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

Inspection report for children's home: 1224663 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 is a privately owned home that provides care for up to four children. At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home. There was also one child having overnight stays in preparation for moving into the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is overseen by an experienced manager who is registered 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1224663 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2023 Full Good 02/02/2022 Full Good 30/10/2019 Full Outstanding 06/06/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 1224663 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living at their home. Staff encourage children to spend time together. This includes having film nights or meals together to celebrate birthdays. Children enjoy being playful with staff. For example, they enjoyed the manager and staff competing with one another to see who could make the ‘ultimate’ hot chocolate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff aim to build strong positive relationships with children’s parents. This helps children and their parents feel supported. One parent referred to the home as ‘absolutely perfect’. Staff having successful relationships with parents supports children to feel settled at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend school daily. When issues arise, they are adaptable and work with education staff to find quick solutions. This includes supporting children to spend breaktimes at home. Staff support children to explore future career options. When children achieve academically, staff show how proud they are.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff go above and beyond to build relationships with children planning to move to the home. Staff are proactive in requesting information and obtaining relevant training. Staff appropriately prepare children already living at the home for new children to join them.

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

Staff support children to understand possible risks they may be exposed to. Staff link scenarios to children’s experiences to help them understand risky behaviour. This helps children to better understand the importance of staying safe.

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

Staff actively go looking for children if they leave the home without agreement. They know children well and understand where to look for them. Staff build relationships with the parents of children’s peers. This supports staff to locate children sooner and keep them safer.

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

Staff have created a culture where children feel able to express their feelings. When children may struggle with this, staff have established other forms of communication, such as writing notes. Children choose to write down their worries and either place the note in their worry monster or hand their note directly to staff. Children find that this helps them share their worries. Staff are then proactive in giving guidance or seeking support.

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

There have been no instances of physical intervention since the last inspection. At times, there have been disagreements between children, or overzealous playfighting. When this occurs, staff support children to rebuild relationships with one another. Inspection report for children's home: 1224663 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed to achieving the best outcomes for children in her care. She has an extensive knowledge of each child, including those who are coming to live at the home. This supports her to build comprehensive plans with other professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is highly valued by both staff and external agencies. Professionals praise the manager and staff for their ability to advocate for children. Multi-agency working is supported by the manager, strengthened by her positive relationships with external professionals. This supports the positive outcomes achieved for children in her care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although staff feel well supported by the manager, supervisions are not consistently reflective. The responsible individual needs to ensure that the manager receives a copy of her supervision records to aid her development. The manager ensures that her staff are safely recruited and receive the appropriate training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff do not yet consistently record discussions with children. However, the manager is aware of the staff team’s strengths and areas for development. The manager is continuing to work with staff to improve record-keeping.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There were no shortfalls found in relation to staff personnel files or children’s education. Therefore, both requirements set at the last inspection have been met. Inspection report for children's home: 1224663 5

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. This includes detailing important conversations with children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be shared with the staff member. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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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: 1224663 6

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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

Ellen Monk, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1224663 7 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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