Children's Home run by Rockhopper Children’s Services Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 1 Registered provider: Rockhopper Children’s Services Limited

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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 operated by a private organisation and is registered to care for up to 5 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 22 June 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living at the home. One child was spoken to as part of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 16 December 2025

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/12/2025 Full Good 18/02/2025 Full Good 23/05/2023 Full Good 05/07/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 3

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Summary of findings

Leaders and staff have high aspirations for children and are committed to meeting their needs. Professionals praise the support that staff provide, which has contributed to positive outcomes for some children, including progress in education and preparation for independence. However, shortfalls identified in safeguarding practice and leadership and management mean that the safety and wellbeing of children are not always prioritised.

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improvement to be good

This judgement area has been impacted on due to shortfalls in safeguarding practices and insufficient oversight from leaders and managers.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to build positive relationships with a consistent staff team that understands their interests. Staff help children to maintain important aspects of their identity. For example, one child has been supported to continue their engagement with the choir, which was an activity that they enjoyed prior to moving into the home. The child has also continued to attend church with their previous carers.

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improvement to be good

Children are well supported to move on to independence. Moves are carefully planned and gradual to help children prepare emotionally and practically. Staff celebrate children’s time in the home and purchase thoughtful gifts for their new home, which emphasises how valued children are by the staff team.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to maintain meaningful relationships with people who are important to them. Family time is promoted and staff are proactive in developing positive relationships with significant people in children’s lives, to ensure that there is a joint approach to supporting children. This helps children to develop a positive sense of identity and belonging.

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improvement to be good

Children are encouraged and supported to engage with their education provider. In line with their individual plans, staff ensure that children attend school and are collected safely afterwards. For children who are unwilling or unable to engage in formal education, staff work closely with professionals to identify barriers and implement strategies that promote learning. Consequently, children learn the value of education and make progress in accordance with their abilities. One child who has recently moved on from the home has successfully secured a place at university.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not demonstrated that they have fully reviewed the suitability of the location of the home for one child in response to their changing risks and vulnerabilities, including the potential for further criminalisation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 4

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improvement to be good

There are shortfalls in safeguarding practice. For example, when staff are concerned that a child has brought alcohol into the home or are smoking in their bedroom, room searches are not immediately conducted to reduce the risk of further harm to the child and others in the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff responses to safeguarding incidents are not always effective. During a serious safeguarding incident, where a child became physically aggressive to a staff member while intoxicated and attempted to access a weapon while threatening to cause a serious injury, staff did not take effective action to reduce the risk. This failure to act compromised the safety and welfare of the child and others in the home.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments identify children’s known risks and vulnerabilities and provide staff with guidance on how to respond. However, leaders and managers have not ensured that emerging risks are reflected in risk management plans. For example, following an incident where one child made threats of violence towards another child living in the home, this risk was not recorded in either child’s plans. The failure to include the risk in both children’s risk assessments means that there is not a clear and agreed strategy for staff to follow should a similar incident reoccur.

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improvement to be good

Staff generally undertake direct work with children to help them understand the risks associated with their behaviour. However, there is no evidence that this work is consistently used to address emerging risks. For example, direct work has not been completed with one child to address their refusal to engage with phone checks. Consequently, staff do not have sufficient oversight of who the child may be communicating with to access cannabis. Additionally, there is no evidence of direct work being completed following an incident where a child was threatened by another child living in the home.

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improvement to be good

There is an effective response when children go missing from home. Staff search for children and notify relevant professionals, such as the police, to strengthen the search and locate children quickly.

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improvement to be good

Allegations about inappropriate staff conduct are responded to quickly. Leaders and managers ensure that there is a fair and thorough investigation and, where appropriate, action is taken to address and improve poor staff practice.

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improvement to be good

External professionals speak positively about the staff team and acknowledge their commitment to partnership working. Leaders and staff work with partner agencies and regularly contribute to multi-agency meetings. This ensures that there is a co-ordinated approach to meeting children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 5 The home is managed by a qualified registered manager who is supported by an experienced deputy manager. Both demonstrate a strong commitment to the children and are dedicated to helping children achieve their goals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Children’s case records need to be strengthened. Some incident records lack clarity on the action taken by staff, which makes it difficult to fully understand staff responses and management oversight. Furthermore, leaders and managers have not ensured that all the required placing authority documentation for one child was up to date when the child moved into the home. Although an up-to-date care plan has been requested, the child’s current care plan relates to their previous living arrangements and there is little evidence that leaders have escalated this effectively, despite the child living at the home for several months.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not taken sufficient action to ensure that safeguarding incidents are continually evaluated. However, shortfalls are not consistently identified, which is a missed opportunity to develop and improve staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are supported to develop their skills and knowledge in several ways. They have access to the provider’s core training programme, in addition to targeted training that is tailored to meet the individual needs of children living in the home. Team meetings are well attended. The home’s clinical lead contributes to these meetings, providing guidance and advice on how to support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff speak highly of the support that they receive from the management team to fulfil their role of caring for children effectively. Leaders and managers are described as approachable and committed to the professional development of staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders, managers and staff must ensure that risk assessments include children’s emerging risks and provide staff with clear strategies on how to mitigate them.

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Requirement Due date

When staff suspect or know that children have brought alcohol into the home or are smoking in the home, leaders, managers and staff must take action to prevent this and reduce the associated risks. This includes, where necessary, carrying out room searches without delay.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders, managers and staff must ensure that direct work is undertaken with children where appropriate following significant incidents. Furthermore, they must ensure that children are 21 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 7 supported to understand the reasons for safeguarding measures, such as phone checks being implemented.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders, managers and staff must ensure that when children are acting in a manner that compromises their safety and wellbeing, they use risk-assessed safeguarding strategies, including physical interventions, to protect children and others from harm.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(a)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that safeguarding incidents are thoroughly evaluated and that action is taken to support and develop staff if shortfalls in practice are identified.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders, managers and staff must ensure that children’s placing authority documentation is up to date, and delays in receiving this are effectively escalated with the placing authority. 21 September 2026

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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.

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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. 21 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 8 (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2) (b)(ii))

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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: 2648868 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Rockhopper Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 7, Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Cowley, Uxbridge UB8 2FX

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Inspector

Chibuzo Otache, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 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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