Children's Home, Residential special school run by Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd in West Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: SC482300 1 SC482300 Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to six children with social, emotional and/or mental health difficulties. The organisation also provides an on-site education provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2019.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC482300 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/06/2021 Full Good 21/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/07/2019 Full Good 25/10/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC482300 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care from skilled and knowledgeable staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are good relationships with families, and managers go above and beyond to make sure that these relationships are maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff care about children’s education. They work closely with educational professionals to create bespoke educational plans to enable children to overcome barriers to their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are afforded a wide range of age-appropriate activities such as being able to go swimming, horse riding and visiting the cinema. There have been some big trips out to give children new experiences, including going to watch a football match and seeing live shows at the theatre. Children talk with great excitement when they recall these experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Admissions to the home are carefully considered. Impact assessments are carried out to ensure that risks are identified and that clear strategies are put in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children are not comfortable to discuss sensitive issues, staff work hard to make sure that children know that support is always there for them. Once children are ready to talk, staff ensure that they are there to listen.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff promote and support equality and diversity. Children have been supported to attend church. When a child wanted to explore their sexuality, staff were there to support the child.

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

Children feel safe in the home. Strong relationships from a consistent and caring staff team help children to make safe decisions about their welfare.

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

Staff maintain good-quality risk assessments. These are updated following any change in a child’s behaviour. This means that staff are clear of their responsibilities and actions in keeping children safe.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. When this does happen, staff respond well and ensure that there is good communication with the relevant agencies such as a child’s school and police.

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

Staff manage children’s challenging needs well. There is a low level of incidents and, when these do occur, staff are quick at securing additional help. Inspection report for children’s home: SC482300 4 When safeguarding concerns arise, these are managed effectively. When leaders have been unhappy with the response of another agency, they have provided professional challenge. This is always done in the best interest of the child. However, there have been two occasions when allegations have been raised that have not been swiftly followed up, including ensuring key agencies were informed. These incidents happened when the registered manager was on annual leave. As a result, these concerns were not escalated until the registered manager returned.

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

Staff who are recruited to work in the home are not always subject to a rigorous assessment. For example, one member of staff was not questioned in their interview about gaps in their employment. This omission compromises the recruitment procedures that are designed to protect children.

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good

The registered manager is highly ambitious and has high aspirations of her staff.

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good

Staff are motivated and want children to have positive experiences so that they can reach their full potential.

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good

Children describe the registered manager as the best manager ever. Staff are equally complimentary, and describe the manager as someone who goes above and beyond to support them and to ensure that the children receive a high standard of care.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision. This provides opportunities to reflect on and develop their practice. However, records of these meetings do not always fully reflect the discussions. This means that records cannot be relied on to demonstrate how staff practice is fully assessed and how professional development is promoted.

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good

Good management systems help the manager to monitor and review the quality of care. As a result, the manager has a good insight into children’s experiences and the effectiveness of the staff in meeting children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC482300 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 31 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vi)(b)) 31 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character; 31 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC482300 6 the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 31 August 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: SC482300 7

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Inspector

Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC482300 8 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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