Children's Home run by New Horizons (Stockport) Limited in Manchester

Inspection report for children’s home: SC472680 1 SC472680 Registered provider: New Horizons (Stockport) Limited

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is operated by a private organisation. The home provides care for up to five children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. There were three children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2018.

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: 21 January 2025

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC472680 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/01/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/10/2024 Full Inadequate 14/06/2023 Full Good 05/07/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC472680 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children spoke to the inspectors during the inspection. Children feel listened to and that their views, wishes and feelings on their care are considered. The manager and staff are good advocates for the children and act in their best interests.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has moved into the home since the last inspection. The move was well planned, with opportunities for the child to visit before they moved in. The children all spoke highly of the care that they receive and having good relationships with the staff. One child referred to the home as ‘sick’ and another was happy that food was readily available and they were supported to take up new hobbies. All the children gave the home ‘top marks’.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a large detached property which is nicely decorated and clean. Children can personalise their bedrooms and enjoy spending time there. However, some maintenance is required in children’s bedrooms, including repainting, and replacing a broken desk.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children go to school and their attendance has improved. Before moving to the home, one child was not attending school. They are now making good progress and achieving. The manager had concerns about one child’s school and raised these appropriately. As a result, communication between the staff and school has improved, which has had a positive impact on the child’s attendance. Additionally, teachers have noticed positive progress with one child’s handwriting.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy spending time with the staff and each other. They have recently enjoyed a trip to a theme park and roller-skating. Children are encouraged to develop hobbies and try new things. One child has recently completed a work experience placement and has been supported to apply for a job there. This supports children to develop their confidence.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are introduced to a wide range of different cultures and celebrations. The staff are creative in how they engage children with these conversations, to make them fun while promoting children’s understanding.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well met and they enjoy a balanced diet. Staff support children to attend their routine appointments and receive support from other appropriate services, including child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and the Prevent team. Children are continually developing their self-care skills and understand the need to look after themselves. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472680 4

p.3

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

Children are supported by staff who know them well and understand their risks. As a result, incidents involving the children are rare.

p.4

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

Children have received appropriate interventions from external safeguarding services in a timely manner and they engage with these well. This reduces the risk of criminal behaviour. The children are developing new ways of seeing the world and learning about equality, diversity and inclusion. This is further embedded through regular conversations with staff.

p.4

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

Children do not leave the home without agreement, and they always return. However, there have been instances when they have left their school without permission. The staff have acted quickly to support school staff and locate the children. They have brought the children home safely and ensured that they are supported and that return home interviews with the local authority have been requested. Not all children have access to a phone, as outlined in their plans.

p.4

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

The children’s safety is important to the staff and the children say that they feel safe. When there have been incidents relating to online safety, the staff have been quick to supervise children’s use of devices. This does not equip children with the knowledge and skills to use the internet safely and without constant supervision.

p.4

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

The manager ensures that she follows safer recruitment practices, which reduces the risk of unsuitable people working at the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified and is supported by a deputy manager. They have worked hard to improve management oversight and now have clear processes in place to ensure that they have a good understanding of children’s progress and experiences.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel supported by the management team. New staff say that their induction process was a positive experience, they had the time to learn about the children and that they have learned from their training.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is clear about her expectations of staff practice and has built a skilled and cohesive team. Staff receive regular supervision sessions and attend team meetings so that they can discuss the children’s progress.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager follows a robust assessment process to ensure that she can meet the needs of the children who have moved into the home. However, local authority documents are not always provided to the home at the time of children moving in. Additionally, children’s plans include information that is no longer relevant or that refers to other children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472680 5 The manager ensures that the children have access to advocacy services. She consults with the children about the care that they receive from the staff and ensures that they have an input and access to their plans.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person visits monthly. They spend time with the children and make recommendations to support the development of the home. These are acted on by the manager. The manager has met the requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC472680 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe; and

p.6

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)(i)(ii)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to supporting children to use the internet safely, so that they can use this without supervision when appropriate.

p.6

Requirement Due date

This further relates to children having access to a mobile phone when their plans say they should have one to keep in contact with the staff when they are out of the home. 18 July 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

p.6

Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each 18 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC472680 7 child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(a)(c))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered person ensuring that the appropriate local authority documentation is in place and relevant to this home at the time of a child moving into the home.

p.7

Requirement Due date

This further relates to the registered person ensuring that all plans are in place for children, including personal education plans and health assessments.

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that broken furniture in children’s bedrooms is replaced and that children’s bedroom walls are repainted when required. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.19)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording that will support them in caring for the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

p.7

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: SC472680 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Horizons (Stockport) Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 154-156 Buxton Road High Lane, Stockport, Cheshire SK6 8EA

p.8

Inspectors

Kerri Lynch, Social Care Inspector Shauna Morley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC472680 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

p.8

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.9

Inspectors

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

p.9

Inspectors

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

p.9