Children's home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2654084 1 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties. The home offers short- and medium-term care for children, irrespective of gender.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home, and inspectors spoke to them. Four other children have lived at the home since the last inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2022. They are also the registered manager for another of the provider’s homes.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 19 February 2024

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2654084 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/02/2024 Full Good 25/05/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2654084 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress, including with their education. Staff help children to engage with educational activities and learning. They use different ways to develop children’s interests on topics relevant to their lives, such as visiting a museum to learn about history. Where children have struggled with education, staff continue to make efforts to re-engage them. Staff prepare children for later life by promoting self-care and independence skills.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff consult and involve children in the daily running of the home. Staff and managers take the time to listen to children. Staff encourage children to make choices about their lives, such as their diet and weekly activities. Staff have supported a child to attend the gym every day with a staff member participating alongside them. This helps the child to manage their emotions and build trusted relationships with staff, and it promotes the child’s mental and physical well-being.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well, including their background experiences, needs and risks. Staff have a solid understanding of the issues of trauma and attachment affecting the children. This has resulted in staff helping children to overcome difficulties. Furthermore, staff show this understanding through their written records, which they address to the child.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy time with their family, including some unsupervised and overnight stays. Staff support opportunities for children to have time with their family, whether in person or by phone calls. Regular communication is maintained with both family members and professionals, keeping them well informed about children’s progress. Family members and professionals spoke very highly of the staff and managers.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children move on from the home in a positive way. Two children have experienced very positive outcomes in returning to live with or moving closer to their family. The parent of a child who has moved home said that the staff team was ‘absolutely exceptional’.

p.3

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

Staff and managers have a clear understanding of the key risks for each child. Managers ensure that they have an accurate picture of the child’s background when they move into the home. If this is not received, managers challenge the placing authority to ensure that staff can manage the children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities.

p.3

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

Children are kept safer by staff, including when they have complex needs and risks. The response to children who go missing from home is strong. Staff follow effective plans, and this includes completing searches for children. When necessary, staff travel long distances and work closely with family and professionals to try and locate children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2654084 4 When needed, managers take action to reduce and manage the risk of fire within the home. This includes good-quality risk assessments and plans, with clear strategies for staff to follow. Managers work closely with other agencies, such as inviting the local fire and police service to visit the home. This results in children being educated about the potential risks. Regular checks, along with management audits, have maintained this approach in managing the risk.

p.3

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

Children experience reduced risks of exploitation and offending behaviour. Staff promote a sense of safety and stability and hold regular discussions with children on relevant topics. They use different ways to engage with children, such as online videos or factsheets. This leads to an increased understanding by children of the risks to them within their community.

p.4

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

When there are allegations against staff, or concerns about staff practice, staff and managers have responded to these in a proportionate and necessary manner. Staff take action to protect the children from any immediate risk of harm, and managers follow procedures to investigate the concerns. These measures ensure that children are kept safer.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from an experienced, qualified and stable staff team. When there have been staff shortages, managers use staff from the sister home to provide continuity of care for children. Non-permanent staff are only used as a last resort, such as in response to an increased level of risk for a child who needed extra supervision. Some of the non- permanent staff do not have the same quality of relationship with the children. Furthermore, when managers identify practice concerns for non-permanent staff, such as failing to maintain consistent boundaries or manage behaviour effectively, managers raise this with the recruitment agency for this to be addressed.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy manager have a solid understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. They work closely together to share managerial responsibilities and tasks. Support is also available from senior practitioners. This ensures that there is effective leadership even when the managers are not present.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel well supported by managers. They enjoy good-quality supervision and the ability to seek advice as well as express their opinions. Staff say that they enjoy working at the home and work well as a team. This creates a positive and welcoming environment for children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers use monitoring tools effectively to have oversight of staff practice. They use audits, supervisions and team meetings to hold staff to account for their practice. Managers provide staff with training and support to develop and improve their practice. When necessary, managers take action when staff have not made improvements in a timely way. Inspection report for children’s home: 2654084 5 Managers use team meetings to promote good practice and discuss areas of difficulty with the staff team. They encourage staff to complete research and share their learning with the team. This promotes a culture of learning and improvement that is aspirational for children. The quality of care for children has improved because of the increased knowledge of staff.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home environment has not always been maintained so that it remains free from damage, in particular within the child’s bedroom. Managers recognise these issues need addressing as repairs have not been completed in a timely way. This results in the child’s personal space not always feeling inviting or comfortable. Inspection report for children’s home: 2654084 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that expectations of standards of behaviour are high for all staff in the home. These standards should be clear and unambiguous. All staff should have the skills to respond to each child’s individual behaviour. The registered person should ensure that this applies equally to non-permanent as well as permanent staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standard’, page 39, paragraphs 8.11 and 8.14)  The registered person should ensure that the home is free from damage and disrepair to maintain a homely, domestic atmosphere that provides children with a nurturing and supportive environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

p.6

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: 2654084 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hexagon Care, 1 Tustin Court, Port Way, Ashton-on- Ribble, Preston PR2 2YQ

p.7

Inspectors

Sam Saxby-Brown, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Ladean Wilson, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2654084 8 regulates and inspects 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.

p.7

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8