Children's Home run by New Horizons (Stockport) Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 1 SC008600 New Horizons (Stockport) Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to six children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2008.

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted last visited the home to carry out a full inspection on 23 and 24 August 2023. The inspectors found serious and widespread failures relating to keeping children safe and to the leadership and management of the home. As a result, Ofsted issued a notice restricting accommodation and a compliance notice under regulation 12 (the protection of children standard).

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This monitoring visit

The purpose of this visit was to review the provider’s progress. The inspectors found that the provider has taken sufficient action to address most of the steps outlined in the compliance notice. There is some evidence that the steps that have not been fully met are a work in progress and further time is required for actions to be embedded into practice. Requirements have been made to address these shortfalls.

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This monitoring visit

There are currently three children living in the home. No new children have moved into the home. This demonstrates that the provider has complied with the notice restricting accommodation.

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This monitoring visit

Since the last inspection, the home environment has improved. Most rooms have been redecorated and further work is planned in the kitchen area. Most children’s bedrooms are clean, and one child is being supported to maintain their bedroom to an acceptable standard. This ensures that children live in a clean and well-presented home. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 2 Risk assessments have been updated. However, some parts of the assessments do not provide clear strategies for staff to follow regarding the storage of ligature cutters and during incidents when children are in crisis and display self-injurious behaviours. Immediate action was taken during this visit to rectify these matters.

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This monitoring visit

Training has now taken place with the manager and staff team. This training will support the staff in meeting the children’s needs. Staff were provided with training that included supporting children who may use a ligature. However, this training did not include an opportunity for staff to practise how to use a ligature cutter. This was a concern of the staff team and was brought to the attention of the director during the visit.

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This monitoring visit

There have been no missing-from-care incidents since the last inspection. Missing- from-care procedures have been reviewed with staff. Assessments have been updated and now include relevant details. However, the documents are lengthy.

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This monitoring visit

Since the last inspection, a child has made an allegation. Although the manager reported this concern to all relevant safeguarding professionals, including the regulator, internal processes were not followed. The manager reported that this process was followed. However, there are no records to clarify that all actions were taken. The director accepted this shortfall and talked about how the organisation will manage this moving forward.

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This monitoring visit

Requirements set at the last inspection were not considered at this visit and will be considered at the next full inspection. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/08/2023 Full Inadequate 24/04/2023 Full Inadequate 27/07/2022 Full Good 17/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 4

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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 with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that children have access to specialist services to support their individual needs.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that children are supported to benefit from independent interviews following missing-from-care incidents and challenge the placing authority if these are not appropriately carried out.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 4 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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 the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— 4 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 5 meet the needs of each child; and

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider must ensure that the home is appropriately used, maintained and equipped to allow all children to take part in day-to-day life in the home.

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must ensure that children are consulted about the quality of care that they receive and encouraged to contribute to their care planning arrangements. 4 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 6 The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational 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—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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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 throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that children have access to appropriate education in line with their relevant plans. Children must be supported to contribute to and understand their plans.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, when children have been excluded from school, leaders and managers must support children to access meaningful education and support them back into appropriate education. 4 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; 4 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 7 encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (1)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that consequences issued are appropriate to the behaviour displayed and that the measures used are reviewed and evaluated for their effectiveness.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; 4 November 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 8 that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff understand and respond appropriately to allegations and that records reflect actions taken. The registered person must ensure that children are supported to understand the outcome of any allegation investiagtion. The registered person must ensure that written risk assessments reflect all known risks and provide strategies for staff to follow.

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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— 4 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 9 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)(c)(d)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that they implement systems to review and evaluate the quality of care provided to children and demonstrate learning from practice.

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Requirement Due date

These reviews must be used to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge and identify how the quality of care has improved.

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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.

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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) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all children’s plans contain consistent information and are understood by children and those who are caring for them. 4 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, children should be supported to access all areas of their home without unnecessary restriction. Children must 4 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 10 not be restricted access to their home as a consequence of their behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that staff receive supervision and probationary reviews in line with the provider’s own policies and procedures. 4 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that when a child has been held, there is record kept that staff have been spoken to by an authorised person about the use of the measure. Furthermore, the registered person must ensure that children are encouraged to feed back on the care that they receive and are spoken to about the measure. 4 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 11 Additionally, the use of the hold and of the imposed consequences must be evaluated for effectiveness by an authorised person.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Horizons (Stockport) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 154 to 156 Buxton Road, High Lane, Stockport, Cheshire SK6 8EA

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Inspectors

Nichola Croft, Social Care Inspector Jenni Gadsby, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC008600 13 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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