Children's Home run by Pebbles Care Limited in Cumberland

Inspection report for children’s home: 2810499 1 Registered provider: Pebbles Care 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 provider. It provides care for up to 2 children who may experience social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager were registered with Ofsted in May 2025. At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living in the home. One child spoke 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

Date of last inspection: 29 October 2025

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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: 2810499 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/10/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2810499 3

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Summary of findings

Children have positive relationships with staff, and this helps them to make progress from their starting points. Children are helped to overcome barriers to education and are supported to move to independent living.

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Summary of findings

Staff are effective in keeping children safe and there has been a marked reduction in risks for children. Children do not frequently go missing from home, but when they do staff know what is expected of them. Risk assessments are kept up to date and reflect the needs of the children. Children are helped to spend time with those who are important to them, which is particularly important for children who do not live close to their families.

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Summary of findings

Managers provide consistent support to staff who say they feel valued. Supervision sessions are completed regularly and help staff to reflect on children’s behaviour and consistently respond to their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with their education and advocate for them. This helps promote positive educational outcomes. For example, staff assist external agencies to gather information in support of children’s education, health and care plans. One child has transitioned to a new school and is being helped to overcome challenges with attendance. Another child is being supported to be ready to access employment as they transition to independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by an in-house therapeutic practitioner. Direct work is completed with children, and the practitioner provides support to staff with case formulations. Staff share these formulations with the wider care team, which helps external practitioners to understand the needs of children better.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children become more confident and make positive lifestyle choices. The approaches used by staff help children to develop relationships and to make positive changes, which helps them to manage their health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Supportive relationships between children and staff are a feature of the home. These relationships support children to maintain positive changes and to make progress. Staff can hold difficult and meaningful conversations with children. This helps children to understand the decisions that are made about them and gives them confidence to share any worries they have with staff. When children do share concerns, staff take appropriate action and help children to access support from external partners when needed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2810499 4 Children are positive about the care they receive. One child said that they want to maintain contact with staff when they move on from the home. This is an indication of the quality of the relationships between children and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to have positive family time with those who are important to them. Staff help children to celebrate special occasions and ensure that their families are included. Families who live far away are encouraged to visit the home to spend quality time with children. This is important for children’s relationships with loved ones and helps them to remain connected to family members and to feel less isolated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

On one occasion, a child missed an important health appointment as staff did not communicate this effectively. Missed health appointments can result in delays to assessment and interventions from health professionals, which can have unfavourable outcomes for children.

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

Staff help children to regulate their emotions, and this helps them feel more settled. Staff respond well when children are upset or displaying risky behaviours. Staff intervene using the least restrictive approach and understand when there is a need to physically intervene. These interventions are not widely used, and only when necessary to keep people safe, but there is effective oversight from the manager when they are used. Children are also encouraged to reflect on the incident to reestablish trust. This helps to ensure that positive relationships are maintained.

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

For one child, positive relationships with staff have contributed to a significant reduction in incidents of being missing from home. Staff know what is expected of them when children are missing from home and are proactive in their attempts to locate children. Staff have good relationships with children’s family members and friends and make use of these connections when trying to locate children. Concerns are escalated to the police when children cannot be found, and staff challenge children’s local authorities when return home interviews are not completed in a timely way.

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

Risk assessments are kept up to date and include clear strategies, which staff follow, to keep children safe. Staff have targeted conversations with children about risks. This provides children with the opportunity to share any concerns and helps to safeguard children outside of the home.

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

Staff help to educate the children and use resources that are tailored to their needs. Staff use targeted interventions when risks are identified. However, not all interventions are completed with children in a timely way. This means that children do not always receive timely support to address known risks, which can have a negative impact on outcomes for children.

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

Complaints are generally dealt with effectively and children are satisfied with the outcomes. However, managers do not always share information with the relevant professionals when concerns relating to staff practice are identified. On one occasion, Inspection report for children’s home: 2810499 5 the local authority designated officer was not contacted following a significant incident and there was no notification made to Ofsted. This results in incidents being partially explored, increasing risk to children and affects Ofsted’s ability to have effective oversight of children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Despite difficulties with staffing and recruitment, the team has a good bond and there is resilience within the staff group. The manager is due to leave her post soon but there are plans to promote internally. Effective planning helps to ensure that staff continue to have a consistent relationship with the children and to understand their needs consistently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that there is good support from managers, and that the staff are supportive of each other. Staff are child focused, have good relationships with the children and want the best for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision sessions are completed regularly with core and agency staff. The manager completes single-issue supervisions where there have been shortfalls in practice, helping to ensure that improvements are made. Training needs are identified during supervision, and staff are encouraged to develop their knowledge, skills and confidence to provide effective care to children. Supervision also provides a space for reflective discussion about the impact of therapeutic parenting. This encourages staff to explore what motivates children’s behaviour and ensures that there is a consistent and trauma- informed response to children’s behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been some reliance on agency staff. However, the manager has taken steps to reduce the impact of this on children by ensuring that agency staff are consistent. As a result, the staff used have a good understanding of children’s needs and develop positive relationships with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose contains factual inaccuracies and language that is unhelpful to children and stakeholders. The policy and approach towards consulting children is unclear. Some language labels children and makes it difficult for placing authorities to fully understand the approaches used to support children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2810499 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e)) 14 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii)) 14 September 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should develop and keep under review the ‘Statement of Purpose’ (regulation 16 and schedule 1) and ensure that it remains child-focused, indicating how the home provides individualised care to meet the Quality Standards Inspection report for children’s home: 2810499 7 for the children in their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5)  The registered person should ensure that children are offered timely advice, support and guidance. Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change negative behaviours in key areas as they arise. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 37.18)

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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: 2810499 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pebbles Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds, England LS2 7JU

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Inspector

Shaun Martin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2810499 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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