Children's home run by Horizon Care and Education Group Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2612115 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 by a private organisation and provides care for up to four children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2023 and is currently working towards a relevant level 5 qualification.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection three children lived at 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2612115 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2023 Full Good 25/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2612115 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff help children to access bespoke educational support to meet their individual learning needs. For example, staff have supported one child well to secure and attend a local education placement after an extended time out of school. Staff support the other children to get to and from school and make sure that they are helped with their homework. As a result, children are making progress with their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s good health is a priority. Staff take children to routine and more-specialist health appointments. When children have their annual health assessments, the manager creates a plan to ensure that actions are undertaken promptly. The manager has professionally challenged health professionals when children have required more-specialist health advice. This has resulted in children receiving more- timely care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into the home, this is well managed. Managers take great care to review referral informational with relevant professionals and the staff team to understand the child’s needs and whether these needs can be met. A therapeutic care plan is developed prior to the child moving in. This supports the staff team to understand and implement individualised care for the child as soon as they come to live at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience warm and nurturing relationships with managers and staff. Staff play games around the home with the children and create a fun environment. Children enjoy positive relationships with staff and want to spend time with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of experiences that create lifelong memories. The staff arrange regular evenings where the evening meal is a surprise. As part of the experience, children rate the meal on a scale of one to 10. This imaginative approach has encouraged children to try different types of foods, and one child has started to eat more vegetables as a result of staff’s creativity. Children are provided with an array of exciting activities, including trips to the beach and the park and holidays abroad. They are also encouraged to become involved in community activities, including youth club and cadets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is child-focused and homely. Children have helped decorate the garden and choose the décor for their bedrooms. Staff have supported one child to develop a memorial area to remember someone who was close to them. However, there are areas of the home that require redecorating and restoring to feel fresh. In addition, there is a plan for the urgent renovation of the sensory room. Inspection report for children’s home: 2612115 4

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

Since the previous inspection, there have been improvements made to internet safety in the home. There are filtering systems in place to ensure that children only access content appropriate for their age. Staff regularly check children’s devices for additional assurance. Staff complete training in cyber security, child exploitation and child sexual exploitation to ensure that they are knowledgeable in this area.

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

Managers and the staff support children to develop positive peer relationships. There have been difficulties between some children. However, staff have spent time talking with the children individually to support them to live better together. Children have been encouraged to do activities together, such as playing in the garden, going to the cinema and sharing mealtimes. This has encouraged children who used to want to eat alone to feel more comfortable eating meals together with their peers and to share more positive experiences.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s individual risks and generally respond well to reduce concerns. On one occasion when staff did not respond according to protocol, the manager promptly looked into this and provided staff with additional supervision and training.

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

Children are confident in sharing their views and feelings with staff. The manager ensures that complaints are managed in a timely and child-focused manner, which includes involving the child in agreeing solutions. This enables children to feel valued and that their voices are heard.

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

Staff use de-escalation techniques well to diffuse situations. Consequently, physical interventions are only used as a last resort. Children and staff have the opportunity to talk though what happened following an incident. However, the manager has not reviewed the effectiveness of staff practice following physical intervention. This is a missed opportunity for the manager to understand whether practice is appropriate and whether there is any learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is very committed and dedicated to ensuring children achieve the best outcomes that they can. Staff are complimentary about the manager. For example, one staff member said:

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

‘The manager has worked up and beyond to change the home to the wonderful place it is today. She always listens to any of our views and takes everything on board. I personally feel valued by her and from listening to colleagues, so does everyone that works here.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recruits staff safely. She is confident that all has been done to ensure that staff are safe to work with children prior to them working at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2612115 5 Staff training helps staff to understand the specific needs of the children. For example, staff have completed training in safeguarding disabled children, global development delay, and in personal care and appropriate touch. Team meetings are held regularly to promote staff’s development. On occasion, these meetings involve the clinical team to support staff with therapeutic strategies. As a result, staff are more equipped to support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has effective monitoring systems in place. She has a good knowledge of the strengths and areas for development of the service. Robust auditing ensures that the manager has good oversight. This ensures that children receive care that enables them to achieve the best outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive good-quality supervision from managers. Managers invest in staff’s development and ensure that they regularly check staff’s well-being. This means that staff feel supported and motivated to do the best they can in their roles. Inspection report for children’s home: 2612115 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

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. Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they evaluate the effectiveness of the use of physical intervention. 30 April 2024

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Recommendation

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2612115 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

Chanel Bryant, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2612115 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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