Children's home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2636991 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 by a private company. It provides care for two children who have experienced childhood trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 26 August 2021 and is suitably qualified. This is the home’s first full inspection since it was registered.

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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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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2636991 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. One other child had moved on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care from a dedicated staff team. One of the children has settled well and is making good progress physically, emotionally, socially and educationally. For example, his education report stated that teachers could not be prouder of how well he is doing academically, despite having recently started college and moved into the home. When children experience challenges, staff provide consistent support and encouragement, and develop positive relationships with them to help bring about change. This helped a child to understand and overcome barriers to education. This child is now attending school full-time after a period of non- attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff spend time helping children to personalise their bedrooms and make sure that the home environment remains beautifully decorated. This child-centred approach helps children to invest in their home and feel proud of where they live.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have lots of opportunities to have their voices heard, through spending quality one-to-one time with staff or at weekly children’s meetings. The registered manager writes personalised letters to each individual child acknowledging requests made and the action that the manager and staff will take to address these. Consequently, children feel highly valued and listen to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children seeing their close family and friends. They support children to keep in touch with those who are important to them. Staff proactively address any difficulties that arise in these relationships so that children continue to have stable support networks around them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

On one occasion, the manager did not ensure that they had all the relevant information about a child prior to them moving into the home. When the child moved in, it became clear the staff could not fully meet their needs. This child moved out of the home after a short period of time. This was not a positive experience for the child. The manager has reflected and learned from this experience to better inform practice moving forward.

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

Staff receive a range of safeguarding training. They are clear about their roles and responsibilities to raise practice concerns about colleagues or about allegations raised by children. When concerns have been raised, these have been shared promptly with the necessary professionals and investigated. Inspection report for children’s home: 2636991 3 Staff model good behaviour to the children. They provide them with consistent routines and boundaries, which help children to know what is expected and help them to feel secure. Staff support children who display behaviours that cause others concern, to help them to understand why and how they can manage things differently. As a result of this good work, one child is no longer going missing from the home.

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

When children are absent from the home without permission, staff and the manager follow safeguarding protocols. For example, on one occasion, they continuously communicated with the child and partner agencies during the child’s absence. In addition, they travelled a good distance to check on their welfare, while efforts continued to encourage the child to return home.

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

Staff provide well-planned therapeutic care and they are supported to deliver this by the organisation’s therapists. Care staff and therapists work together to keep children’s risk assessments and behaviour plans up to date. This partnership working promotes children’s welfare.

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

There was a period when a child’s risk-taking behaviours, such as physical aggression and fire safety concerns, escalated and this resulted in police attending the home to support staff. Staff worked tirelessly with the child and partner agencies such as social workers, police and the fire service to manage behaviours and reduce risk. However, when the risks became too high for staff to manage safely, they supported the child to move to a specialised service that could better meet their needs.

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

The registered manager ensures that staff who are recruited to work in the home are subject to all the necessary checks. This helps to ensure that staff who work at the home are safe to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate, child-focused and keen to continue developing the service. She receives excellent support from the senior management team, who help to drive forward improvements in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Dedicated staff know the children well. They work in collaboration with partner agencies and the therapy team and are aware of the children’s areas of strength and where they need support. Children are making progress and are helped to set new, achievable and personalised goals in accordance with their care plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager exercises effective challenge when partner agencies fail to fulfil their obligations to children. She does this to ensure that children’s needs are met and they receive the best quality of care to enable them to achieve positive outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager creates an environment for learning that enables and supports staff’s professional development. One member of staff commented that Inspection report for children’s home: 2636991 4 they feel supported in their role. A new member of staff reflected on how she has been supported in her role by receiving a thorough induction, good-quality training, effective supervision and help from a supportive team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on staffing availability at times. However, the registered manager has worked long shifts at times to help maintain consistency of care for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2636991 5

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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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that prior to new children coming to live at the home, every effort is made to obtain all relevant information, to inform decision-making. 20 March 2022

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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 for children’s home: 2636991 6

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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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Inspector

Rumbi Mangoma, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2636991 7 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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