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

Inspection report for children’s home 2586949 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 home is owned and run by a private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

It is registered to provide care for up to three children with social and emotional needs and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children are currently being cared for in this home.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 13 July 2023; a new manager has submitted their application to register with Ofsted.

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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: 15 November 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 2586949 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/11/2022 Full Good 23/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home 2586949 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know each other well and have positive relationships with each other. Staff encourage children to spend time as a group, such as at mealtimes. Children are comfortable together and enjoy each other’s company.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with core staff. However, the children have experienced changes in staffing, and agency staff are frequently used. As a result, children have experienced some inconsistency in the staff team caring for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well-furnished and welcoming. Staff help children to personalise their bedrooms according to their tastes. They involve children in decisions about the communal areas of the house, such as choosing furnishings and paint colours. Children have made the home their own and take pride in it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children do not have school or college places. Staff support one child to access tutoring in the home. The child engages in the learning and is making progress. Staff have advocated strongly for the child, and a school place has been identified. Staff have supported other children’s education by making referrals to education providers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have healthy routines. Staff help children to structure their days and encourage them to engage in activities both in and out of the home. Staff support children to engage in their hobbies, such as martial arts and football.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to make positive contributions to their community. Children have positive relationships with their neighbours and make efforts to be helpful, such as taking an elderly neighbour out to a petting farm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have relationships with people who are important to them. They take children to see their family even when they live far away. One child has been supported to build relationships with estranged family members. Staff help the children to maintain their friendships with peers. They liaise with the parents of the children’s friends to help them to spend time with their friends safely.

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

Children feel safe in the home. They can identify trusted adults whom they would approach with any concerns.

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

Staff understand the risks to children and how to manage them. Clear guidance is accessible to staff on managing risk. Risk assessments are updated regularly and contain relevant risks. Inspection report for children’s home 2586949 4 Children do not often go missing from home. Staff know the signs that indicate a child may go missing from home and act to minimise the risk. When children do go missing from home, staff make every effort to locate them. Staff understand when there is increased risk to a child and act accordingly.

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

Staff know what to do when children self-harm. They seek support from relevant professionals to understand the reasons for it and how to respond more effectively. Staff respond with emotional warmth to children who are distressed and provide increased support, such as night-time checks.

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

Children know how to make a complaint. When children make a complaint, staff respond quickly. Staff praise children for sharing their views. Staff ensure that children are aware of the progress of their complaints and that they are happy with the results.

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

Staff rarely physically restrain children. The individual plans for children give clear guidance on how to help children to manage their emotions. When staff hold children, this is as a last resort and proportionate to the risk faced to the child. Staff are trained to hold children safely in the event that this is necessary. Staff speak to children about being held, and oversight of the incident is completed by someone impartial.

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

The manager notifies Ofsted of any serious incidents in the home in a timely fashion. There is an allocated person in the organisation to ensure that any notifications required to be made to Ofsted are completed, even if the manager is not at work.

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

Staff’s records of incidents are detailed. Staff use child-friendly language so that records are clear and do not lay blame. Staff seek oversight from the home’s therapist to understand the reasons for incidents and how they could better respond to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has excellent relationships with the children. Children had strong relationships with the previous manager and were initially reluctant to accept a new person. The manager has prioritised spending time with children and getting know them well. Children seek the manager out to make them food, give them a hug or share details of their day.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager was supporting another home in the organisation. This limited her time in the home. However, the manager came to the home every day, even if for a short time, to ensure that she remained accessible to children and staff. The manager is no longer supporting another home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses agency staff frequently to cover staff shortages. She minimises the impact on the children by using the same agency and bank staff when possible. Inspection report for children’s home 2586949 5 The manager ensures that when agency staff come to work in the home for the first time, they have an induction discussion so that they get an understanding of the individual children before working with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides supervision to agency staff and gives them the opportunity to reflect on their practice. The manager also uses casual staff employed by the organisation. Casual staff are supervised by the home that they are predominantly allocated to. The manager does not have access to supervision and training information for these staff. Therefore, the manager is unable to ascertain whether the staff are supported to give the best possible care to the children. A requirement has been made in relation to this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Permanent staff are qualified for their role. Staff complete mandatory training. Staff have completed some child-specific training, but the manager has identified further training that would assist them to support the children, such as bereavement and loss, and attachment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the manager. One staff member said, ‘I appreciate [name of manager]’s ability to lead by example. Their dedication and work ethic have inspired me to strive for excellence in my own work.’ Inspection report for children’s home 2586949 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

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’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, to ensure that the staff team have the training identified by the registered manager to help them meet the needs of the children they care for.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager should also have the ability to ensure that the bank staff allocated to other homes within the organisation are up to date with their mandatory training and are supervised regularly. 17 May 2024

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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 2586949 7

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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

Sarah Huntbatch, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home 2586949 8 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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Inspector

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