Children's home run by Horizon Care and Education Group Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 1249183 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

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. There were four children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 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 good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 10 January 2023

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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: 1249183 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/01/2023 Full Good 16/02/2022 Full Outstanding 28/01/2020 Full Good 23/08/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1249183 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children form trusting relationships with staff who know them well. Children said that they are happy at the home. One child said that living at the home had helped them to ‘rewrite the script’ of their life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before children move in, the manager considers how the combined needs of the children can be met. Children new to the home are provided with information about what living in the home will be like, and this helps to reduce any worries that they might have. Children who move on stay in touch, which adds to their support network and reflects the value of the relationships that they form with staff and peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel listened to, and their suggestions are acted on when outings and holidays are being planned. Children enjoy a wide range of activities. Memories of their achievements and celebrations are captured in children’s memory books.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is promoted by staff. The manager advocates for children whose education needs are not currently being met. Those children who are accessing the right educational resources make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. If children are reluctant to attend appointments, staff arrange for therapeutic support to be provided within the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to gain life skills such as cooking and using public transport. Children’s progress is tracked in a workbook. However, these workbooks are not regularly updated. This is a missed opportunity for children to see how they have moved on from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to rebuild family relationships. One professional said that staff go ‘above and beyond’ to help children to spend time with people who are important to them. Children’s friends are welcomed to the home and are included in activities and trips.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated and furnished to a high standard. The children’s bedrooms are personalised to their own tastes. Improved systems mean that any maintenance issues are identified and addressed promptly.

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

The staff work with children and other agencies to manage children’s risks. Children said that they feel safe and that, even when staff don’t know their whereabouts, they know that staff care about them. Inspection report for children’s home: 1249183 4 When new risks emerge, children’s plans are updated accordingly. Staff have completed additional training so that they can confidently support children to use social media and devices safely.

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

Key-work sessions are used by staff to help children to understand potential risks of online communication and other relevant topics. If additional monitoring is needed, staff work with children and social workers to agree how this will be done.

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

Children undertake road safety training to help them to be safe when away from the home. Staff know and follow plans to ensure that children are safe when they are spending time with friends or family. Staff carry out welfare checks and look for children if their whereabouts are unknown, which helps children to be found quickly. Children can speak to an independent person when they return home. However, on one occasion, there was no record of this having been offered.

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

Physical restraint is not used because staff know the children well and use their knowledge to de-escalate situations if children are struggling.

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

Children are given information when they move in about what to do if there is a fire. However, fire drills do not take place at the earliest opportunity. This means that the manager cannot be confident that children would know what to do if there was a fire.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high aspirations for the children and her commitment to them is reflected across the staff team. Staff spoke highly of the support that they receive and said that they enjoy coming to work. Staff work as a team and turnover is low. Additional support for outings in school holidays is provided by agency staff who are known to the children. The home has a relaxed family feel, which helps children to feel cared for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has taken steps to improve the quality of monitoring and has introduced a system so that she can be sure that staff have read any changes to children’s plans. The manager takes care to ensure that plans reflect children’s individual needs, and that they are regularly updated. However, information that is out of date is not always removed, which could lead to confusion for children and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children have monthly goals. However, on one child’s plan, their progress summary had been repeatedly copied. This means that it does not capture key events for the child, such as a peer moving on, or detail their achievements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Rewards are used by staff to encourage positive behaviours. Children have incentive charts, the effectiveness of which is reviewed by the manager regularly. However, in one child’s plan, unclear wording meant that it was ambiguous whether it related to a reward or a consequence. Inspection report for children’s home: 1249183 5 Core and agency staff receive reflective, practice-based supervision. Team meetings are used to further improve knowledge and understanding of procedures. When things have not gone well, the manager uses lessons learned to ensure that this is not repeated. The suggestions from the independent person are acted on. Inspection report for children’s home: 1249183 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to strengthening systems to ensure that records and documentation are consistently accurate and will help each child to understand their unique experiences. 30 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d)) 30 June 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s records are sufficiently accurate and individualised to ensure that children have a ‘living record’ of their progress and experiences. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19) Inspection report for children’s home: 1249183 7

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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: 1249183 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: Oliver Scrimshaw

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Inspector

Laura Grundy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1249183 9 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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