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

Inspection report for children’s home: 1276442 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 operated by a private organisation and provides care and accommodation for up to three children. The home caters for children with complex emotional, social and behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since September 2018.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1276442 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/03/2023 Full Good 13/10/2021 Full Good 30/06/2021 Full Inadequate 05/02/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 1276442 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were three children living in the home at the time of this inspection. Children are happy and settled in the home. They live in a well-maintained house that has a homely feel. Children’s bedrooms are decorated as per their preferences, which conveys a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are being cared for by staff who understand them well. Staff are attentive and recognise how children are feeling through their non-verbal cues. For example, when staff sensed that a child was feeling anxious through behavioural changes, they provided reassurance that helped the child to calm. Having a good understanding of the children enables the staff to provide them with individualised care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points. A child who frequently truanted school and often went missing from their previous home is now settled in school and rarely goes missing. Another child who would previously not engage with female staff now shares positive relationships with all staff. Effective partnership working between staff and education professionals has resulted in positive progress being achieved for all of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff share positive relationships with children’s relatives and social care professionals. All were complimentary about the care and support provided to the children. A social worker said, ‘The manager is amazing. Staff are committed; they go the extra mile to make sure that [name of child] is safe and listened to.’ A child’s relative shared their positive experiences of staff caring for them as well as their loved one.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Equality and diversity are threaded through staff practice. This means children feel safe to explore their identity with support from staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children’s participation in different ways. They capture and act on the children’s views. The children’s particular skills and interests are encouraged and supported. Staff are proud to support one child, who is a talented photographer, to further develop his passion. Staff’s celebration of the children’s achievements means the children feel nurtured and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support family time between the children and their families. The staff encourage the children to participate in a range of activities they enjoy. The children are active and valued members of their local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are appropriately supported to take steps towards independence. The staff support the children to develop and take these steps towards independence in a planned way, through the completion of a life skills programme and in other creative ways. For example, one child, at their request, is supported to wash cars for Inspection report for children’s home: 1276442 4 neighbours in return for a small charge. The staff have also contributed to a child developing the skills and confidence to progress to unsupervised free time in the community.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s individual needs. They recognise that some behaviours that the children present stem from past traumatic experiences. Consequently, the staff are nurturing in their approach and tactfully instil consistent guidance and boundaries. Regular input from the home’s clinical psychologist helps to ensure that staff practice continues to meet the children’s emotional needs.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home, but when they do, the staff are proactive and take appropriate action. The staff help the children understand the dangers of going missing. One child, who frequently went missing from their previous home, has only had one episode of being missing from this home. The staff’s actions contribute to children becoming increasingly safe.

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

Staff rarely impose consequences and recognise natural consequences. For example, there was no further consequence for a child who damaged their television. Staff take the time to reflect with children following incidents. Incentive programmes are used to encourage positive behaviours. This has encouraged children to develop more positive ways to express themselves.

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

Children are cared for by a stable staff team, which includes consistent agency workers at times. The manager ensures that pre-employment suitability checks are completed and has oversight of the references for agency staff. However, it is not evident that gaps in staff’s employment history have been explored. As a result, the manager does not have access to all information that may have the potential to influence decisions regarding the staff’s suitability to work with children.

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

Staff take steps to assure children’s safety in the home. This includes the use of sensors on all children’s bedroom doors. However, the use of these sensors is not based on children’s individual assessed needs.

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

Two flammable items were stored in the home. Staff removed these when the concern was highlighted by the inspector. There was no guidance in the home’s fire risk assessment regarding the safe storage of flammables.

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

Children are cared for by staff with whom they have formed trusting relationships. They feel safe in the home and are comfortable to speak to staff when feeling unhappy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides effective leadership and understands the home’s strengths and areas for development. She has a clear vision and effectively shares her drive to Inspection report for children’s home: 1276442 5 provide the children with good-quality personalised care. The motivated staff feel well supported by their manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is focused on the staff’s development. They provide reflective group practice discussions. The staff complete the organisation’s core training when they start work. They have access to training programmes and support that help them to meet the children’s specific needs. This includes consultations with the in-house psychologist.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Record-management processes are not strong. Important children’s records, which could be located by the manager, could not be found by the staff. Some records were unsigned. Consequently, information about children is currently not readily accessible to staff. The manager has plans in place for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is effective collaborative working between the manager, staff and external professionals. Regular communication is maintained, and significant information is shared in the best interest of the children. A child’s tutor said that this strong partnership working has led to consistency in approach and contributed to an improvement in the child’s behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Equality and diversity are embedded in the service. There is a diverse staff team that provides positive role models and encourages positive thinking about differences. A child exploring their identity is embraced and treated with respect. Inspection report for children’s home: 1276442 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 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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the storage of flammables in the home is risk assessed. 20 July 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. This includes ensuring that gaps in employment for agency staff are explored. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that limits on privacy, including the use of door sensors, are only put in place to safeguard each child in the home. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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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, Inspection report for children’s home: 1276442 7 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: 1276442 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

Sasha Reid, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1276442 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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