Children's Home run by Horizon Care and Education Group Limited in Wiltshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2793174 1 Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered with Ofsted in September 2024 and is owned and run by a private organisation. It provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, no children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since September 2024.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected and their welfare is not promoted.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 4 December 2024

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2793174 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/12/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2793174 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s progress and experiences in this home are inadequate. Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home due to staff being unable to meet their needs. Leaders and managers have not sufficiently considered the issues which lead to this child moving out of the home, and prior to the inspection, there were plans for the child to return to the home. Despite significant practice concerns not being addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The poor care provided to the child has meant that the child’s emotional and psychological wellbeing needs have not been met. Significant staffing changes and instability in the home have meant that the child has felt anxious and unsafe. At times, staff have not been able to effectively support the child with their feelings, resulting in the child demonstrating unsafe behaviour which staff have been unable to manage. Leaders and managers have failed to understand the child’s needs and how to meet them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s progress with education is lacking. There is insufficient planning to help children re-engage with schooling and children are not accessing education in a meaningful way. When it is determined that external agencies are not providing adequate services there is a lack of challenge, and there are no clear plans outlining how children will be helped to participate in educational activities to enhance their learning. This does not promote best outcomes for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite the home’s appropriate furnishing, many rooms require redecoration due to incidents where damage has been caused. The walls in one child’s bedroom are considerably marked and there are remnants of food splattered and stuck to the wall in one area of the room. Living in a damaged home would likely have had a negative impact on the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child is offered enjoyable activities, such as going to water parks, shopping and horse riding. However, staff do not consistently feel able to ensure the child’s safety within the community and a lack of effective planning around the timing of activities has meant that the child does not feel sufficiently safe and supported and on one occasion this lead to them running away from staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite challenges, more experienced staff get to know children well and establish good relationships with them. This is acknowledged by several external professionals. Health professionals commented that staff have demonstrated commitment to the child and that they have a good understanding of them, however the instability within the home impacted the child’s feelings and safety.

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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2793174 4 Insufficient oversight from leaders and managers, and staff experience and skill not matching the complex needs of the child, has meant that the child has not been protected from possible harm.

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

One child has repeatedly been able to gain access to the internet in the home and, in doing so, has been at considerable risk of harm. Despite plans outlining that staff are required to supervise the child and prevent internet access, the child has repeatedly managed to access inappropriate sites. During the inspection, staff raised concerns about inconsistent messages around supervision from managers and some staff lacking the confidence to implement boundaries, which resulted in the child being able to place themselves at risk.

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

Staff fail to help children understand the dangers of risk-taking behaviours. Staff do not sufficiently engage children in conversations aimed at helping them learn about their behaviours, and when a child has required increase supported this has not been provided. This means that opportunities to help the child learn about risks was missed, and their behaviour has persisted.

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

Care plans and risk assessments offer some useful information and strategies for staff to use to help them meet children’s needs; however, these are not regularly updated following significant incidents. This means that they are not dynamic or effectively used to support children’s changing needs. When reflections have taken place with staff following incidents, and suggestions made around how practice in the home can change to protect the child, care plans have not been updated with this information.

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

It is not always clear that staff use strategies to try to help children during incidents in which they try to harm themselves or others. A lack of confidence from staff has at times resulted in incidents escalating and the child harming themselves. When significant incidents occur in the home, there is a stark lack of management oversight. Incident reports regularly identify the need for follow-up conversations with children and staff, and these also remain outstanding, which means again that opportunities to learn from incidents and improve practice are missed.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff follow and try to encourage them to return appropriately. If staff lose sight of children, they call the police. This is in line with the missing protocol in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Ineffective leadership and management have meant that the child’s experiences and safety in the home have not been good enough.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

During the inspection, staff raised concerns about their inability to keep children safe, the impact of an inexperienced team, and the team’s ability to safely respond to significant incidents. One member of staff said that some incidents in which a child self- Inspection report for children’s home: 2793174 5 harmed could have been avoided if staff had been more skilled or confident. Another member of staff said that the child in the home held the balance of power, with staff being with staff being afraid to impose boundaries.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Before the inspection, there was a plan for the child to return to the home despite the staff team and some leaders and managers having considerable concerns about the team’s ability to meet their needs. Leaders and managers have implemented additional training to upskill the team; however, there has been a lack of focus on filling vacancies in the team by employing experienced and skilled team members. One member of staff is significantly behind schedule in completing the relevant qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Team meetings and supervision sessions are inconsistent. As a result, regular opportunities to learn, reflect and support staff following significant incidents have been missed. Staff are not receiving the high levels of support and opportunities to reflect on practice that are required to help keep children safe and promote outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

When children raise concerns about staff, these are appropriately reported to external agencies. However, leaders and managers have not ensured that a follow-up conversation took place between the child and the social worker to further explore these concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have worked well with some external agencies and have engaged in regular discussions about how to keep the child safe. The registered manager has advocated effectively for the child at times. Inspection report for children’s home: 2793174 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that children with part-time timetables have clear plans to structure their day when they are not in school, with activities and responsibilities that are relevant to their plans. Additionally, the registered manager should ensure that there are clear plans to reintegrate children into mainstream education. 21 July 2025

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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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)) 21 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2793174 7 In particular, the registered person should ensure that when children exhibit risk-taking behaviours, staff carry out relevant work with them to help them learn about their risks, in line with their plans. Additionally, when children request support to learn about their risks, this should be provided in a timely manner.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

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)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that plans and risk assessments include all relevant information and provide clear direction for how staff should protect children, ensuring consistent implementation in the home. 21 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 that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should have effective oversight of staff practice to ensure that they are adhering to children’s plans. Additionally, the registered person should have effective oversight of incidents occurring in the home so that 21 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2793174 8 they understand what causes them and how staff respond, allowing for learning and reflection.

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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 that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(e)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff have sufficient skills and experience to deliver effective care to children in the home. Additionally, the registered person should ensure that they monitor the impact of staffing changes on children’s progress and experiences to inform their future care planning. 21 July 2025

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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: 2793174 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 17 Wolverhampton Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 1AP

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Kimberley Adcock-Coombs

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Inspector

Minnette Sims, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2793174 10 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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