Children's Home run by Northridge Care Group Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 1 Registered provider: Northridge Care Group 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 and managed by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties and/or special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home and spent time with the inspector.

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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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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Ofsted judged this children’s home to be inadequate at the full inspection in June 2026. As a result, 2 compliance notices were issued under Section 22A of the Care Standards Act 2000. These related to Regulation 12 (the protection of children standard) and Regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard). Ofsted also imposed a condition to vary the home’s conditions of registration reducing the number of children that the home can provide care and accommodation for. A monitoring visit was Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 2 undertaken on 23 July 2026 to consider the progress made and found that appropriate action had been taken to meet the compliance notices. Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/06/2026 Full Inadequate 14/01/2026 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/08/2025 Full Inadequate 21/01/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 4

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Summary of findings

Since the last inspection, improvements have been made to safeguarding practice and the leadership and management of the home. There is a new interim manager in post and a stable staff team who are committed to providing good quality care for the child. The manager drives improvement through bespoke training, workshops and reflective practice sessions. Staff work hard to build meaningful and trusting relationships with the child. This approach has contributed to the child’s positive progress and experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child enjoys meaningful and trusted relationships with staff who know them well. Staff provide consistent nurturing care and work hard to maintain these relationships, which have contributed to the child’s progress since the last inspection. Staff provide the child with a sense of stability and belonging, often working additional shifts to maintain consistency of care. Staff have successfully embedded routines, boundaries and the home’s therapeutic approach. As a result, behavioural incidents are reducing in frequency and severity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When barriers to the child attending health appointments occur, staff offer reassurance, encouragement and discuss the importance of maintaining good health. Staff educate the child on a variety of health issues to help the child make better choices. The child’s emotional regulation and ability to communicate their feelings to staff has improved. As a result, the child is now able to verbalise their feelings and request what they need from staff during periods of crisis, resulting in the prevention of some incidents from escalating.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s views and wishes about wanting to move to a new home are listened to and acted on by staff. The manager advocates strongly for the child to ensure that their views are heard by those making decisions about the child’s future care. This includes advocating for a move closer to the child’s family. The manager demonstrates professional challenge to ensure that the known risks, needs and how to best support the child are known by any potential future home. Staff are working hard to ensure that any move from the home is carefully planned and well supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to develop and maintain positive family relationships. Staff work hard to explore the child’s views and feelings about their family and implement strategies to help ensure that time spent with family is a positive experience. One parent describes a significant improvement in their relationship with the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is not currently attending education. Staff encourage the child to participate in educational activities and discussions as an interim measure and have explored a range of options to engage them and promote their interests. However, there remain barriers to the child attending and engaging in educational activities and staff have been unable to overcome these. Therefore, the previous requirement is restated. Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 5

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

Managers and staff respond promptly to new and emerging risks. This includes demonstrating professional curiosity, sharing concerns with external professionals and making appropriate referrals for specialist support. The manager ensures that staff receive clear guidance and targeted training in response to emerging risks. Staff remain vigilant and take action to reduce the risk of exploitation while helping the child to develop their knowledge and independence.

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

The child says that they feel safe and described the actions that staff take to keep them safe. Staff understand the risks for the child and are vigilant to new and emerging risks. Practice is supported by comprehensive risk assessments and safety plans that include detailed guidance for staff. These are written to the child, using non-judgemental language to help them understand what adults are worried about. Additionally, there are helpful grab sheets available for staff to support them during periods of crisis. However, one safety plan contains contradictory information about the level of supervision required for the child.

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

The child is helped to develop their knowledge and understanding of risk through a variety of direct work. Staff use research-based resources and bespoke work designed in a way that is meaningful to the child. This approach is helping the child to understand what adults are worried about and make safer, more positive choices. One parent said, ‘I feel that [name of child] is safe. Previously I felt that something massive was going to happen; I was living on a knife edge all the time. I don’t feel that now, because of [manager and staff] and the work they’ve done.’

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

Incidents of the child going missing from the home are rare. However, when they do occur, staff respond proactively and take appropriate action to locate the child. Staff undertake searches and work effectively with partner agencies and peers to support the child's safe return home. Following return, staff speak with the child about their experiences and use this information to strengthen their understanding of risk, identify any emerging concerns and help reduce the child's vulnerability within the community.

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

Staff consistently use their knowledge of the child and draw on positive relationships to encourage positive choices and behaviours. Following the last inspection, behavioural incidents increased. Staff adapted their approach to meet the child's emerging needs, providing consistency in their responses. Consequently, incidents have reduced in both frequency and severity. Consequently, behavioural incidents have reduced in frequency and severity. One social worker said, ‘I’ve seen a reduction in incidents, one of the key factors around this is the relationships and key bonds with staff.’ Staff and managers implement appropriate consequences and restrictions in response to safeguarding concerns that arise. However, leaders and managers do not ensure that staff are routinely spoken to about any measures used or keep restrictions under regular review to ensure that they remain necessary and effective. Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim manager is highly skilled and experienced. She is supported by an experienced and committed deputy manager. They are both child focused and work closely together to support and lead the staff team. Managers are present and available to provide advice and guidance where needed. Staff describe feeling supported and valued by the management team. There are effective monitoring and review systems in place which drive continuous improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff mirror the managers’ values and are committed to providing good quality care to the child. There is a stable staff team in place, providing predictability, consistency and stability for the child. Staff benefit from bespoke learning tailored to the child’s needs and risks. Managers provide research-based resources to support staff development. Staff describe this approach as ‘helpful,’ with one staff member saying, ‘every day is a school day.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with ample opportunities to discuss and reflect on their practice individually and together. Supervisions and team meetings take place regularly and include quizzes and scenario-based questions to test the safeguarding knowledge of staff. Following any incidents, the manager provides staff with opportunities to reflect on their strengths as well as areas for further development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff work collaboratively with the in-house behavioural analyst to understand the child’s needs. This includes reviewing and adapting staff’s approach and the strategies used to support the child effectively during periods of crisis. Adaptations made are now embedded and consistently used by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals and family members say that they are happy with the care provided to the child. Communication is described to be ‘excellent’ and they are kept well informed about the child’s care. One parent said, ‘The team is unrecognisable. They are amazing and have done so well with [name of child] in such a short time.’ The child’s social worker describes the manager going ‘above and beyond’ in response to emerging exploitation concerns for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager regularly completes a review of the quality of care provided to the child. However, this omits feedback from the child about their home and the quality of care that they receive. This limits opportunities for the child to be involved in identifying actions to improve the care that they receive. Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 7

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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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

support each child's learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; and

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there are clear informal education plans in place to promote children's educational needs in the absence of formal education taking place.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is a restated. 23 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children's home; and 23 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 8 the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that that any measures of control implemented remain under regular review to ensure that these remain necessary, proportionate and effective.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, the registered person must ensure that the effectiveness of any consequence implemented is evaluated and that staff implementing the consequence are spoken to about the measure used.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children's home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and 23 February 2027 Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 9 any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that feedback from children is sought and used to inform any actions required to improve the quality of care provided for children.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all records for children including risk assessments are kept up to date. (‘Guide to The Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards,’ page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2774125 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Northridge Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Richard House, 9 Winckley Square, Preston, Lancashire PR1 3HP

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Inspector

Leanne Carr, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2774125 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 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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