Children's Home run by Acorns to Oaks Children’s Care & Support Limited in Wirral

Inspection report children's home: 2690420 1 Registered provider: Acorns to Oaks Children's Care & Support 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

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, 3 children were living at the home.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2026.

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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 inadequate

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2690420 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/07/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/07/2024 Full Good 03/10/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2690420 3

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Summary of findings

The overall experiences for children have been negatively impacted by the shortfalls in safeguarding and leadership at the home. Although there are few incidents for children living at the home, safeguarding practice is poor. The oversight of leaders and managers is ineffective. They have not taken sufficient action to meet all the requirements raised at the last inspection. Many requirements have been restated.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, 3 children have remained living at the home. Children were spoken to as part of this inspection. Children spoke positively of their experiences of living at the home. One child said that the best thing about living at the home was the staff who care for them.

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improvement to be good

Children's hobbies and interests are promoted. Children regularly take part in clubs and activities. For example, attending sea cadets or youth clubs. When children struggle to engage, staff consistently offer activities suited to their individual interests. This has resulted in children enjoying days out of the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children's education and promote alternative learning when children are not attending school full time. One child attends full-time education, whilst two have been supported with alternative education such as tutoring. One child's social worker said that staff 'worked really hard' to support them to take their exams. Staff are proud of children's achievements and recognise this within children's records.

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improvement to be good

Staff are having meaningful conversations about things that are important to the individual children. They encourage children to think about their futures and support their independence. However, at times when there is a lack of engagement, staff do not consistently revisit conversations with children to ensure that key messages have been explored and understood.

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improvement to be good

There is inconsistent behaviour management for the children from the staff team. Staff do not consistently implement appropriate boundaries or consequences in response to children's behaviour. This inconsistency in staff practice limits the effectiveness of behaviour management and does not provide children with clear and consistent expectations.

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improvement to be good

There is not an effective response to children misusing substances. Children have been found to be misusing substances at the home and there have been no changes to the Inspection report children's home: 2690420 4 strategies in place to safeguard them despite continuing risks. This impacts negatively upon children's health and wellbeing.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always take effective action when children have been missing from the home. They do not always complete sufficient searches for children, and the recording of staff actions is poor which makes it difficult to understand what happened. Shortfalls in staff practice are not always identified and addressed in the management oversight of incidents.

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improvement to be good

There have been two incidents of restraint since the last inspection. One incident was proportionate and necessary; however, the other was not. The responsible individual highlighted this in their oversight of the incident; however, the manager did not. This practice has not been effectively challenged by leaders or managers.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not implement learning from all incidents. Children have been able to access the staff office repeatedly without challenge. This has allowed them to access medication and a knife. On one occasion when a child took medication from the staff office, there was a significant delay in staff carrying out a room search to retrieve this. Staff practice left children vulnerable to harm.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not ensure that they have safe access to children's bedrooms. One child has been given the spare key to their bedroom which means that staff do not have a key to access the room.

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improvement to be good

Managers respond appropriately to children's complaints. The complaint was explored sufficiently, and the child received a timely response regarding the outcome. Reflective discussions take place with the staff involved and additional training is provided when necessary.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments include known risks for children and provide strategies to follow. They are regularly reviewed by the manager and updated following incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the last inspection there have been changes to the leadership and management team, as well as within the staff team. Although staff work hard to build positive relationships with children, the changes within the leadership and management team have created a challenging work environment. This has had a negative impact on children's experiences. There have been improvements; however, some staff continue to lack confidence in the leadership and management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight is ineffective. Managers have failed to identify and address significant shortfalls in staff practice in their oversight of incidents. Furthermore, there are occasions when there is no management oversight of incidents. Leaders and managers are not consistently aware of all strategies in place within the home to safeguard and support children. This limits their ability to effectively monitor the implementation and impact of these strategies. Inspection report children's home: 2690420 5 Leaders did not take sufficient action to ensure that a serious allegation was appropriately investigated and neither did they ensure that immediate safeguard measures were put in place to protect the child. The allegation was not notified to Ofsted and the child's social worker was not provided with all relevant details. These shortfalls limited external oversight and did not ensure that appropriate safeguarding

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

actions were taken promptly to safeguard the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Recording and reporting in the home is poor. Incident records are not always written in sufficient detail and there has been an occasion when a room search was not recorded. Leaders and managers acknowledge that this as a significant area of development for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is not an effective system in place to monitor and review staff training. AS a result, training has not always been scheduled in a timely way, and several staff have had training that has expired. This does not ensure that staff have the up-to-date knowledge and skills required to effectively support and care for children. Inspection report children's home: 2690420 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 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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home's child protection policies is monitored regularly.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e)).

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff follow children's plans to keep them safe. In particular, that there are sufficient searches to locate children when they are missing from the home. 2 October 2026 Inspection report children's home: 2690420 7 The registered person must ensure there are effective strategies in place to reduce the risks of substance misuse for children.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that there is an effective response to all allegations made.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(c)(f)(h)).

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must implement robust internal monitoring systems to support continuous improvements and ensure that they have oversight of staff practice. The registered person must ensure that shortfalls in staff practice and identified and addressed at the earliest opportunity and that staff are sufficiently skilled and experienced to carry out their roles. 2 October 2026 Inspection report children's home: 2690420 8 This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child);

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Requirement Due date

serious damage to the property of any person (including the child); or

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Requirement Due date

a child who is accommodated in a secure children's home from absconding from the home.

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 20(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)). 2 October 2026

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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

meet each child's behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child's relevant plans;

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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

understand how children's previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; 2 October 2026 Inspection report children's home: 2690420 9 (Regulation 11(1)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(ix)).

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there is a consistent approach from the staff team in response to children's behaviour to encourage children to take responsibility for their behaviour and learn from this.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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 signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all staff keep accurate records of children's day-to-day care and any incidents including the actions they have taken.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 2 October 2026

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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 children's home: 2690420 10

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Acorns to Oaks Children's Care & Support Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Acorns To Oaks Childrens Care & Support Ltd, Suite 3, 125-129 Witton Street, Northwich CW9 5DY

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Inspector

Hayley Smith, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2690420 11 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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