A CHILDREN'S home celebrated in the sunshine after achieving an outstanding Ofsted report.

Abbeyford Children’s Home on Rainford Road, Dentons Green, had a fun day to celebrate their fantastic top rated news; with farm yard animals, face painting, live music and a magician among the entertainment for the many families to enjoy.

The council-run respite centre – which provides short breaks for children and young people with complex health, learning and social communication needs – was visited by inspectors earlier this year and scored ‘outstanding’ across the board.

Key findings from the report found that children make tremendous progress during their stays at the home – and that care plans provide a detailed account of each child’s needs and how the home is meeting them.

In addition, the inspector was full of praise for the ‘inspirational’ and ‘ambitious’ leadership and management team who support their ‘high calibre’ staff in providing an excellent quality of care to ensure the children and young people benefit greatly from the time that they spend at the home.

Registered manager Paul Spencer, said: “This is a fantastic outcome for the service, which over a five year period has seen several changes to service delivery.

"Our challenge now is to aspire to maintaining our outstanding status and continue to offer a quality service in the future to people in St Helens.

"Congratulations to all children and young people who attend the service, their parents and to a team who are without doubt key to this success."

St Helens Council’s cabinet member for developing young people, Cllr Joe Pearson, added: "Abbeyford’s Ofsted result is what we hope all organisations and schools in the borough are aiming for.

"The report is a testimony to the dedicated team of staff who go above and beyond to ensure the children and young people in their care receive positive and rewarding experiences during their time there.

“As a caring council which has just been rewarded for the work it is doing with partners to improve adult social care in light of difficult financial pressures – we will continue to ensure our most vulnerable residents are kept safe and protected - and fantastic facilities like Abbeyford are a shining example of this.”

Assistant director for school and social care support services, Pauline McGrath, said: “As the accountable manager of Abbeyford, it’s been a pleasure to work with the team and other departments within the council to get this provision to its current standard of accommodation and the delivery of high quality care.”