Children's Home run by Care2rise Ltd in Hillingdon

Inspection report for children’s home: 2726852 1 Registered provider: Care2Rise 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

This privately owned home provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in May 2023. The current registered manager has been in post since 6 March 2024 and registered with Ofsted on 17 May 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home.

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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: 2726852 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/04/2024 Full Good 15/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2726852 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s well-being, development and relationships are central to the home’s ethos. Staff build warm, meaningful relationships that help children develop trust in their carers, enabling them to make steady progress from their starting points. Children speak positively about the care they receive. They feel comfortable speaking with staff and know they are valued, cared for and safe in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from the nurturing environment and the positive relationships they share with their key workers, whom they can approach for support or when they feel worried. They are actively involved in day-to-day decisions about their care, as well as broader aspects of home life, such as meal planning, food shopping, home decor, group activities and holidays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are ambitious for children and support them to access education that meets their needs and future aspirations. For those children who have previously disengaged from education, staff use creative approaches to re-engage them and promote positive progress. Achievements are consistently recognised and celebrated. Advocacy from leaders when children’s needs are not being consistently met is not routinely evident, including escalating concerns to senior local authority representatives when the education provision offered does not sufficiently meet children’s education needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Older children in the home are encouraged to develop independence skills, such as cooking and laundry. However, this support requires further development to address each child’s anticipated needs comprehensively on moving from the home, ensuring they are fully prepared for independent living. Staff do not consistently understand the support available to children as care leavers, enabling them to better prepare children for life when they move into adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well understood and consistently met. Staff ensure that children attend health appointments and support them in understanding the purpose and outcomes. Strong partnerships with external health agencies, alongside input from the home’s in-house psychologist, ensure that children receive timely and appropriate support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of fun and enriching activities. They recently returned from a holiday in Devon and spoke enthusiastically about their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming, with a strong family atmosphere. The environment is maintained to a high standard and ensures children’s safety. Children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms, helping them feel at home. They are also supported in caring for their own pets, which are considered part of the family. Inspection report for children’s home: 2726852 4 Family members and professionals report receiving effective communication from staff and speak highly of the exceptional quality of care that children receive.

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

Children and the professionals who work with them are highly positive about the safeguarding culture in the home. Risk assessments are thorough and individualised and clearly reflect each child’s presenting risks. They provide staff with clear guidance on how to keep children safe both within the home and in the community. As a result, incidents, unauthorised absences and children going missing are infrequent. When these occur, they are well managed, with protocols followed, detailed records maintained and debriefing sessions held with both children and staff.

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

Children benefit from targeted key-work sessions delivered by staff they know well, focusing on their individual safety and developmental needs. To further enhance this response, managers and staff would benefit from bespoke training that relates to children’s specific needs and experiences.

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

Managers and staff have a good understanding of children’s needs. When considering new admissions, they carefully assess the child’s presenting needs and how the staff team can meet them, though referral information is not always triangulated with insights from professionals who know the child well. In emergency admissions, the needs of existing children and the potential impact of a new placement are not always given sufficient consideration.

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

All staff understand and adhere to whistle-blowing procedures.

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

Safer recruitment practices are robust, ensuring that only suitable individuals are employed to work with children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is aspirational for all children living in the home. Leaders and managers demonstrate a clear and ambitious vision, uphold high expectations for the care of every child and ensure consistently high standards of individualised support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report high morale and satisfaction in their roles, as reflected by a stable and consistent workforce. They appreciate the comprehensive training opportunities and the support provided by the registered manager. Supervision, alongside both group and individual support from the in-house psychologist, is highly valued for enabling staff to reflect on their impact on children’s lives and their own well-being. Although team meetings are reportedly held regularly, the absence of recorded minutes results in a lack of formal documentation and no reference material to support follow-up actions. Inspection report for children’s home: 2726852 5 Feedback from children and professionals working with them is overwhelmingly positive, highlighting the significant progress made by children who have experienced disruption and trauma. Inspection report for children’s home: 2726852 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that children are admitted to the home in a planned manner, where all information about the child is known and the needs of the current children and the impact of the new placement are fully considered, with plans in place to mitigate any negative impact. 1 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)) 1 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2726852 7 In particular, staff must help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home’s support and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in their home. In particular, staff should have access to good-quality training to support them in caring for children with specific needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that all staff act as effective advocates for or on behalf of a child who may be experiencing difficulties with education or training matters, including, but not limited to, attainment, admissions, attendance or behaviour, as a good parent would do. In particular, managers and staff should advocate for children and escalate to senior leaders in local authorities when the education on offer is not sufficient for the child’s needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s

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Recommendations

Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.12)  The registered person is responsible for leading a team which provides high-quality care for all children living in the home. They must lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s statement of purpose. They should also play a key role in shaping the ethos of the home through developing a culture of high aspiration for children which is demonstrated through the care, resources and opportunities offered to the children. In particular, the registered person should hold regular team meetings that are clearly recorded and accessible to all staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

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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: 2726852 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 118a Barking Road, Royal Victoria Docks, London E16 1EN

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Inspectors

Jenny-Ellen Scotland, Social Care Inspector

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Inspectors

Monique Linsday, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2726852 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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