Ofsted have noted the first improvements at a girls home in Peterborough that was previously criticised for the body for ‘failing to protect a child.’

An Ofsted inspection has found improvements at Clare Lodge Secure Children’s Home in Glinton but the leadership has remained rated as ‘inadequate.’

The home, the UK’s only all female secure children’s home, has been watched closely by the body since February and has undergone several monitoring visits following a damning inspection.

The home is managed by Peterborough City Council.

placeholder image — Clare Lodge in Glinton.

At an inspection in February, the home was found to be inadequate in all areas and the damning criticised an incident in which a child self harmed and required urgent medical support from the emergency services.

The report Clare Lodge found that was inadequate in all areas it was judged against; Overall experiences and progress of children and young people, children’s health, how well children and young people are helped and protected and the effectiveness of leaders and managers.

The latest report, which saw an inspection carried out in June found the Children’s Health as well as Education and Learning to be ‘Good.’

how well children and young people are helped and protected and the overall experiences and progress of children and young people were rated as ‘Requires Improvement to be Good,’ while the effectiveness of leaders and managers remained rated ‘Inadequate.’

The report said that: “The secure children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people, however, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.”

On a positive note, the report found that: “Children’s physical and mental health needs are assessed promptly on admission using comprehensive health assessment tools which are then reviewed and expanded as required thereafter. These assessments provide detailed information to better inform care and treatment planning. This is translated into practice and means that children make measurable progress in both their physical and emotional wellbeing.

"Senior leaders provide strong leadership in education. They know the children well and have positive relationships with staff. Leaders have an accurate understanding of key strengths and take prompt action to address emerging weaknesses. Leaders have remedied the main weaknesses identified at the previous inspection.”

The home had no registered manager at the time of inspection and the report described the management of care as ‘weak.’

It said: “Not all information is clear and easily available. Inconsistencies were found during the inspection about information being provided. The management team often all hold different pieces of information relating to the same incident, and this does not always match the available written records.

"Care staff are not all trained in specific issues related to children. The majority of staff are not trained in autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, despite children having these diagnoses.”

At the time of the inspection, there were just four children at the home, with Ofsted stating that occupancy levels were low because of “low staffing levels, staff skills and

experience and poor management arrangements and oversight.”

Ofsted had imposed a restriction of accommodation notice between 13 February 2026 and 5 May 2026.

To view the report in full, visit the Ofsted website at https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50307708.