Children's Home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in North Yorkshire

Inspection report children's home: 2509365 1 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 11 March 2020 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2509365 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/09/2019 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2509365 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s experiences of living in this home are positive and they are making good progress. Staff spend time interacting with the children and doing activities with them, and children build trusting and secure relationships with the staff due to the stimulation and engagement they provide. One child said, ‘I can speak to staff if I’m upset and they will always listen to me and help me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are involved in the day-to-day running of the home. Weekly catch-up sessions with staff enable them to express their views and put forward suggestions and requests. Consequently, children have chosen day trips and activities, and they have picked new furnishing for their bedrooms. Nevertheless, children’s views and suggestions are not included in the children’s guide. This is a generic document that is not personalised to this home and does not provide children with a sense of what living in this home will be like for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is well supported. Staff are resourceful in their efforts to address the barriers to education that children may face. Staff work with other professionals to ensure that the children engage in school. Children benefit from support plans that help them to regularly attend school. This helps children to access formal education and they learn to recognise the importance of this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the children to lead a healthy lifestyle and to choose a balanced diet. Children use activity trackers to measure the number of steps that they do each day. This encourages the children to keep fit and enjoy exercise.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children learn about diversity and different cultures. For example, they take part in themed nights to help them to explore different foods and world history. This means that the children are able to widen their experiences and knowledge.

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

Children benefit from individual therapy sessions with the in-house psychologist. These sessions help them to develop coping strategies that they can use to manage their emotions and learn how to safely express their feelings with the support of staff.

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

Staff use verbal praise and other incentives to celebrate children’s positive behaviour. This helps children to recognise and respond to appropriate boundaries. As a result, incidents continue to reduce and there have been no physical restraints since the last inspection.

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

Staff understand children’s specific risks and vulnerabilities, and the actions that they must take to protect them from harm. Risk assessments are detailed and Inspection report children's home: 2509365 4 regularly updated by the manager. This enables staff to provide children with consistent care and support.

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

Effective and consistent safeguarding practice means that children are better protected from the risk of harm. Staff engage children in key-work sessions to address individual risks or concerns. This work includes online safety and bullying. Consequently, the children begin to understand how to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff recruitment is effective and helps to prevent the employment of unsuitable staff. Leaders and managers complete all necessary employment checks and verification processes for new staff. This ensures that staff are deemed suitable to work with children.

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

Leaders and managers ensure that any concerns raised with regard to staff practice are appropriately referred and addressed in line with statutory safeguarding procedures. The manager works closely with designated officers and relevant police teams to ensure that information is shared effectively. This means that the right decisions are made to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff are child centred and focused on making a positive difference to the children’s lives. Professionals and family members continually praise the staff for their hard work to ensure that the needs of the children are met. One parent commented, ‘I really can’t thank them enough for all they do.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The most recent statement of purpose for the home was available during this inspection. However, this has not been sent to Ofsted as required. This means that Ofsted, parents and professionals may not have access to accurate information with regard to the aims and objectives of the home, to ensure that children are cared for in line with the statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides notifications of serious events to the regulator. However, there was one occasion when there was a delay in notifying Ofsted of an event involving the police. On another occasion, there was an event that could have resulted in harm to a child which the regulator was not informed of. This shortfall means that the regulator is unable to assess the seriousness of these events in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff receive suitable training and regular reflective supervision. All staff hold appropriate and relevant level 3 qualifications relating to residential childcare or are currently working towards these awards. This means that leaders and managers are assured that staff have the skills that they need to provide good-quality care and support for children. Staff feel appropriately supported to care for the children. This means that staff are confident in promoting the welfare of the children. Inspection report children's home: 2509365 5 Internal and external monitoring systems enable the manager to review the quality of care that children receive. This means that the service continues to evolve to meet children’s changing needs. Inspection report children's home: 2509365 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children's care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

keep the children's guide and the home's complaints procedure under review and seek children's comments before revising either document. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the children’s guide reflects the individual home and that the children are involved in decisions about its contents. 25 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 25 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 25 February 2022 Inspection report children's home: 2509365 7

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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 children's home: 2509365 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 1 Tustin Court, Riversway, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2YQ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Thomas Cappleman

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Inspector

Evelyn Chafota, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2509365 9 to 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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