Children's Home run by Heartwood RSR Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2711833 1 Registered provider: Heartwood RSR Limited

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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 children’s home is operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to four children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, three children have moved into the home and two children have left. At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home. The inspector observed and spoke to all three children.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 24 September 2024

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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: 2711833 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/09/2024 Full Good 23/05/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2711833 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are providing children with a sense of belonging. Photos of the children and staff are displayed in the home. There is a large garden for children to spend time in. Staff have purchased play equipment such as a trampoline and punch bag for the children. Staff organised a garden party to celebrate a child’s birthday. The child’s family attended, alongside staff and the other children living in the home. Staff encourage children to spend time with friends. Children’s friends are welcomed into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have developed positive relationships with the children. Children can identify adults they can speak to if they are worried. Staff ensure that children know how to make a complaint. A child who has recently moved into the home expressed how he had been made to feel welcome. Children show staff affection and seek staff out to spend time with them. Staff, where possible, develop positive relationships with the children’s family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to engage in education and children are making progress. Staff have good systems of communication with education providers. This means children’s daily support needs are understood and met by staff supporting them. Staff prioritise children’s health needs and ensure they have access to universal healthcare. When children have required specialist health services, staff have supported children to get these. A child has accessed grief and loss counselling and is experiencing improved mental health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff offer children the opportunity to take part in activities such as boxing, football and movie nights. Children are not always motivated to accept these opportunities. Staff are trying to be creative to help children take part in more positive activities. Staff support all children living in the home to develop independence skills. Plans to develop children’s independence skills are tailored to the children’s developmental stage. Staff regularly seek children’s wishes and feelings. Staff meet with children individually and as a group to discuss the care being provided. Children have opportunity to contribute to the nomination of employee of the month. The manager meets with the children for ‘Chatterbox sessions’.

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improvement to be good

Staff identified bullying behaviour amongst the children. Staff developed a bullying log to monitor and evaluate incidents. Staff spoke to children about how to recognise bullying, and who to speak to if worried. Staff’s proactive approach has stopped the bullying behaviour. Staff have continued to speak to children about bullying to ensure bullying behaviour does not develop again.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing, staff are proactive in their response to find the child. Staff contact the child to encourage them home. Staff go and look for the child. Staff report Inspection report for children's home: 2711833 4 children who are missing to the police. Staff support children to speak to an independent professional after an episode of going missing. Staff know how to support children if they make an allegation. Staff know how to whistle blow and are confident to do so. Staff have created risk management plans aligned with children’s needs and associated risks. Staff regularly update these plans.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always take action to keep children safe. Staff did not speak to a child when concerned about content on their mobile phone. Instead, staff waited for police to speak to the child. Staff did not put safeguards in place while waiting for police attendance. Staff did not speak to a child when there were indicators the child may go missing. The child did go missing. A child did not respond to welfare checks by staff when in the community. Staff did not go to look for the child to make sure they were okay. The child was not okay and required support from emergency services.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not always felt confident to keep themselves and children safe when supporting behavioural needs. Staff have called the police for help. This increases the chance of children entering the criminal justice system. Staff were unable to support a child with their known behaviour while waiting to move to a new home. This meant the child left the home in an emergency and did not have a positive ending. Staff did not follow a risk management plan for staff who were not trained in the home’s behaviour management approach. An untrained staff member held a child with other staff. This was despite there being other staff available who were trained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has reviewed the staff induction and probation process. Staff are provided with additional bespoke supervision when completing their probation. When staff complete their probation, staff receive bimonthly supervision. Staff said they find supervision helpful. Supervision is reflective, focused on the child’s needs and supports staff well-being. Staff supervision includes discussion about safeguarding and whistleblowing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend monthly team meetings. Team meetings allow opportunity for the team to come together to review the care provided to children. The manager invites guest speakers to team meetings to develop the skill of the staff team. Staff have said they feel supported by the manager and enjoy working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and responsible individual have recognised the home is vulnerable to a closed culture. The home is in a rural location, with limited public transport, and some members of the staff team have a personal relationship. The manager has made arrangements to ensure that the chance of a closed culture developing is reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home statement of purpose describes the care provided in the home as therapeutic. Staff are trained in therapeutic approaches. There are no independent arrangements for therapeutic provision for staff or children. Inspection report for children's home: 2711833 5 The manager has good monitoring systems in place to evaluate the care provided to children. The manager consults with families, children and professionals as part of this monitoring. The manager has daily, weekly and monthly audits of children’s care records in place. The manager has ensured that staff have access to training that is aligned to children’s needs. Inspection report for children's home: 2711833 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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

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)(iii)(v)(vi)(b)) 11 September 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person is responsible for ensuring that each child’s day-to-day health and well-being needs are met. Staff should work to make the children’s home an environment that supports children’s physical, mental and emotional health, in line with the approach set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose. (‘Guide to the Inspection report for children's home: 2711833 7 Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, April 2015’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)

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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: 2711833 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Heartwood RSR Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 416 Green Lane, Ilford, Essex IG3 9JX

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Inspector

Laura Copus, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2711833 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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