Children's Home run by Moonreach LTD in Kent

Inspection report for children's home: 2523034 1 Registered provider: Moonreach 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

The children’s home can provide care for up to three children with social and emotional needs. It is operated by a private company, which has other similar homes in the area. At the time of the inspection, two children lived in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since March 2025 and is suitably qualified.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2523034 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/08/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 31/10/2023 Full Good 14/12/2022 Full Good 08/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2523034 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children were seen to have positive relationships with staff. Children are provided with activities to do that are in line with their interests, such as swimming, horse riding, going on day trips and holidays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have good relationships with the children’s professional networks. Positive feedback was received regarding staff’s communication and willingness to work with professionals to ensure that they understand and meet the children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are expressed in the conversations they have with staff. The children can make requests for days out and items for the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are encouraged to participate in education. Although they are not currently attending school, there are plans in place to integrate them back into education, and educational activities have been provided and supported by staff. One child has just started to attend an alternative provision and is enjoying it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged and supported to see family, whether the family members live close by or further away. The manager has advocated for the children to keep in touch with people that are special to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved on, with two children moving in. The manager plans these moves well and seeks to ensure they have enough information for this to happen smoothly. On one occasion, a child needed to move on after four weeks due to risks that were beyond what staff had expected based on their knowledge of the child. Although this caused a period of instability for all of the children, staff used a range of skills to ensure the effects of this instability were minimised.

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

Safeguarding children is a priority for staff. They have regular conversations in supervision, team meetings and with the children about how to keep the children safe from a range of risks.

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

When children go missing from the home, missing-from-home procedures are followed, and staff work well with professionals and family members in trying to locate the child.

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

Overall, children make good progress living in the home. Risks for one child around self- harm and behavioural issues have been reduced. One child has expressed how safe they feel in the home and has asked for their care plan to change to allow them to remain at the home until they are 18 years old. Inspection report for children's home: 2523034 4 It is rare that children make allegations against staff, but when they do, these are handled well by senior managers. Allegations have been thoroughly explored with clear records of actions taken.

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

Staff are recruited into the home safely and with consideration given to the needs of the home.

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

The use of restraint is infrequent and is proportionate, and the least restrictive approach is used. Incidents are recorded with a good level of detail, and debriefs with children are completed with an empathetic approach.

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

For children where self-harm is a risk, incidents have been reduced since living in the home. Self-harm incidents are not frequent, and staff have learned how to effectively distract and manage behaviours that would have previously led to the child self-harming.

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

Staff know and understand the risks for the children and have a good understanding of their needs. However, the risk assessments do not always explore and focus on the risks to provide clear strategies in risk management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the needs of the children and is passionate about ensuring that their needs are met and that the children and staff are happy in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by the manager and have noticed positive changes since her appointment. The manager has helped provide a feeling of stability and consistency to the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals are complimentary about the manager and staff, advising that communication is good and that they are professionally curious and keen to build positive relationships not only with the child but also with their network.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have started to use a therapeutic model of care. It is not yet fully embedded in practice, with most staff requiring training to ensure this model is consistently used in everyday practice. However, when this is being used, it is seen to be effective, and staff are positive about the impact it is having on their relationships with children and the outcomes of interventions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a monitoring system in place that ensures she is overseeing the running of the home. There is evidence of her oversight on important documents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a thorough, high-quality induction package and have regular supervision that uses a variety of methods to embed information, such as quizzes and conversations. This encourages reflection, which leads to staff feeling supported. However, the manager has not had supervision in line with the statement of purpose. She has received monthly supervision when it should have been fortnightly for the first Inspection report for children's home: 2523034 5 three months of her appointment. Despite the less frequent supervision sessions, she reports feeling supported by senior managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a range of training opportunities. Staff regularly complete training to help them carry out their roles. However, not all staff have completed training in the individual needs of the children. Inspection report for children's home: 2523034 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments fully explore and focus on the risks for children to provide clarity on risk management that staff can follow. 23 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(c)) 23 July 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice, in line with the statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Inspection report for children's home: 2523034 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: 2523034 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4 Dane John Works, Gordon Road, Canterbury CT1 3PP

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Inspector

Faye McCarthy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2523034 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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