Children's home run by New Horizons NW Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 1270802 1 Registered provider: New Horizons (NW) Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties and/or learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home. Two children spoke with the inspectors 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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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers 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: 13 February 2024

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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: 1270802 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2024 Full Outstanding 07/03/2023 Full Outstanding 10/11/2021 Full Outstanding 01/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1270802 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children have all lived at the home since before the last inspection, and are making exceptional and sustained progress in all areas of their lives. Children say that they are safe and loved. They are cared for by highly motivated and committed staff, who are dedicated to supporting the children to reach their full potential. The exceedingly nurturing care provided by the team creates a strong sense of security and enables the children to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children live in a homely and loving environment. The home is full of photos of the children, staff, children’s achievements and memorable times. This helps the children to develop a strong sense of belonging in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff and children spend time together enjoying positive activities. The children have been on holiday and have raised money for charity. This helps children to have positive memories and build their confidence and social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff adopt a therapeutic parenting approach that is integrated into all aspects of care. This promotes positive outcomes and leads to excellent progress for the children. The staff and children have developed extremely strong and trusting relationships. Staff have excellent knowledge and skills. They explore highly sensitive topics with the children, which effectively supports their overall well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All children attend school or college and are making substantial progress in their education. The staff have high aspirations for the children to achieve their academic potential. The staff also create learning opportunities in the home. This support ensures that children are helped to develop the skills they need to achieve their ambitions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff work closely with families. They foster a strong partnership to achieve shared goals for the children. Staff keep in touch with children’s families, so they know what is happening in the child’s life. The value of the children’s friendships is also actively promoted. Children enjoy inviting their friends to visit them at the home. This allows children to have opportunities that are comparable to their peers’ opportunities. One parent said, ‘The way the team have supported my child has been amazing, and the home is wonderful.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Direct work undertaken with the children is of consistently high quality and responsive to the children’s needs. Staff use research-informed practice to ensure that children receive the best possible advice and support. Documents and records are written in ways that are child friendly, imaginative and vibrant. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270802 4

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

A strong safeguarding culture underpins practice in the home. Consequently, children say that they feel safe. Children have very detailed safe care plans that are updated on a regular basis. These set out the known behaviours of the children and provide staff with the knowledge to effectively support the children.

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

Incidents rarely happen in the home. When they do, they are effectively managed by staff due to their excellent knowledge of the children. There are clear boundaries in place, with a focus on rewarding children for positive behaviours.

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

The staff actively encourage children to develop their independence skills. Staff support older children to take manageable risks, such as having driving lessons and spending time out of the home.

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

Staff have purposeful and meaningful conversations with children. This helps children to develop their understanding and awareness of risks and think about other people. This includes keeping safe when driving, online safety and treating people respectfully.

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

Children are educated on how to keep safe online. Home internet monitoring systems add a further layer of security. This helps to address potential internet risks and ensure that children are able to access technology and the internet safely. However, on one occasion, concerns regarding a child’s social media use were not shared with all relevant agencies in a timely manner. This limits external oversight of safeguarding practices in the home.

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

Safer recruitment checks are completed for all new employees. This ensures that the staff employed by the home are safe to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is a caring, enthusiastic, committed and inspirational leader. She is fully involved in the children’s lives and is a highly effective and strong advocate for them. The manager is held in high regard by children, their family members, the team and other professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is supported by an experienced and committed deputy. Together, they are an effective and highly capable management team. Their oversight and proactive approach ensure that the delivery of care is child centred, highly effective and efficient. Leaders and managers are committed to ensuring that children are provided with every opportunity to be happy and make exceptional progress in all areas of their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager ensures that the children are heard and their wishes and feelings are acted upon. This enables children to feel listened to and involved in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Team development is a priority. The staff are consistently learning and refining their skills, which ultimately results in the delivery of exceptional care for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270802 5 Managers ensure that staff receive regular supervision and appraisals to enable them to continue to deliver excellent care. There are regular team meetings, which focus on the children’s well-being and provide excellent opportunities to reflect on practice and ongoing development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Collaboration with multiple agencies is a notable strength in the home. Professionals speak highly of the manager and value their input in relation to the care and safety of children. One social worker said, ‘The team goes above and beyond.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff experience a genuine sense of appreciation for their work, contributing to excellent staff retention. This stability ensures that the children consistently receive care from familiar adults who know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has exemplary oversight of the home. Monitoring systems are incredibly thorough. This ensures that children receive outstanding care. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270802 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they work in partnership with all those who play a role in protecting and caring for the child. Specifically, information should be shared with the police and Ofsted when concerns have been identified on social media. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 11, paragraph 2.3)

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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: 1270802 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Horizons (NW) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: New Horizons (NW) Limited, Unit 17-18, Navigation Business Village, 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

Michelle Snape, Social Care Inspector Zillah Brooks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1270802 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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