Wigan's children's homes rated good in latest round of Ofsted inspections

Ofsted visited each of the borough’s four homes between October 2021 and March this year.

The most recent home to be inspected, The View in Hindley has also been rated good across all areas of inspection.

Colette Dutton, Director of Children’s Services at Wigan Council said: “This is fantastic news. We’ve worked hard over the past few years to make sure that our residential homes offer the right sort of support to both children, their families and foster carers.

“I’m so proud of all of our staff who work in or with our residential homes.

“A good rating is not easy to achieve, so the fact that we’ve been awarded this grade across all of our homes is a true testament to their hard work and commitment.

“I also want to thank the fantastic people in the areas where our homes are based.

"They play a valuable role, making sure that the vulnerable children are well supported and made welcome in their local communities.”

The four homes support over 100 children each year, by offering residential care, as well as through specialist outreach support.

Ofsted’s most recent report on The View highlighted the strong social work presence at the home and the “nurturing, caring and skilled staff".

Inspectors praised the support offered to foster carers and the partnership work with clinical staff, who brought an extra level of support to children with additional needs.

Reports on the other homes also described them as supportive and homely and staff were praised on helping children feel secure and on having “child-focused” approaches to their work.

Strong levels of assessment, risk management, and team development were also highlighted.

Colette added: “Our next steps will be to make sure that all children in our care continue to have a positive experience of life.

“We plan to strengthen relationships across the council, and with our partner organisations, as we all have a responsibility to support the children who are in our care.

“While the good grades are a fantastic achievement, and should be celebrated, we are ambitious, as we need to be for the children we work with.

“We will continue working on our journey towards gaining outstanding gradings in the future.”