Children's Home run by Appletree Treatment Centre Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children's home: SC032838 1 OFSTED USE ONLY

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SC032838 Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre 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 operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to 8 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties and/or have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2014. The responsible individual has been absent from their role for the whole of this inspection period. The provider has put suitable management arrangements in place in their absence.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, 5 children were living in the home.

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Information about this children's home

There is a school on the same site as the home. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision at this site.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: A full inspection was completed on 12, 13 and 14 May 2026. Ofsted judged the home to be inadequate and subsequently issued three compliance notices under Regulation 11, 'The positive relationships standard', Regulation 12, 'The protection of children standard' and Regulation 13, 'The leadership and management standard'. A monitoring visit was carried out on 8 July 2026 to Inspection report for children's home: SC032838 2 OFSTED USE ONLY

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good

evaluate the provider's response to compliance notices, and it was found that the provider had met all of the steps in the notices. Inspection report for children's home: SC032838 3 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/05/2026 Full Inadequate 17/03/2026 Full Inadequate 20/08/2024 Full Good 19/07/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC032838 4 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Summary of findings

Children enjoy living in the home and have positive experiences. Staff know the children well and put them first. Children are well protected due to prompt safeguarding responses from staff. Any incidents are managed well, with children helped by staff to regulate their emotions better and feel safe. Leaders and managers have continued to work to improve the care provided to children, and the robustness of safeguarding arrangements. They have worked alongside staff to improve the culture in the home, and this is helping to lead to improved outcomes for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with staff. Staff take time to understand each child and respond to their individual needs. Staff speak positively about children and recognise their strengths. When relationships between children and staff become strained, managers act promptly and arrange activities that help them rebuild trust. The relationships that children build with staff help them grown in confidence and develop resilience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively support children to build and maintain positive relationships with their families. This includes facilitating regular phone calls and supporting children to travel long distances to see family members. Staff have also helped one child build a new relationship with a member of their family. Staff recognise the importance of children seeing their loved ones, and this results in children improving these relationships and building connections that will support them in their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have individualised routines that provide them with stability. Managers ensure that staff consider environmental factors that may affect children's routines. Staff give children the time and space that they need to settle when needed before returning to their routines. This flexible approach helps children to feel secure and supports their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are given regular opportunities to speak openly about their care. Managers review children's feedback and respond to their views. Children also meet monthly with an independent listener who provides a confidential space to share any concerns. This approach ensures that children's voices are heard and contributes to improvements to children's care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities that reflect their interests including visits to the park, playing football and attending art galleries. Staff support children to develop their sense of identity and practice their chosen faith. One child regularly attends church with the support of staff. Children also enjoy holidays together, which provides opportunities to create shared experiences and memories. Inspection report for children's home: SC032838 5 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with health professionals to support children's health and wellbeing. Staff and managers monitor children's health in line with their plans, and this has contributed to improved health for some children. However, one child does not understand their health needs or how it affects them day to day. This has the potential to have a significant impact on the child's wellbeing and ability to manage their own care in the future.

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

Leaders and managers ensure that any concerns about staff practice are investigated promptly. Managers handle investigations appropriately and follow relevant policies and procedures. This ensures that concerns are addressed and helps to maintain safe standards of practice.

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

Staff respond to self-injurious behaviour in a nurturing and therapeutic way. They check on children regularly when they have concerns about their mental health. Staff have completed self-harm and ligature training and apply have the necessary skills to reduce the risk of harm to children.

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

Staff clearly record all accidents and injuries involving children. When the cause of an injury is unclear, staff sensitively explore this with the child. This helps staff understand what has happened and identify any further safeguarding actions needed.

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

Staff are supportive of children when they experience distress. They use strategies that reflect each child's individual needs and behaviours. Staff are curious about children's feelings and help them to understand their emotions. This helps children to explain why they are upset and supports them to regulate their emotions more effectively.

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

Some children experience regular incidents at night and struggle to settle to sleep. Staff understand the reasons behind these behaviours and use this insight to inform individual support plans. Staff follow these plans consistently and this provides children with predictable care. This approach is helping children to feel safer and more secure at night.

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

At times, staff need to use physical intervention to keep children safe. Staff use this as a last resort and only after applying de-escalation strategies. Following any intervention, staff talk to children to help them understand why the intervention was necessary. This also helps staff to develop safer ways of managing children’s behaviour. Managers also ensure that staff receive clear guidance on safe physical intervention. This improves practice and helps staff respond safely when children are at risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have worked with a consultancy team to improve the quality of care provided to children. They have implemented a systemic improvement plan which has delivered measurable progress. A new leadership structure is also being put in place, and this has begun to improve governance, including safeguarding oversight. Managers Inspection report for children's home: SC032838 6 OFSTED USE ONLY

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

have involved staff in developing practice and promote shared learning across the team. These actions have improved the culture in the home and supported positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have prioritised developing staff skills, knowledge and experience. They have provided a variety of training, and staff report that they benefit from this learning. Staff also receive regular, reflective supervision sessions that includes discussion related to safeguarding scenarios. Managers also use supervision sessions and debriefs with staff to address concerns and challenge practice when needed. This approach allows space for reflection and reduces the risk of further shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are curious and take an analytical approach in their oversight of incidents and events within the home. They identify patterns and trends in children's behaviour, including when they occur and the people involved. This helps to staff to consider potential triggers and approaches that do not work for individual children. Managers use this information to review and adapt children's plans and the strategies staff employ to support them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers value the ideas of staff and recognise the knowledge of those who know the children best. Staff feel empowered to contribute to, and help develop, strategies to support children more effectively. As a result, children's care continually evolves to help achieve better outcomes for each child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are unclear about who currently oversees the registered manager. This means they are not clear as to the current whistleblowing procedures. This risks concerns not being reported through the correct channels. Inspection report for children's home: SC032838 7 OFSTED USE ONLY

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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 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

understand the child's health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child's health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child's age and understanding

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child's well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iv)) 31 October 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that information about whistle blowing is available to staff, with clear procedures for how a staff member should report to an appropriate authority any concern they have about a child within the home being either at risk of, or already experiencing, significant harm. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 43, paragraph 9.15) Inspection report for children's home: SC032838 8 OFSTED USE ONLY

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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: SC032838 9 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Meathop Park, Meathop, GRANGE-OVER-SANDS, Cumbria LA11 6RF

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Inspector

Laura Roberts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC032838 10 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Inspector

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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