Children's Home run by New Horizons NW Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2638487 1 Registered provider: New Horizons Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. The home is privately owned.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 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 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: 2638487 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2638487 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four children live in the home. The home is welcoming, comfortable and personalised to meet the needs of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build good and meaningful relationships with the children. These positive relationships are helping the children learn what a respectful relationship looks like and how to create one.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children are making progress with their education. Staff support children to access learning and attend an alternative education provision. However, not all children are fully engaging in education, and this is delaying their learning and outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to maintain good physical health. Children are encouraged to eat healthily and attend all their health appointments. They are supported to engage in activities, such as swimming, roller-skating and football. One child went camping in the summer, and another child has a part-time job. This is helping the children to learn new skills and build resilience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff actively promote children’s family time. The staff maintain regular communication with children’s families. This helps the children to maintain their identity and continue to see the people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to carry out daily tasks independently in line with their individual needs, for example personal care, shopping and using public transport. This is helping the children prepare for adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Individual sessions are carried out with children on important issues, such as healthy relationships, self-injury and school. Children have an opportunity to share their views about their daily care and home life during monthly meetings. However, the records do not always evidence that children’s views, wishes and feelings are ascertained on a regular basis. The children also do not have life-story books of their time in the home. This limits the children’s opportunity to reflect on their experiences and progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to an independent advocate. This helped one child to share their views about education.

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

Children currently living in the home say that they feel safe. They can talk to staff about any worries they have. Inspection report for children’s home: 2638487 4 Risk assessments and behaviour support plans are in place. However, not all assessments and plans have been signed by staff as being read and understood. This means that staff do not always have a shared understanding of how to implement the plans and keep a child safe.

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

Staff spoken to have a good understanding of what to do when a child goes missing from home. Staff actively look for children and liaise with professionals to help minimise risk. They discuss the incident with the children; however, it is not always evident within the record when a return home interview has taken place with an independent person.

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

Restraints are proportionate and used as a last resort. The recordings of restraints are detailed and show a range of de-escalation strategies used in attempts to avoid a physical hold. Staff and children receive a debrief after an incident.

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

Children receive help and support to manage their behaviours and feelings safely. The staff are supported by a clinical child psychologist. This is helping to ensure that children are cared for by resilient and well-informed staff who can meet their individual needs and keep them safe.

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

Door alarms are fitted to each of the children’s bedroom doors to support their safety and welfare. The use of door alarms is regularly reviewed to ensure that it remains in the child’s best interests.

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good

The home is led by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. The manager is child-centred and knows the children well.

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good

There have been several staff changes since the last inspection. This has included the recruitment of new staff and staff transferring from other homes. Staff have worked hard to cover the shortfalls. However, relief staff have often been used, which does not ensure consistency for the children.

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good

Effective monitoring and review systems are not in place for all children. Monitoring systems do not always highlight when assessments and plans are updated. The manager has not thoroughly reviewed all incidents to gain a detailed understanding of what is working well and any areas for improvement. This means that the manager and staff do not always identify and act on shortfalls to improve the quality of care that the children receive.

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good

Some records are disjointed and incomplete, and one child’s name was spelled incorrectly on their care plan. This is not helpful for the children to understand their journey in the home.

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good

Staff have completed training in supporting children with autism spectrum disorder and protecting children from child sexual exploitation and self-injury. This helps staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2638487 5 have a good knowledge and skill base to safeguard children. However, staff have not completed training that is specific to all the children’s individual needs. For example, staff are not trained in personal care, despite supporting a child with this daily.

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good

Staff describe the managers as being supportive, and they say that they enjoy working in the home. Staff have regular supervision, and team meetings that allow for feedback and discussion take place frequently. Meetings take place with other professionals, where staff have an opportunity to discuss the children and reflect on their practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2638487 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, the 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered person ensuring that there are consistent and robust systems in place to monitor and review the children’s assessments and plans and their progress in accordance with their relevant assessments and plans. 31 May 2023

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and 26 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2638487 7 promotes their welfare.

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered person ensuring that staff attend child-specific training, including training on children’s personal care.

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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

develop positive relationships with them;

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered person ensuring that all children are supported to communicate their views, wishes and feelings about their care planning, daily care, home life and any other matters affecting their lives on a 15 May 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2638487 8 regular basis. The registered person should ensure that this is detailed in the records of all children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 15 May 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff encourage children to keep appropriate mementoes of their time living at the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)  The registered person should ensure that when children go missing from home, the records detail when a return home interview has taken place with an independent person. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.31)

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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: 2638487 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Horizons Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 12, Riversway Business Village, Navigation Way, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2YP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Natalie Waterhouse

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Inspector

Dawn Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2638487 10 regulates 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 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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