Children's Home run by Harmony Residential Homes Limited in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2617499 1 Registered provider: Harmony Residential Homes 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

The home is owned and managed by a private organisation. It provides care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties and children who have experienced trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2617499 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/06/2024 Full Good 04/05/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/07/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/01/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 2617499 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, four children have moved in and four children have moved out. Two children moved out in a planned way, one child returned to family and one child moved to a smaller home that was better suited to their needs. Two children spoke to the inspector, and the other two children were observed participating in their daily routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves into the home are well planned. Managers and staff warmly welcome children, supporting them to settle. Children are also encouraged to welcome children who move in and help staff prepare their bedrooms for arrival.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A knowledgeable and caring staff team provides a warm, nurturing and structured environment. The home is bright, welcoming and well furnished. Children are encouraged to make the home their own. Each child’s bedroom is comfortable and reflects their interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with staff. Children are happy, well cared for and like living in the home. They receive a high standard of individualised care, and progress and achievements can be seen in all areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are central to the day-to-day running of the home. Staff encourage high levels of participation through house meetings, daily activities and key-work sessions. When children have concerns, they are supported to make complaints and are satisfied with the response and actions. This inclusive approach helps children to express themselves and feel listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend meaningful time with their families and friends. The manager and staff develop strong relationships with children’s families. Staff have supported two families to take their children on a family holiday. Children are also spending more time with their friends. This support is helping children to have new experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make great progress with their life skills using an independent living programme that is individual to their needs. This supports children to take increased responsibility in daily activities and build up their independent time in the community. This has helped children increase their self-esteem and successfully assisted moves into adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress with their learning. Staff talk to children about the importance of education and support them to attend their provisions. One child has recently completed their exams and attended their prom, which was a significant achievement for this child. Staff support children to apply for college courses and Inspection report for children’s home: 2617499 4 write their CV for future employment. As a result, children are making progress with education and are supported to plan for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities. They are encouraged to explore their hobbies and interests. These include horse riding, football, pamper sessions and holidays abroad. Memories of trips are captured in memory books. These provide children with a reminder of positive moments they share with staff and each other.

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

Effective and detailed risk assessments help staff to work collectively and consistently with children. Risk assessments and behaviour management plans are updated to reflect any change in behaviour. The manager has thorough oversight of these. Updates are shared with staff and professionals. Staff know the children well and are skilled in seeking necessary support quickly and safely.

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

Staff work with children to help them have a better understanding of their own vulnerabilities and how to manage these. Staff support children with well-thought-out key-work sessions. Children take part in these sessions, and they are supported to understand challenges they may face.

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

Children understand how to raise concerns and complaints. When children have raised concerns, managers have responded effectively. Advice given by the local authority designated officer has been followed by managers, and detailed investigations regarding staff practice have taken place. Managers use outcomes from investigations to improve practice and to provide staff with additional support or training. This supports a positive safeguarding culture.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff act quickly and follow the children’s missing-from-home protocols. They search for children and communicate well with the police and professionals until the child is found. When children return, staff offer a warm welcome and support them to speak to an independent person. This helps children to discuss the reason they went missing and share any concerns.

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

All staff are trained in the use of physical intervention. Instances of physical intervention are rare and used by staff as a last resort.

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

On one occasion, there was a delay in a room search taking place even though staff identified the child had glass bottles in their room that may be dangerous. The manager did take them the next day. This does not ensure that risks are quickly minimised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitable and qualified. She is enthusiastic and child focused. She has a good understanding of the progress children are making, and she celebrates children’s achievements. She is supported by an equally motivated deputy manager. Inspection report for children’s home: 2617499 5 Both have high aspirations for the children and staff. This enthusiasm and aspirational care for children is seen throughout the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective supervision takes place frequently. Supervision is helpful and supports staff to consider the children’s complex needs. Additional group supervision sessions take place with the home’s allocated psychologist, which has supported staff reflection and helped to improve practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a significant turnover in staff. In addition, there has been a change in registered manager since the last inspection. Leaders and managers have taken measures to ensure the careful management of any changes. As a result, children have continued to receive consistent care, and staff feel supported by leaders and managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a strong advocate for the children. She has challenged professionals when improvements needed to be made to children’s care planning. This has resulted in children receiving additional support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers encourage a culture of reflection, learning and development. Staff receive a high standard of training. There is a good induction package for new staff. All mandatory training is completed and up to date. Managers have sourced specialist courses to improve staff knowledge in line with the needs of the children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers and staff champion culture and diversity. They support the children to build their own identity and learn about differences in others. This contributes to children feeling valued, developing a positive self-view and celebrating differences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have established good relationships with professionals and keep them updated. Professionals say that they feel well informed and that children are making significant progress living in the home. One social worker said, ‘The staff are so passionate; they generally care and work tirelessly to support [name of child]. So much progress has been made by [name of child], I wish there was more homes like them.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

On one occasion, there was an incident where there were more agency staff at the home than permanent staff. This was an oversight from the on-call manager. When managers identified this shortfall, improvements were made to the home’s on-call procedure and the home’s rota. Managers have plans in place to reduce their reliance on agency members of staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2617499 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff’s skills for safeguarding include being able to identify signs that children may be at risk and supporting children in strategies to manage and reduce any risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.10)  The registered person should ensure that no more than half the staff on duty at any one time, by day or night, at the home are from an external agency. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.17)

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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: 2617499 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Harmony Residential Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Harmony Residential Homes, 33a Portsmouth Road, Southampton SO19 9BA

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Inspector

Syvanna Matthew, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2617499 8 and inspects to 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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