Children's Home run by Derbyshire County Council in DerbyshireOfsted inspection, 26 Aug 2026

Inspection report for children's home: 2642643 1 Registered provider: Derbyshire County Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children's home

This home is owned by a local authority. The home is registered to provide care for up to 4 children with social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, 4 children were living at the home. They were spoken to during the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children's home

The home is led by an experienced manager who is registered.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 13 January 2026

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2642643 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/01/2026 Full Good 04/03/2025 Full Good 10/10/2023 Full Good 14/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2642643 3

p.2

Summary of findings

Children feel safe in the home. They benefit from a stable staff team who know them very well. The manager and staff promote multi-agency collaboration and children receive targeted support when this is required.

p.3

Summary of findings

The manager recognises the importance of careful consideration when children move into the home with children living there together with staff knowledge and skills. The children generally live together harmoniously.

p.3

Summary of findings

Safeguarding incidents are rare. When incidents occur, staff respond promptly and appropriately, and children receive the nurturing care and support they need to recover from any incidents.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a warm, spacious home that provides opportunities for relaxation, creativity and play. Children's ideas for developing the home are welcomed and the children have been key in developing the home's sensory room and garden.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager carefully considers the impact of new children moving into the home and children are consulted with and their ideas and thoughts considered. Good decision making from the manager and staff as to new children moving into the home mean that children live harmoniously with each other. Children choose to spend time in the company of their peers and staff and there is a relaxed atmosphere in the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children's interests and nurture their talents. For example, one child enjoys regular visits to a recording studio to create music. Staff join in and this has become an excellent bonding activity, as well as an outlet for the child to voice their emotions in a constructive way. One professional stated, 'Staff work hard to support the children to be unique and individual.'

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff discussions with children are sensitive, but also playful at times. Children respond well to this approach. It helps children to engage with staff and have these important conversations about the things that matter most to the children. Staff recording in documents are written to the child and targeted to the child's individual style of communication and sense of humour. Staff find positives, offer praise, and interact with children in such a way that promotes moving forward, rather than dwelling on a behaviour. Staff support children to review their records, if they wish to.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to make and maintain friendships. For example, one child is being supported to attend the same football club they were part of prior to moving to the home, despite this being some distance away. Children enjoy visiting friends and having friends come to the home, staff ensure that this is managed safely for all. The manager Inspection report for children's home: 2642643 4 and staff understand the importance of enduring relationships and work hard to ensure that children maintain regular contact with significant family members and those children are close to.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are not being adequately prepared for independence, and the reality of living without a high level of care and support. Whilst one child is making progress with social skills and confidence, plans for progressing key life skills are limited. This risks children being ill-equipped for independent living.

p.4

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

Children report that they enjoy living at the home and feel safe. Staff remain calm when children feel overwhelmed, this can spill over into more negative behaviour. The staff comfort children, prioritise their immediate safety and give them time and space to regulate their emotions. Staff have not needed to use any physical intervention. Staff encourage children to reflect and support them to repair relationships with peers and staff.

p.4

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

While the staff know children well, risk assessments do not reflect this knowledge and lack guidance to inform staff what actions to take to support and safeguard children. For example, children's individual triggers and the strategies that help them when they are feeling vulnerable. This means that best practice is not consistently shared.

p.4

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

The manager and staff have developed strong links with community services and draw on the expertise of external professional agencies when this is needed. This includes referrals to specialist services to provide children with educative work. For example, one service supported a child to understand the criminal justice system and reasons for a postponed court case.

p.4

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

Staff do not yet provide sufficient educative support to promote children's awareness of risks and ability to keep themselves safe from harm. Support provided to children in the context of risk-awareness is reactive and fails to recognise, at times, the increased vulnerability of children.

p.4

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

When children go missing from care staff take appropriate action including reporting to relevant authorities and liaising with family and friends. Staff make extensive efforts to search for the children. They are relentless in this search until children are found. Staff welcome the child home without judgement and provide reassurance and comfort.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been appointed to a more senior position within the organisation. However, she continues to manage the home and retain oversight across all areas of children's care, until a new manager is appointed. Has a further measure to strengthen management oversight, an acting home manager will be responsible for the day to day running of the home, supported by a dedicated deputy manager. Inspection report for children's home: 2642643 5 Staff are carefully and safely recruited. They have relevant experience, education, or transferrable skills, bringing a wide range of knowledge and skills to the role. For example, some staff have backgrounds in psychology, health and education. Staff are appointed as relief workers initially before they are permanently recruited, to ensure that they are suited to the role.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers listen to the children's views and the views of other agencies. Managers will review and adjust care practices and relevant plans based on any feedback indicating the care practice can be strengthened. For example, one child raised they did not like being able to see records of their discussions with staff. Consequently, these were removed and staff reflected how seeing these records could feel intrusive and bring about strong feelings in the child. The children's files, called journey files, are now celebrations of the children's achievements.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has thorough, reflective oversight across all aspects of children's care. However, actions identified to support children and promote their development are not recorded or reviewed in a consistent way. Plans to address needs are not specific, measurable or time-based. This can lead to drift in children's plans, confusion around what needs to be done, and a lack of accountability.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff receive training relevant to the role as well as consultations and advice from specialist services. The manager has a workforce development plan that identifies areas where training could be strengthened, there are plans for progressing this.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A stable group of staff has developed and established trusting relationships with children and helped them make progress with their emotional health and wellbeing. Staff report feeling supported by managers and having their ideas taken on board and feeling valued. Inspection report for children's home: 2642643 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis, particular to the individual child. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 42, paragraph 9.5)

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children must feel safe and be safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. ('Guide to children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 43, paragraph 9.9)

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home's support and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. ('Guide to children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 17, paragraph 3.27)

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they and their staff engage proactively with the placing authority to contribute fully to the relevant plans for the child's care on an ongoing basis, ensuring that any actions identified are recorded and reviewed in a consistent way, with clear lines of accountability and agreed time frames ('Guide to children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 56, paragraph 11.3)

p.6

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: 2642643 7

p.6

Children's home details

Registered provider address: Derbyshire County Council, County Offices, Matlock DE4 3AG

p.7

Inspector

Jenna Allen, social care inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2642643 8 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8