Children's Home run by Pelican Care Group Limited in SeftonOfsted inspection, 10 Sept 2026

Inspection report for children’s home: 2510737 1 Registered provider: Pelican Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider operates this home. It offers care for up to 2 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living at the home. The inspectors spoke with both children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2021.

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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: 17 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: 2510737 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/12/2025 Full Good 10/12/2024 Full Good 19/03/2024 Full Inadequate 01/03/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2510737 3

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Summary of findings

Two children live at the home and report feeling happy, safe and well supported. They benefit from positive relationships with staff, who understand their needs and help them make progress in education, health, independence and emotional wellbeing. Staff work effectively with families and partner agencies to promote children’s welfare and reduce risks. The experienced registered manager has developed positive professional relationships to support children’s care and progress.

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Summary of findings

However, improvements are needed in health planning, risk assessments, direct work and safeguarding records. Management oversight has not consistently identified practice shortfalls, staff training gaps or weaknesses in monitoring systems. Quality assurance processes and key records also require improvement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel happy living in the home and described staff as caring and supportive. Children have developed positive relationships with staff and feel able to share their views. They contribute to decisions about their day-to-day lives, such as planning celebratory events and making suggestions about activities and pets visiting the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress across a range of areas. Staff support children to access education. Where there have been barriers to attendance, staff work effectively with schools, colleges and the virtual school to identify suitable alternatives that reflect children’s wishes and interests. This includes opportunities such as hair and beauty apprenticeships and equestrian-based provision.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s physical health needs are met and they attend routine and specialist health appointments when required. However, not all children are referred to appropriate services to meet their emotional health needs, and there are no comprehensive health plans in place to guide staff in meeting children’s individual health needs. Furthermore, statutory health assessment records are not consistently obtained. As a result, staff do not have access to all the information they need to support children’s health and wellbeing effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into the home, their risks and needs are suitably assessed using the information available at the time of referral. Staff work with relevant professionals to ensure children settle into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain important relationships with family members in line with their agreed plans. They promote and facilitate meaningful family time, including travelling with children to visits and arranging opportunities for families to spend quality Inspection report for children’s home: 2510737 4 time together. This helps children to maintain important family connections and develop a positive sense of identity and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children access a range of activities that support their social, emotional and educational development while also reflecting their hobbies and interests. Children are encouraged to develop age-appropriate independence skills and enjoy spending time with friends while remaining in contact with staff as agreed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is welcoming and personalised. Children’s bedrooms and communal areas reflect their interests and help them feel a sense of belonging.

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

Children feel safe and are settled in the home. Since the last inspection, there has been one missing-from-home incident, which staff responded to appropriately and in partnership with the relevant agencies. Staff regularly discuss risks with children and work closely with the complex safeguarding team to review, monitor and reduce the risk of exploitation.

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

Staff understand children’s individual vulnerabilities and respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns. However, risk assessments do not always contain accurate or up-to-date information to provide clear strategies for staff to follow.

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

Children have positive relationships with staff and one another. When incidents occur, staff prioritise de-escalation, praise and rewards. However, staff do not consistently help children to understand and resolve conflicts with others in a positive way. In addition, they do not always record conversations with children in a respectful and helpful manner. This reduces opportunities for children to reflect on their experiences, learn from incidents and develop positive relationships.

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

Children feel that staff help them to make safer choices. However, staff do not consistently undertake meaningful direct work to help children understand the impact of their behaviours, recognise their triggers or identify ways to keep themselves safe. Staff do not always use incidents such as children going missing from the home or self- harming as opportunities for reflection and learning. As a result, children are not consistently supported to understand and manage risks, and staff cannot demonstrate how they help children reduce future harm.

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

The manager’s monitoring and review systems require improvement. They have not identified shortfalls in the quality of care and protection provided to the children. For example, there is a variable quality of direct work with children, in addition to not identifying and recording a physical intervention, and incorrect information in children’s files. This lack of effective oversight prevents managers from being able to clearly Inspection report for children’s home: 2510737 5 identify and act on shortfalls in staff practice, identify patterns and trends and make improvements to the way in which staff keep children safe.

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

Records do not demonstrate that all staff have received sufficient training to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of children. For example, training records show that some staff have not completed training in missing from care, self-harm and child sexual exploitation. This means that some staff are not fully equipped to recognise and care for children who require support in these areas.

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

The manager supports staff through regular supervision and appraisal. This enables staff to talk about the children, reflect on their working practice and discuss their own development needs.

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

The manager has not ensured that there is an accurate roster in place that includes the full names of the staff on duty and the hours they have worked. As a result, these documents cannot be relied on to identify when staff have been at work.

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

The quality of care review is not sufficiently detailed about the quality of care provided to children or identifying areas for development. This does not provide Ofsted with assurance that managers understand the purpose of this key document or maintain effective monitoring and review systems.

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

An independent visitor calls at the home once a month to monitor and report on the quality of care. The quality of the reporting does not demonstrate that the quality of care is robustly monitored. For example, there is no consultation with children’s parents, and the report lacks information around whether visits are announced or unannounced or the time the visit was carried out. This does not ensure that Ofsted has a good overview of the home between inspections.

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

The manager and staff have established good working relationships with other professionals, such as teachers and social workers. Good communication ensures that information is shared quickly, which helps to keep children safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 2510737 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 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.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iv)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that appropriate referrals to relevant health professionals are made on behalf of children who have experienced self-harm.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that statutory health assessment records are obtained in a timely way and that any delays are appropriately challenged and escalated with the child’s placing authority.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that each child has an up-to-date health plan that clearly identifies their individual health needs and the support required to meet them. 13 November 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2510737 7 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

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iv)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff support children to develop positive strategies for managing conflict and relationships with others. All staff must receive consistent support and reflection to improve their practice and the quality of care provided to children.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, direct work with children must be child-centred, use respectful and supportive language and help children to understand their experiences, feelings and risks without invoking blame or shame. 13 November 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.

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe; 13 November 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2510737 8 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

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that direct work helps children to understand the risks associated with going missing from home and self-harming behaviours. The child’s views, wishes and feelings must be sought and used to identify known triggers, protective factors and effective coping strategies. This learning should be reflected in children’s plans to provide staff with clear guidance on how to reduce risks and support children safely.

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff receive appropriate induction, training and support, in accordance with the home’s statement of purpose, before taking responsibility for the care of children. 13 November 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2510737 9 The registered person must implement effective monitoring and review systems to ensure robust oversight of significant events, children’s records and staff practice.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that quality of care reviews provide a clear evaluation of the quality of care, identify strengths and areas for development and demonstrate how feedback and learning improve outcomes for children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that independent monitoring is sufficiently rigorous and includes feedback from parents, where appropriate. Regulation 44 reports should clearly record whether visits are announced or unannounced and the time of the visit.

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure the staff duty roster records the full names of persons working at the home and a record of the actual rosters worked. 13 November 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of restraint are subject to regular management scrutiny and evaluation. Records must contain sufficient detail, be signed and dated within required timescales and demonstrate that staff involved have been offered a debrief. Any learning identified should be used to inform children’s risk management plans, strengthen staff practice and reduce the likelihood of future incidents. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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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: 2510737 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pelican Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2a Swordfish Business Park, Swordfish Close, Higgins Lane, Burscough, Lancashire L40 8JW

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Inspectors

Samantha Cooper, Social Care Inspector Dave Carrigan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2510737 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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