ensure that staff record meaningful discussions, key-work sessions and direct learning opportunities that demonstrate how children are being supported in their social, emotional and personal development.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that up-to-date EHCPs and PEPs are obtained and retained on file following any review or amendment. The registered person must implement a clear escalation process to ensure that outstanding documentation is promptly requested, followed up and obtained.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that children’s health records are accurate, complete and up to date. This includes maintaining clear records of all health appointments and ensuring that details of any hospital admission, treatment and discharge are fully documented within children’s records. 20 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated 20 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC057718 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are supporting children to develop practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care in line with their age and ability. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)  The registered person should ensure that staff appraisals take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: SC057718 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Together Trust Centre, Schools Hill, Cheadle, Cheshire. SK8 1JE

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Inspector

Renée Sims, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC057718 10 inspects 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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