Children's Home run by Brookfield Care (NW) Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children's home: 2752709 1 Registered provider: Brookfield Care (NW) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. The home may provide care for 3 children who may have social, emotional or learning difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, the home was caring for 2 children. Both children were spoken with during the inspection.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2752709 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/07/2025 Full Good 02/07/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2752709 3

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Summary of findings

Children are making positive progress in key areas of their care, which has resulted in one child now attending school full time. Children experience positive moves into and out of the home, and senior leaders have challenged professional decisions effectively when one child left the home without notice to provide a positive ending for the child.

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Summary of findings

Staff know the children well and understand their needs and vulnerabilities. They respond to risks for children promptly to keep them safe. However, children's plans to manage risks are not concise.

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Summary of findings

There are effective vetting systems in place to ensure that staff are safely recruited to work in the home. However, the vetting systems in place did not include relevant checks for the director.

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Summary of findings

The home is managed by an experienced manager, who has effective oversight of the home, knows the home's strengths and weaknesses and is creative in her methods to keep staff fresh and up to date.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a warm and welcoming environment and is nicely decorated. The children's bedrooms are personalised to their taste, and there are photos of the children throughout the home. One child described the environment as relaxing. External areas of the home are well maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 2 children have moved out of the home, and one child has moved in. Staff prepare and plan children's move into and out of the home sensitively and at a pace to suit the children. Staff consult with professionals and prepare visits for children prior to any moves into and out of the home. Staff maintain relationships with children after they leave the home, and one child has returned to celebrate their exam results.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When a child's placement promptly ended, the manager and staff team collaborated with multiple professionals, including the police and health services, to challenge the decisions. When their efforts were unsuccessful, they ensured information was shared with the new home about the child's needs and have continued to pursue a positive ending to support the child's emotional wellbeing and experiences after they have left the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of each of the children's individual needs and are creative in ensuring children can express their views, wishes and feelings. They regularly Inspection report for children's home: 2752709 4 engage the children in direct discussions on topics of their choice, but also to support children to understand their behaviours and any presenting risks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children regularly attend school, and one child has progressed from a part-time timetable to attending school full time. When children do not attend school, staff communicate and work with the school to ensure continuity of their learning in the home and to support children's return and overcome any barriers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals and parents speak positively about the care of children, with one parent reporting the whole staff team to be amazing.

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

Staff have a good understanding of how to keep children safe and take appropriate action to reduce known risks. They understand the children's vulnerabilities and adapt their approach to meet their emotional needs, ensuring that prompt action is taken to protect children from harm. However, safeguarding records are inconsistent and overly prescriptive, with some documents containing an excessive number of actions for staff to follow. In one example, a safeguarding record included more than 50 separate actions, which may reduce clarity and effectiveness in practice.

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

There have been frequent incidents of children going missing from home. Staff take appropriate steps, such as searching local areas and contacting the police, relevant agencies and family members to locate children and ensure a safe return home. When one child's whereabouts became known and risks increased, staff took swift action to locate the child and return them home safely.

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

There are appropriate procedures in place for managing investigations into allegations. Information is shared appropriately with relevant professionals, including the local authority designated officer, and children are supported through direct work and efforts to repair relationships. The manager has responded promptly when concerns have arisen regarding a staff member's practice, ensuring that necessary action is taken without delay and that safeguarding procedures are followed.

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

Robust systems are in place to ensure that medication is administered safely. Following several medication errors occurring within a short period, the manager ensured additional oversight and monitoring to strengthen practice and reduce the likelihood of further errors.

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

Staff use consequences fairly, consistently and proportionately. They take time to discuss each consequence with children, helping them to understand the reasons for it and encouraging reflection on their behaviour. The manager maintains effective oversight of the use of consequences, evaluating their impact on children's progress and identifying any emerging themes that may indicate a need for additional support. Inspection report for children's home: 2752709 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced manager who has effective oversight of the home and understands the home's strengths and weaknesses. The home is managed in accordance with the home's statement of purpose and workforce development plan, and feedback is obtained from children about the quality of care they receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has revised the medication and allegations processes in the home and held team activities and discussions though more formal processes to address weaknesses. Additional layers of scrutiny are in place through auditing activity completed by senior leaders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are appropriate vetting systems in place to ensure that staff are safely recruited to work with children. However, the organisation has not followed the correct processes in fulfilling their obligations to inform Ofsted of the role of the director of the organisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings occur on a regular basis and are well attended. They are practice focused and allow an opportunity for staff to reflect on the care provided to children and revise ways of working. Clear actions are set at the end of each meeting and creative ways adopted to test staff's knowledge, such as quizzes and the attendance of key speakers. The manager has also completed additional training exercises outside of team meetings, with group activities and workbooks to ensure consistent practice is maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, some staff have left and some have joined the organisation. However, there is a consistent staffing team now in place. New staff experience a well- developed induction package, which is overseen and regularly reviewed by the manager. Inspection report for children's home: 2752709 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

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

that the effectiveness of the home's child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children's support plans accurately reflect children's risks and actions for staff to follow. 27 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

An individual may only carry on a children's home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (5).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 26 (1) (5)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that safer recruitment practices are followed for the director of the home. 27 October 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2752709 7

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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: 2752709 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Brookfield Care (NW) Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 139 Bramhall Moor Lane, Hazel Grove, Stockport SK7 5AQ

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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Michelle Kershaw

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Inspector

Vicky Byron, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2752709 9 regulates and inspects to 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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Inspector

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