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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2509269 1 Registered provider: New Horizons (NW) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home is registered to provide care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager started working at the home in October 2023. She is not registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were two children living in the home. Both children spoke to the inspector about their experiences of living in the home.

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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: 11 October 2022

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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: 2509269 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/10/2022 Full Good 09/06/2021 Full Good 03/01/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/09/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2509269 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they are happy living in this home. Staff care about children and are committed to supporting them to succeed. The positive, trusting relationships between children and staff were clear to see during the inspection. Through spending quality time with children, staff are developing a deeper understanding of children’s needs. Consequently, both children are making good progress in all areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s transitions into and out of the home are well planned. Two children moved to another home in the provider group when this home was being refurbished. However, one child who had a plan of semi-independence wanted to stay at the home until that plan could be achieved. This was handled sensitively, and a bespoke plan was created by the professionals around the child, to ensure that the child’s wishes were acted on. This demonstrates that children are listened to and that their views are important.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to take part in a range of activities that they can enjoy outside the home, including visiting museums and going roller skating and cycling. This helps children to develop positive friendships outside the home and to improve their confidence, self-esteem and social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are accessing a combination of in-house and external tutoring to support their learning until school placements are identified. The manager has escalated the issue of school placements for both children to the appropriate professionals to ensure that children’s educational needs are being met. Tutoring is supplemented by educational activities in the community, facilitated by staff. Sometimes these activities do not take place, but the daily records are not reflective of the alternative arrangements. This reduces opportunities to review children’s learning and to ensure that plans are being followed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has recently been decorated. Children have been able to personalise their bedrooms to reflect their interests. This helps children to feel invested in the home. However, daily cleaning routines are not consistently followed and leftover food and rubbish had not been removed in a timely manner at the time of the inspection. This detracts from the clean, homely environment that the manager is trying to achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Ongoing issues with the garden area flooding mean that children’s access to it is limited. This is something that leaders are taking action to address but it has not yet been resolved. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509269 4

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

Children say they feel safe living in the home. They are supported by a consistent staff team whose members know them well. One social worker said: ‘The staff are very child-centred and are motivated to keep [the child] safe.’

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

Staff help children to understand risks through individual sessions that focus on topics that are relevant for children. This helps children to learn how to make safer choices and to understand healthy relationships. Staff are proactive in getting to know children’s friends and their friends’ parents to ensure that they know who children are spending time with.

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

Staff implement clear boundaries that help children to feel safe. One child, who has experienced significant trauma, has been helped to safely increase their independence skills and reduce the time they spend with staff at a pace that is right for them. This has helped the child to become more confident and to develop positive relationships with their peers.

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

Appropriate safeguards are in place to support children to be safe online. Children are taught how to safely access age-appropriate technology and social media in preparation for when they become more independent. This helps children to understand the risks they may experience online and helps them to develop a sense of responsibility.

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

Staff know how to respond to children. They help children to regulate their emotions and talk to them in ways that are helpful. There has been a reduction in incidents of children go missing or needing to be held to keep them safe. When incidents do occur, staff know how to respond to keep children safe.

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

Staff understand children’s risks and vulnerabilities. Children’s risk plans are individualised and are reviewed by the manager. However, on occasion risk plans do not reflect when children’s risks have reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is new to the role and is supported by an experienced senior manager and responsible individual. She has high aspirations for children and is committed to improving practice in the home. The manager and deputy manager know the strengths and areas for development in the home and for the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective monitoring systems and regular audits ensure that the quality of care provided to children is reviewed regularly and that management oversight of the home is robust.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has built positive relationships with other professionals and promotes positive communication to share information about children. Regular multi-agency meetings are held to discuss the progress of the children and to help resolve any Inspection report for children’s home: 2509269 5 issues. The manager is a good advocate for children and will appropriately challenge other agencies when children’s needs are not being met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working in the home and are positive about the support they receive. They benefit from regular, reflective supervision sessions that provide them with effective challenge and opportunities for training and development. Staff have access to team meetings that are regularly attended by a clinical psychologist to further develop staff’s understanding of children’s behaviours. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509269 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 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—

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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

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children are able to access the garden area of the home. 12 January 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff record relevant conversations with children and that records reflect any changes in children’s routines. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that daily cleaning routines are established in the home and that any rubbish or leftover food is disposed of in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: 2509269 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: 2509269 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Horizons (NW) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 17 & 18 Navigation Business Park, Navigation Way, Ashton-On-Ribble, Preston PR2 2YP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Natalie Waterhouse

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Inspectors

Colin Jones, Social Care Inspector Sarah Gilbert, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2509269 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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