Children's home run by New Horizons NW Limited in Sefton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC485956 1 SC485956 Registered provider: New Horizons (NW) Ltd 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 managed by a private organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

It provides care for up to two children who have been, or who are, experiencing social and emotional difficulties due to early life trauma, and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2020 and is suitably experienced.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and manager outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 14 February 2023

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC485956 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2023 Full Outstanding 09/03/2022 Full Outstanding 08/05/2019 Full Good 15/05/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC485956 3

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outstanding

The home supports two children with complex learning needs. Both children have lived in the home for several years and continue to make excellent progress. Children have had positive experiences while living in the home and have built essential skills that increase their resilience.

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outstanding

Children have strong relationships with staff. Children feel that staff are their ‘family’ and that this is their home. There is a highly skilled staff team in place, with a strong emphasis on building trust, connections and memories with children. Photos around the home and scrapbooks with personalised messages from staff help to remind children of positive experiences with the people who care for them.

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outstanding

Staff are highly informed about children’s health needs and share this information with other professionals to ensure that there is a high level of consistent care. Training from external agencies has supported staff to understand children’s sensory needs and to support children around sensitive issues such as bereavement and loss. Research into children’s diagnoses has supported positive changes in practice and led to referrals to specialist therapeutic support.

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outstanding

Meticulous work has been undertaken by the team, with input from specialists, to consider patterns and themes to improve one child’s sleep routines and environment. This has led to benefits for the child in their overall physical and emotional well-being and helped them to make further progress in other areas, such as education.

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outstanding

Both children are making considerable progress in their education at school and college. One child, who is nonverbal, is proactively encouraged by staff to communicate through a variety of means, such as electronic resources, social stories and sign language. The school’s pastoral manager commented that the child’s improved communication is a shared focus between home and school, which helps the child to feel less frustrated and more able to express themselves.

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outstanding

Staff use creative ways to support children’s development. One child was supported to produce a calendar for the home using photos they had taken, while another child has a playroom in the garden, which provides them with sensory stimulation in an environment of their own. The use of a bucket list has also helped one child to consider their goals and ambitions for the future.

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outstanding

Children’s confidence and self-esteem have developed, enabling them both to spend holidays away from the home, increasing their experiences of the world around them. Staff also support children to develop their independence skills through help with cooking, washing and cleaning, with the use of picture boards and charts as reminders. Inspection report for children’s home: SC485956 4 Children feel that their views are respected and taken seriously. This is evident in how children’s input contributes to all aspects of the running of the home, from the recruitment of staff to sharing their feedback for staff appraisals and being consulted on improvements to the home. This helps children to feel valued and increases their sense of worth.

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outstanding

Care is highly individualised to meet children’s specific needs. Staff use specialist support and research to inform their care. They use detailed monitoring to consider the impact of any changes on children’s behaviour. There are detailed plans and assessments in place for the children that are kept up to date and consider the impact of any incidents. Children are regularly involved in their plans, with tailored consultation to help them understand and share their views.

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outstanding

Children feel safe in the home and know that staff care about them. An older child, who is becoming more independent, explained how staff talk to them about risks to encourage them to make safe choices around issues such as vaping and alcohol. Staff also create social stories to enable a child to develop their understanding of how they might harm themselves and to look at alternative ways to manage their feelings.

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outstanding

Staff are highly attuned to children’s behaviours, understanding what works for children while also being inquisitive and constantly learning about them. Staff demonstrate passion and insight into the children’s needs and are proactive in looking at solutions and strategies that could lead to better outcomes for them.

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outstanding

There are highly detailed and well-established routines in place for children that support them to feel safe. Children understand the rules and boundaries in place. Staff work together to maintain consistency for children and are eager to bring new ideas and research to the team for consideration.

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outstanding

The use of physical intervention is rare. Children’s views are consistently sought after incidents to ensure that their feedback and concerns are taken into account. The manager thoroughly reviews incidents and uses reflection and restorative activities to follow up events with both children and staff.

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outstanding

Children rarely go missing from this home. On occasions when a child has gone missing, staff work collaboratively with other professionals to consider the child’s vulnerabilities and put a plan in place to reduce risk. The police complimented the staff team on their level of insight into children’s vulnerabilities and the detailed protocols in place to support their return home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC485956 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is highly motivated and passionate about providing an exceptional standard of care for children. She knows the children very well and has high aspirations for what they can achieve, making use of research and specialised input to ensure that there is constant progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff benefit from mandatory and bespoke training to ensure that they can meet the complex needs of the children in their care. As a result, the staff feel supported in their roles and are encouraged to continually develop their understanding and skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A significant amount of time and effort is put into research across the whole staff team. Research informs the team’s practice and is included in meetings, supervisions, training and one-to-one development sessions. This has fostered a culture of curiosity among staff members, which is evident in how they passionately talk about their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There is a culture of reflective practice in the home, which is led by the manager. Reflective discussions form a central part of staff supervision and team meetings where staff feel confident in sharing their views. The manager uses supervision proactively to discuss areas for improvement while being supportive and encouraging in her approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are well-embedded relationships between staff and external professionals. The manager continuously pursues innovative new connections with agencies to improve outcomes for children. As a result, health services have had input into the production of an alcohol protocol; there has been support from a cognitive behavioural therapist around sleep routines; and one child engaged in a domestic abuse education programme for support for children around healthy relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers have exceptional oversight of practice in the home. They conduct thorough, reflective and child-focused evaluations of incidents, to consider opportunities for improvement and development. There is extensive use of tools such as chronologies and summaries to consider themes and trends around children’s behaviours, which provide rigorous information to help the team focus their care effectively. Inspection report for children’s home: SC485956 6

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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: SC485956 7

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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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Inspector

Andrea Foreman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC485956 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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