Children's Home run by Lancashire County Council in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: SC440309 1 SC440309 Registered provider: Lancashire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a local authority and provides care for up to 6 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 6 children were living at the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2024.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 18 November 2025

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC440309 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/11/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/07/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/11/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/08/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: SC440309 3

p.2

Summary of findings

The manager and staff have been on an improvement journey over the last year. This has led to enhanced scrutiny and reflection of the quality of care being provided, a more stable and experienced staff team, and improved outcomes for children living at the home. Children are well cared for; they are happy, safe and secure.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like living in the home and describe it as good. One child said, ‘the staff are nice’ and another child said, ‘it feels like a family here’. Staff provide the children with a high standard of nurturing and loving care. They create a happy, fun and stable home and children are making progress in all areas of their lives.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between staff and children are overwhelmingly positive. Children enjoy spending time with staff inside and outside of the home. Staff provide children with a wide variety of activities in line with the children’s interests, and they encourage them to try new opportunities. Children enjoy regular trips to local parks, bowling alleys, the cinema and a golfing range.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 3 children have moved out of the home and 4 have moved in. Staff help children to prepare to leave and to join the home in a child-focused and nurturing way. They visit children before they move in and provide continued support for a short time when children move out to help them settle into their new home. Children’s experiences of moving in and out of the home are positive.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s health and educational needs. Most children routinely attend education, and staff are ambitious for them to do well. The manager sought specialist support and advice for 1 child who had not attended school for some time. The child subsequently completed some GCSE exams and is motivated to do further education.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to spend time with people who are important to them. Staff are persistent and develop positive working relationships with family members for the benefit of children. Family members are encouraged to visit the home and are made to feel welcome. Staff recently supported a child to return home to the care of a family member and are in the process of supporting another child to do the same.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a spacious, modern and well-maintained home. There is ample room for children to relax, play and study. Children enjoy playing football in the large back garden and staff help them to grow plants and vegetables in a designated area. Communal rooms are welcoming and homely. They have recently been redecorated, and children were involved in choosing the new décor. Children’s bedrooms are well furnished and personalised to their tastes. Inspection report for children's home: SC440309 4

p.3

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

Children are safe and protected. Their risks and vulnerabilities are known and understood by the manager and staff. Children’s risk and behaviour management plans are individualised and detailed. They contain the necessary information however it is not always written clearly; the manager took action to address this on inspection.

p.4

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

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted at the home and children’s achievements are routinely praised and celebrated. Clear routines, boundaries and expectations are in place which children respond well to.

p.4

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

Safeguarding incidents are rare and the frequency of incidents of children going missing from the home has dramatically reduced. Children do not need to be held to keep themselves or others safe. This indicates that children feel settled, safe and secure.

p.4

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

Staff are child centred and provide nurturing care to children to help them regulate and understand their emotions. The manager and staff seek specialist support when needed to develop and adapt their practice to help protect children. Staff have positive and effective relationships with key safeguarding agencies.

p.4

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

Children are encouraged and supported to take age-appropriate risks. A staff member has developed a bespoke independence programme tailored to the interests and needs of older children to help them prepare for their transition into adulthood.

p.4

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

Staff have regular conversations with children about topics that are relevant to them and the area they live in. For example, the dangers of open water swimming were recently discussed with the children, and staff arranged swimming lessons for them. Children are helped to understand the risks of vaping and how to lead a healthy lifestyle.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively by an experienced and child-centred manager. She is accessible to staff and fully involved in the children’s lives. The manager has high expectations of the staff and is committed to improving outcomes for children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel fully supported and speak positively about the manager. They are happy and satisfied in their roles and feel valued. The manager knows her team well and plays to their strengths for the benefit of the children. One staff member described her as ‘supportive, inspiring, and caring’ and another said, ‘she is absolutely fantastic’.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working at the home. The staff team is relatively stable and experienced. They work well together to provide consistent and loving care to the children. One staff member said, ‘the home is a calm, welcoming and inviting place to work’.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervision, monthly team meetings and team wellbeing events. They regularly discuss their practice and share new ideas from research and Inspection report for children's home: SC440309 5 specialist speakers. Staff receive an annual appraisal of their practice; however, appraisal notes are brief and do not include feedback from stakeholders or children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is organised and has good oversight of the home. The quality of care provided to the children is regularly reviewed by the manager and senior leaders. This enables the manager to identify and address any shortfalls and to ensure that the children’s needs are being met. However, the workforce development plan does not contain all the required information. Inspection report for children's home: SC440309 6

p.5

Recommendations

 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 and children in the home's care. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.5)

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the workforce development plan contains all the required information ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 53, paragraph 10.8)

p.6

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: SC440309 7

p.6

Children's home details

Registered provider address: Lancashire County Council, PO Box 100, Preston PR1 0LD

p.7

Inspector

Zillah Brooks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC440309 8 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8