Celebrating Ofsted 'Outstanding' rating
Rose Road is delighted to be celebrating receiving the rating of ‘Outstanding’ in our latest Ofsted report.
In August 2026, inspectors visited our Acorns overnight respite service for children aged 4 to 18 at the Bradbury centre. After years of striving to move up from 'Good', which we have consistently received for years, we were all delighted to achieve the highest rating Ofsted can award.
Children the 'heart' of the home
They saw that “Children are unquestionably the heart of this home. They thrive in an environment filled with love, humour and genuine kindness, and they clearly enjoy their time there. Relationships observed during the inspection were nurturing, empathic and rooted in acceptance, enabling children to feel safe, valued and understood.”
Incredibly proud
Tina Fullbrook, Head of Overnight Respite and Sarah Reynolds, Service Manager, say "This is a wonderful reflection of the dedication, hard work and commitment shown by the whole team over the past few years, and we are incredibly proud of our staff and managers and grateful for their determination, teamwork and unwavering commitment throughout".
Whole organisation effort
The inspection also reflected the strength of the wider organisation, and how many teams have worked together to improve processes that have all helped support safer, more consistent and better-coordinated services for children, families and staff.
Steve Swift, CEO said “This is a tremendous achievement and, above everything else, reflects the commitment, skill and compassion of the staff and managers who care for our children every day.
Outstanding services do not exist in isolation. They depend upon great people, strong leadership, high-quality training, safe and well-maintained facilities, effective systems, good governance and an organisation prepared to continually invest in quality and standards.
Ofsted recognised many of those things within this report – from the quality of our training and facilities to our approach to staff wellbeing, learning and quality assurance.
Everyone across Rose Road contributes to creating the environment in which our frontline teams can do extraordinary things.
Importantly, we will keep learning and improving. Our ambition is that the standard of excellence Ofsted has seen at Acorns is reflected in everything we do for disabled children, young adults and their families".
"Across the UK only 12% of children’s homes receive this standard, and we are proud to be part of this.”
The inspectors also commented on the impact Rose Road has on their families and the wider community. “The children’s progress is a direct result of the unwavering dedication, creativity and compassion of the staff team. Parents describe Rose Road as a 'home from home' and speak highly of the care their children receive. Professionals consistently praise the staff's commitment and the positive impact the service has on family stability.”
And it comes at a particularly special time as we now look ahead to our 75th anniversary in 2027.
We can look forward to celebrating with the local community about our achievements and difference Rose Road makes for so many local families, boosted with our ‘Outstanding’ report result.
Read the Summary for Children and Young People here, in which the inspector talks about her favourite experiences while she was inspecting Rose Road.
Read the full Ofsted report here.