Children's Home run by Higher Hopes Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 1 Registered provider: Higher Hopes Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to five girls between 8 and 18 years of age. The children may have experienced trauma and may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager has been appointed, who applied to register with Ofsted in February 2025.

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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

Date of last inspection: 1 November 2023

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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: 2531620 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/11/2023 Full Good 04/10/2022 Full Good 29/07/2021 Full Good 08/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, there were five children living at the home. Three of the children contributed to this inspection. One child did not wish to share their views with the inspector. One child was out on planned education and activities during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making clear progress. The home cares for children who have significant needs and have experienced breakdowns in their living arrangements. Despite this, the home is settled, and incidents rarely occur.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff are committed to nurturing strong, lasting relationships with children. Children appear comfortable and relaxed. They do not spend a lot of time in their bedrooms. Children spend time enjoying the company of staff and other children in the communal areas of the home. They celebrate the anniversaries of children coming to live at the home, children’s birthdays and other life events. There are regular events, such as summer barbecues and Halloween parties, which staff and children enjoy together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy new life experiences. Some children have been on holiday abroad; others have been to stay at forest holiday parks. Children enjoy a range of activities each week. Children enjoy these experiences together with other children from the home and staff. Staff are active participants in the activities that children enjoy. One child spoke about how much they enjoy staff joining in with exercising at the gym with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience planned moves in and out of the home. Children visit the home before moving and meet the staff caring for them on more than one occasion. When the managers have experienced difficulties in planning moves, they have appropriately raised and escalated their concerns with the local authority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children have access to education provisions that meet their individual needs. Children’s attendance is high; most attend school every day. For some children, this is the first time that they have attended education for a considerable time.

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

There are few incidents at the home. When incidents do occur, these are well managed by staff who know the children well. Behaviour management strategies focus on the home’s therapeutic ethos. Staff remain calm and children are supported with empathy.

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

Staff are supported to manage difficult times for children through clear behaviour plans. These consider the likelihood of a behaviour occurring and give clear directions for staff on how best to support children. This helps to ensure consistency for children in relation to staff responses. To further ensure consistency, these individual plans identify what Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 4 natural consequences may be appropriate for different scenarios. This gives staff the guidance that they need to make decisions to keep children safe.

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

Children are spoken to following all incidents. Considerable time is spent with children to support them to understand their feelings and to make plans with staff about how they would like to be supported moving forward. Actions from these discussions are incorporated into children’s relevant plans.

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

Children do not regularly go missing from the home. When children have been missing from the home, staff have been proactive, following individual missing-from-care procedures. For one child with specific concerns in relation to railways, the home has liaised with the British Transport Police to develop a joint safety plan. This plan has ensured that the child has been safeguarded from harm during these incidents.

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

Incidents of restraint are rare, and when they have occurred, they have been necessary and proportionate to ensure the safety of children. One day in February 2025, a child was restrained several times in the home’s garden. During these restraints, the child told the staff that they were cold. While the restraint was necessary, no consideration was given as to how staff could improve the experience for the child by providing a blanket or moving inside. This indicates that the staff did not take the opportunity to ensure the welfare of the child as far as possible during this incident.

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

On one occasion, several staff did not follow the safeguarding procedure when concerns were raised about a member of staff. They did not inform the manager of these concerns in a timely way. One member of staff raised their concerns several days after the incident; another member of staff raised their concern five days after the incident. This delay impeded a thorough investigation and is not in line with safeguarding guidance. When the delay was identified, the managers took immediate and appropriate action. The acting manager ensured that all staff were aware of safeguarding expectations and the protections offered to whistle-blowers. This ensured that staff were aware of their responsibilities, and felt safe enough to raise concerns should they need to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a highly experienced and committed management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been significant changes to the management structure during this inspection period. The registered manager deregistered with Ofsted in June 2024 and has been promoted to the senior management team. They have remained significantly involved in the day-to-day management of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new manager was appointed and registered with Ofsted in July 2024. This manager left the home in November 2024. Another manager has been internally promoted and has applied to register with Ofsted. Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 5 The management team has carefully considered how they can maintain consistency for children following staff changes. They have made decisions that take into consideration the need for stability for children. Children say that they like the staff and that the staff know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are clear in their expectations of new staff and managers. They use probation reviews to ensure that the quality of staff practice meets their expectations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is some staff turnover and new staff have started working at the home. Managers follow safer recruitment processes. Staff inductions are thorough. Staff are further supported by regular supervision sessions and team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training that supports them to meet children’s specific needs. Managers assess the quality of training and make changes to training providers when they feel that this would improve the care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers review records in a timely way. The review of incidents is analytical, and considers patterns and trends and provides constructive feedback for staff. Children’s relevant plans are updated, and details of incidents are shared with the relevant professionals. However, managers have not always notified Ofsted of relevant incidents without delay. Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 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

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)) 31 March 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of restraint are kept that enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure that it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13) Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 7

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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: 2531620 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Higher Hopes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Old Forge, Manor Farm, Bygrave, Herts SG7 5EE

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Inspector

Andrea Bounden, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 9 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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