Children's Home run by Rochdale Borough Council in Rochdale

Inspection report for children’s home: 2852284 1 Registered provider: Rochdale Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered with Ofsted in July 2025 and is operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to 3 children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 3 children were living at the home. All children spoke to the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 9 December 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: 2852284 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/12/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2852284 3

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Summary of findings

Children’s engagement and participation is a strength. Children are encouraged to have a voice and staff advocate for children so that they receive appropriate services. Children’s identity is actively promoted, and care and support are tailored to meet children’s needs.

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Summary of findings

Staff respond quickly and therapeutically when there are serious incidents in the home to help children co-regulate and become less frustrated. Staff understand the complexities of group living and promote positive behaviour to ensure children are kept safe.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers are working to improve communication across the staff team to provide consistency in care practice, internal monitoring of the home and oversight of all records relating to the care and support relating to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well and speak about them with fondness and pride. Children were observed to have positive relationships with staff. Staff understand children’s complex needs and encourage engagement and participation to ensure that their voices are heard and represented. Staff actively encouraged children to communicate and share their views with the inspector during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are all attending education. Staff work well with education professionals to ensure that children’s education plans are reviewed in a timely manner. This ensures that childrens progress is captured and that plans are put in place early when children may need additional support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into of the home, the manager takes an active role to ensure that plans and introductions are child focused. One child was able to move into the home at their pace and in line with their needs, enabling them to become familiar with routine and structure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning for children moving on from the home is less well planned. This lack of planning, directly contributed to one child feeling frustrated about their plan and which impacted on their emotional wellbeing at that time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and the staff team build positive working relationships with family members. Staff encourage and promote children’s identity through family time arrangements which ensures children remain in touch with those who mean the most to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers do not always sufficiently challenge placing authorities where necessary. For one child, a translator was required for during family time and when this was not provided, the manager did not challenge or escalate this with the local authority. This Inspection report for children’s home: 2852284 4 meant that staff have not always been able to safely assess communication between the child and the child’s family members.

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

Staff recognise the importance of structure and routine. Staff use visual aids to help children understand their daily routines. Staff have meaningful conversations with children to help them understand the dynamics of group living and there is a strong emphasis on promoting positive behaviour in the home and community.

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

On one occasion staff have not followed policy and procedure by informing leaders and managers when a child has shared potential safeguarding information. A requirement has been raised to this effect.

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

Children speak to staff about their emotions and staff respond in a therapeutic manner to help children co-regulate and feel less frustrated. Staff support children with routine appointments to the child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) to ensure that children are receiving the most appropriate support for their mental health and emotional wellbeing.

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

Low-level physical interventions have occurred to ensure the safety of the child and others. Staff have conversations with children following these incidents to enable them to understand the reasons for the intervention.

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

Children rarely go missing from home. On the few occasions that children have been missing from home staff have responded appropriately by following protocol and reporting the child missing to police and other agencies in a timely manner.

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

Room searches generally take place when there is reason to do so and the child’s wishes and views are obtained. However, on one occasion following a serious incident, staff did not record the room search taking place and the child’s views were not obtained.

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

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the whistleblowing procedure and had sound understanding of how to report safeguarding to external professionals such as Local Authority Designated Officer, Police and Ofsted.

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

The manager has worked in the home for several months during which time he has focused on establishing positive relationships with the children, encouraging child focused practice amongst the staff team and advocating for children.

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

The manager has begun to develop an understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses, but at times internal monitoring has lacked depth and critical analysis and on occasion the manager has not had effective oversight of serious incidents. For example, medication practice at the home is not managed effectively, with inconsistencies in recording. Inspection report for children’s home: 2852284 5 There has been challenges to staffing since the last inspection and the manager has not benefitted from a full-time deputy manager to assist him. Leaders and managers recognise these shortfalls which are now being resolved.

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

Communication during handover time is not always robust. The manager is working alongside his peers in the local authority to develop new recording systems to enable a more streamlined approach to recording to avoid duplication. Furthermore, to ensure that staff are covering all aspects of handover information regarding children’s daily routines and specific needs.

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

Staff spoke positively about working in the home. They feel supported and valued and felt stated that leaders and managers are approachable and available. Staff said that there is a consistent approach to promoting equality and diversity in the home.

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

The manager identifies additional training in line with children’s presenting needs to strengthen staff skills and knowledge when providing care and support to children who communicate through social stories.

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

Supervision is taking place with staff on a regular basis. These sessions provide staff with the opportunity to discuss practice related matters as well as any additional support needs staff may require.

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

Team meetings are taking place regularly and are well attended. These meetings provide staff with a forum from which they can discuss and openly share their views about all aspects of the home including information relating to the children’s developmental progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2852284 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the 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

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that children are consulted and supported to understand their plans for moving on from the home. Additionally, that children have adequate time to prepare to move on from the home, in line with the child’s placing authority planning arrangements. 25 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that accurate records relating to the administration of children’s medication are kept and have the manager’s full oversight. 25 September 2026

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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. 25 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2852284 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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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. (Regulation 12 (1)(a)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff act on any potential safeguarding concerns in line with the homes safeguarding policies and procedures.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, that records of room searches are kept and the child’s views obtained.

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Recommendation

 The registered person must ensure that children should be able to maintain and develop their cultural or religious beliefs through participation and instruction. Children should be encouraged to use their spoken language during family time whilst ensuring that communication is open, transparent and the child’s safety is paramount using interpreter and translation services. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 18, paragraph 3.22)

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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: 2852284 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Rochdale Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1XU

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Inspector

Michelle Greenhalgh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2852284 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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