Children's Home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report children's home: SC481152 1 SC481152 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. The provider’s statement of purpose states that the staff care for up to six children with emotional and social difficulties. The admission criterion is specific to male children who require a medium-term model of therapeutic care.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered in September 2014.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home shares the same site with the provider’s school. The inspector only inspected the social care provision at this site.

p.1

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.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection, and care.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding Inspection report children's home: SC481152 2 Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC481152 3

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/08/2019 Full Outstanding 03/01/2019 Full Outstanding 20/06/2017 Full Outstanding 18/01/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: SC481152 4

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a very structured environment that enables children to feel safe and secure. Children who have a history of harmful sexual behaviours are supported to achieve emotionally, socially and educationally. An effective therapeutic programme and a wraparound multi-agency safety plan, involving key professionals, ensure that children can engage safely in the wider community.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector spoke to children about their daily lived experiences in the home. Children say the home is ‘awesome’ and a ‘great place’. Children describe staff as being caring, supportive and helpful.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides large, spacious accommodation for children. Due to the age of the property, some parts of the building look tired and worn. There is ongoing maintenance to the property due to structural work being required. During the inspection, a child’s bathroom was being repaired by replacing joists and flooring.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to tidy their bedrooms once a week. However, the inspector noted that children’s bedrooms were cluttered with plates and cups and presented as untidy. Evening snacks in bedrooms are not discouraged, and some children like to relax in their rooms with a snack and drink before bedtime. Room checks for hygiene purposes should be encouraged daily as this sets a good example for children to live in a clean and tidy environment.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated social restriction measures have proved to be challenging for the children and the staff who support them. Staff have been creative to ensure that children were supported to achieve their individual independence plans so that they progressed through the therapeutic social model of care. Children supported their neighbours and helped to decorate lamp posts and the street with bunting, which showed a collective pride and community spirit during an uncertain time.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy going to school and make excellent progress with their education. Education is provided by the on-site school, which is run by the same company. A child reflected on how much he now enjoys school. Equally, his parent noted a huge improvement in their child’s attendance and engagement in education.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In addition, when social restriction measures were in place, some children engaged in creative projects, such as film making and animation courses. Consequently, children maintained routine and structure while engaging in wider learning opportunities.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have struggled in education settings are provided with additional learning tools to continue their education. One child has decided to repeat his academic year to gain improved results for a college course he hopes to attend. Inspection report children's home: SC481152 5 Staff promote group living by encouraging children to complete shared tasks. For example, group gaming encourages teamwork and conflict resolution. Group living has proved to be challenging at times. Complaints among children are resolved quickly with restorative discussions among peers. Children take part in group cooking sessions and craft sessions, which allows them to have fun and enjoy meaningful activities.

p.4

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

A detailed research-led therapeutic risk management plan and a behaviour support plan help to keep children safe. Therapeutic support plans ensure that children can safely and securely explore their emotions and develop a better understanding of their behaviours. Children have weekly therapy with the home’s therapist. They can safely progress through a social, behavioural and emotional rehabilitation programme with positive outcomes to independence.

p.5

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

Children who may be at risk of self-injurious behaviours have a detailed risk assessment in place. Potential risk factors have been assessed through consultation with the in-house therapist and through further liaison with the child and adolescent mental health services to ensure that a multi-agency safety plan is in place. The fire escape is modified to prevent one child from accessing it. A keypad initiates a planned release; and the fire door unlocks automatically. This ensures a safe and secure exit from the home should a fire occur. This restrictive measure does not comprise a fire evacuation plan but a necessary safety measure.

p.5

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

There is effective monitoring of electronic devices and gaming tools to ensure that children are protected and can safely interact with others. A crossover of installing a new internet server between the home and school led to a child gaining access to the Wi-Fi passcode via school. The child accessed inappropriate material on the internet. Staff at the home took swift action to reinstate a safe and secure internet system. Detailed online key-work sessions were undertaken with all children to ensure a collective and shared understanding of internet safety.

p.5

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

Children have progressed to using smartphones in preparation for engaging in the wider community. A secure system for monitoring children’s ongoing safe and effective use of the smartphones is in place.

p.5

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

Physical restraint measures are only used as a last resort. During one incident, the restraint measure used was not considered to be in line with the restraint policy used by the home. A detailed investigation with senior managers ensured that, on this occasion, staff took appropriate action to avoid significant harm and physical injury to the child.

p.5

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

Although several discussions have taken place with a child regarding healthy eating, concerns in line with the child’s health plan have not been thoroughly actioned to address emotional eating. Children who have issues with emotional eating, and are therefore at risk of childhood obesity, require a multi-agency health and well-being Inspection report children's home: SC481152 6 plan and review in coordination with the looked after children’s nurse, therapist and a designated nutritionist

p.5

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

The home has good relationships with the local police community support officer, who is a regular visitor to the home. This helps staff to understand the local area risks and keep up to date with local area concerns. Children can build positive relationships with the police where previously they may have been fearful and guarded.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post for several years. He is dedicated and committed to driving improvements to help achieve better outcomes for children. The manager and his deputy work well together and have excellent knowledge of the children and the staff who care for the children.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are open and honest about how challenging the COVID-19 pandemic has been for staff and children. Social restrictions increased anxiety for some children. Social restrictions have also resulted in the slow progress of individual plans for some children. Staff have covered additional shifts to ensure continuity of care for children.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Incident reports are detailed and clearly recorded. Management oversight is noted on incident records. Some clarity is required to ensure that comments made by the manager are clear to whom they refer to. Essential documents, such as an education plan, were missing from a child’s record.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some placement matches have not been successful due to the referral-in process and sharing of information at the point of referral from placing authorities not being effective. Consequently, this has led to premature placement moves and instability for children. Assessments that consider the matching needs of children lack some detail to ensure that all risks are fully understood, such as risks associated with children who have a history of bullying and the impact of this on children who have been victims of bullying.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they enjoy coming to work and love their job. Staff have a good understanding of the children, their risks and how to support them. One staff member has been the key worker for one child for four years. She has supported the child through some challenging and difficult life experiences. This demonstrates secure relationships, commitment and consistency for children. Another staff member said, ‘I have never understood multi-agency working until I came into this job. I love my job. No two days are the same.’

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported through supervision, and they can refer to their managers for support with an informal open-door policy. Staff supervision records are handwritten and, in some cases, hard to read. As official documents, a recommendation is made to ensure that supervision records are typed or handwritten clearly. Inspection report children's home: SC481152 7 Staff attend regular staff meetings. Children’s progress is discussed, which offers staff time to reflect. Staff will also undertake additional training and discussion to support their day-to-day work. A recent team-building exercise helped staff to reflect on their roles and boost morale and confidence. In addition, therapeutic team meetings are scheduled every six weeks; however, these have been inconsistent. If necessary, staff have access to informal therapeutic discussions led by the in-house therapist. Inspection report children's home: SC481152 8

p.6

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.

p.8

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.8

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.8

Requirement Due date

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

p.8

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f))

p.8

Requirement Due date

In particular, impact risk assessments must identify all risk factors that may affect children already living in the home. 31 May 2022

p.8

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff encourage children to take a proactive role in looking after their day-to-day health and well-being. This should include keeping their personal space tidy and regulating eating habits in line with health plans. When children have specific health needs or conditions, they should be supported to manage these with additional multi-agency health and/or well- being support. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)  The registered person should ensure that supervision records are legible. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children's home: SC481152 9

p.8

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: SC481152 10

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

p.10

Children’s home details

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

p.10

Inspector

Kamal Bhamra, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC481152 11 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.

p.10

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.11