Children's Home run by Horizon Care and Education Group Limited in Walsall

Inspection report for children’s home: 1258434 1 Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is registered and holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

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.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 11 January 2022

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1258434 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/01/2022 Full Good 05/11/2019 Full Good 12/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/07/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1258434 3

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outstanding

There are four children currently living at the home. All four of these children were living in the home at the last inspection.

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outstanding

The manager and staff’s motivation, commitment, resilience and skill mean that children who have experienced emotional trauma have consistently received a high standard of care. The manager and staff are supported by an in-house clinical team, which assists them to sensitively help children to process their thoughts and feelings. As a result, children have made excellent progress in all areas of their lives.

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outstanding

Staff have high aspirations for children and provide excellent support to help them to reach their potential. This motivates children to achieve academically and in social aspects of their lives. There is evidence of significant progress being made from children’s starting points. For example, one child who struggled to express herself achieved second place in her college’s national writing competition. Another child’s school attendance has now dramatically improved, and she also now voluntarily attends tuition after school twice per week.

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outstanding

Staff provide consistent and stable care that helps children to feel secure. Parents commented how, as a result of this approach, their child has matured, developed independence skills, is more confident, has an improved attitude and is achieving educationally. They told the inspector that staff go above and beyond to support inclusion for their child.

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outstanding

Staff share extremely positive, nurturing relationships with children that promote children’s emotional well-being. This creates a relaxed yet vibrant atmosphere with a family feel in the home. Children know that staff genuinely care about them, which assists to improve their self-confidence, self-esteem and ability to form positive attachments. Consequently, children have shown a significant increase in their social and emotional maturity.

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outstanding

Children participate in a range of activities and have enjoyed many positive experiences. One child took part in equine therapy and developed a love for horses. She now helps out at the stables each week, which she enjoys and continues to find therapeutic.

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outstanding

Staff actively encourage inclusion and togetherness. Children’s achievements and special occasions, such as birthdays, are celebrated by all children and staff, together with people who are important to the children. A child recently enjoyed a party themed around the TV show ‘Wednesday’.. This was arranged by children, staff and the child’s grandmother, who spoke to the inspector about how special it was for her to be invited to the home to celebrate this birthday with her granddaughter. Inspection report for children’s home: 1258434 4 The manager and staff have established strong relationships with people who are important to the children, and they are proactive in supporting children to reconnect and maintain these relationships. As a result, children have a safe support network of people they can trust as they transition to independence. When children have limited contact with family, the manager has ensured that they have access to a

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outstanding

children’s advocate so they have an independent person to speak to. This is exceptional practice that improves children’s safety and well-being.

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outstanding

The manager and staff are excellent advocates for children. They are relentless in their challenge to ensure that the children receive the specialist support they need. One child now has access to specialist medical assessments and counselling to support their developmental journey. This is a result of the manager’s determination for this child to receive the necessary support to meet their developmental needs.

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outstanding

Overall, the home is warm and welcoming, and photos displayed in places around the home add to the family feel. Children’s rooms reflect their personalities and interests. Children contribute to the decisions made about the decor in their home, which gives them a sense of belonging. However, there are spaces in the home that would benefit from modernisation to enable there to be a continuous warm family feel throughout the home.

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

Staff have an in-depth knowledge of children’s individual risks and needs. They use their understanding to ensure that children’s risk assessments are thorough and are updated to reflect changes in children’s behaviours and vulnerabilities. As a result, staff adapt their strategies to ensure that they keep children safe.

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

The registered manager has worked with the in-house clinical team to help staff to develop strategies to support children. Staff receive clear guidance on how to support children in their interactions. This ensures that staff practice is embedded with supportive language and is consistently child-focused.

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

Clear routines and boundaries are in place for children. This means that children understand what is expected of them. The registered manager works with the clinical team to ensure that the approaches staff use to manage children’s difficulties are fully considered and well thought out. As a result, there has been a reduction in incidents.

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

On the occasion that there is an incident or safeguarding concern, the positive relationships that staff have with the children mean that they recognise and respond quickly to changes in behaviour and offer additional support. Overall, staff respond swiftly to report concerns and take action to ensure that children are kept safe. However, the quality of the recording and reporting of incidents is variable. Inspection report for children’s home: 1258434 5 The manager and staff have an excellent knowledge of the risks to children when using the internet. Staff have detailed and reflective conversations with children to raise their awareness of online safety. This support helps children to make sensible choices to be safe online.

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

Children say they feel safe, and staff support children to take calculated risks in line with their progress. They are supported to go out without staff, with a full knowledge of the risks associated with their location and how to manage these. As a result, children successfully keep themselves safe when they are out in the community as they increase their independence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has been in post since October 2016. She is suitably qualified and experienced. The registered manager provides excellent leadership. She is highly committed and motivated, and she is respected by the staff, children, parents and other professionals. She has high expectations for the quality of care provided to children, and this is delivered by a resilient and dedicated staff team. As a result, children make excellent progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is passionate about helping staff to understand children’s behaviour, particularly how their behaviour links to their experiences of trauma. She supportively uses reflective practice in conversations with staff to work through any areas of weakness, and she challenges any practice that is not in the children’s best interests. As a result, staff are empathetic in their approach and learn from incidents to adapt and improve their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff speak highly of the manager and have confidence in her. Staff have regular supervision and team meetings that support and develop the staff team. This has ensured that the manager and staff team understand each other’s strengths and areas for development. As a result, the staff team is exceptionally well supported, and staff are supportive of each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff have a comprehensive range of training opportunities, including essential courses such as safeguarding and first aid. In addition, they receive a range of training courses that are specific to individual children’s needs. Specific training delivered by the clinical team was extended to one child’s school to assist it in meeting her individual needs in the school environment. This exceptional practice ensures that children receive consistency across all aspects of their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and staff team have developed strong relationships with all the relevant professionals, including school staff and social workers. As a result, there is excellent communication between professionals, who work together to implement strategies to enable children to access services that are needed for them to make excellent progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 1258434 6 Inspection report for children’s home: 1258434 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. The home should be a homely, domestic environment. In particular, all areas of the home should be equally warm and welcoming for children to use. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, they should ensure that all steps related to responses to incidents are clearly recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 1258434 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 12, Venture House, Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0LG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Rebecca Grimshaw

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Inspector

Sharon Bourne, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1258434 9 and inspects 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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