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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2554918 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 privately owned children’s home is registered to provide care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

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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: 2554918 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/04/2022 Full Good 11/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2554918 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children living in the home say that they are happy and feel safe. They receive nurturing care from staff who understand their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is large and well furnished. Children take pride in their bedrooms and the games room, which they have been able to decorate and personalise. This helps them to develop a sense of belonging in the home. Children have access to a well- maintained garden area that provides them with space to play during all seasons. Children are listened to. They use the home’s meetings to share their views and contribute to the care that they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop age-appropriate independence skills, such as tidying their bedrooms, cooking meals, and helping with other routines in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are prioritised. They are registered with local services and attend routine health appointments when, sometimes, they did not before. The manager and staff regularly consult with the home’s therapist to develop strategies to meet children’s emotional health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to see their family in line with current plans. Children are helped to spend time positively with their parents, siblings and wider family members. Staff have good relationships with family members. This helps children to maintain relationships with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Peer relationships and friendships are well supported. Children feel comfortable with their friends visiting the home and can have sleepovers. This promotes their sense of belonging and positive childhood experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend school and to achieve their potential. One child has struggled to maintain a college placement or find employment since leaving school. The staff are helping them with this. However, there are no clear routines in place to support the child with a successful future return to a learning or work environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Door alarms are always activated on children’s bedrooms. Risk assessments are in place. However, these are not routinely reviewed in relation to safeguarding risks. This limits children’s right to privacy.

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

Staff engage in meaningful direct work with children that focuses on relevant and age-appropriate topics for each child. This allows children to be educated on potential issues that may impact on their lives, and supports them to make safer choices. Inspection report for children’s home: 2554918 4 Incidents in the home have significantly reduced. When incidents do occur, information is shared with relevant agencies and the police to ensure that safeguarding procedures are followed.

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

Positive incentives are in place to promote the children’s behaviours. However, these are not used consistently. Management oversight and the evaluation of consequences are limited. This has created inconsistent practice in the team, and opportunities to support children to understand routines and boundaries have been missed.

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

All children have risk management plans in place; however, these are not always reviewed in a timely manner. Processes to ensure that staff are aware when plans are updated are not robust.

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

One child had an unplanned ending to their time at the home as it was recognised that the team was unable to keep the child and others safe. The manager was involved in supporting the child to have a positive transition to their new home, enabling them to settle well.

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

There has been a reduction in incidents of children needing to be held to keep them safe. When they do take place, they are proportionate, and records are detailed. The manager evaluates each incident, and those involved are given the opportunity to have a debrief. However, after one incident, the manager gave a debrief when he was involved in the intervention. This did not allow the child to have an independent discussion.

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good

The home is managed by an experienced manager. He has developed positive relationships with the children and understands their individual needs. The manager is ambitious about plans for the home. He has high expectations for children and staff.

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good

The team communicates effectively with others to ensure that children’s needs are met. Records are detailed. Feedback from other professionals is positive about the quality of care provided by the team.

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good

The monitoring systems in place are not yet fully embedded. Their effectiveness is currently limited. This is something that the manager is continuing to develop.

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good

Staff are committed to improving outcomes for children. They are positive about the guidance that they receive from the manager. However, staff do not receive regular supervision. Opportunities to support staff to progress and develop their learning and reflect on practice in the home have been missed.

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good

There has been a delay in the manager requesting up-to-date care plans for the Inspection report for children’s home: 2554918 5 children. The home’s own care plans and documents are concise and contain relevant information. However, the absence of key placing authority documents prevents staff from having a clear understanding of children’s current needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2554918 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, 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 education standard is that children are supported to make measurable progress towards achieving their education potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support through the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(viii)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s daily routines encourage and promote their engagement in education. 10 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff are supervised in line with the organisation’s policy. 10 June 2023

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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; and 10 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2554918 7 have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensuring that there is an up-to-date placing authority care plan in place for each child living in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that any limits to children’s privacy and access in the home, such as the use of bedroom door alarms, are for safeguarding purposes only. Any limits should be subject to a rigorous assessment of each child’s needs and be kept under regular review. 10 June 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained has the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint with someone who was not involved in the restraint. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60) Inspection report for children’s home: 2554918 8

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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: 2554918 9

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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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Inspector

Colin Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2554918 10 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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