Children's home run by Hygge Children’s Social Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2828708 1 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Registered provider: Hygge Children’s Social Care 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 operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to five children who may experience social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in January 2025. The inspector was made aware during this inspection that the registered manager is no longer working for the organisation.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2828708 2 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the home opened, three children moved in. Initially, there was a period of instability. The responsible individual recognised the home could not meet the needs of two children and worked closely with the professional team to agree a new support plan. One child moved out to a specialist provision following intensive input to help them manage high risk behaviours. Another child moved out to a home more suited to their individual needs. One child remains living in the home and has started to resettle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions were carefully planned, and children were cared for by staff they trusted. This means children were well prepared and reassured about the next steps. They were helped to leave the home with happy memories, and they continue to see the staff who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living in the home benefits from attentive and affectionate care. They like spending time with staff, who use a fun approach to connect with them. Staff are familiar with the child’s needs and provide them with support that follows routines and boundaries. The child has formed bonds with trusted adults. This has helped them to feel safe and start to regulate their emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have been effective in helping the child start to develop important life skills. Staff promote positive behaviour and language while fostering the child’s individuality. As a result, the child has started to participate in home life, for example joining staff at the table for meals and helping to clear away. This is a significant step forward for them and staff are proud of the child’s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the child to overcome day-to-day worries about going to school and encourage them to attend regularly. The responsible individual and staff recognise that this child needs time to settle in the home and school routine. This means that the child is being helped to tackle challenges at their own pace and have the best chance of moving forward successfully.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child enjoys a wide range of activities that enables them to try new experiences, have fun and increase their social confidence. The responsible individual arranges opportunities for the child to enjoy treasured childhood events like going camping and ice-skating. When the child showed an emerging talent for archery, they were encouraged to join a club. This means that the child’s individuality is embraced, valued and nurtured.

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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2828708 3 OFSTED USE ONLY

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

The responsible individual reflected on the challenges of running the home since it opened. They have prioritised supporting staff to help the children who previously lived in the home, and the child who currently lives there, to stay safe.

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

Improvements were made to safety planning, and staff were given tailored guidance from the therapeutic lead in how to recognise and respond when children were upset. As a result, the children’s risks and vulnerabilities have been well understood. Children have been kept safe from significant risk and have had the opportunity to talk about their worries and concerns.

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

There were occasions when the children who previously lived in the home and the child who currently lives there left the home and went missing from care. Staff followed guidance and took action to ensure that the children were supported to return safely. There are clear protocols to follow, and incidents are reported to professionals. Children are welcomed home and given the opportunity to talk and reflect on what happened.

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

Staff understand the risks that using the internet may pose. When potential self-harm risks were identified for one child who previously lived in the home, the responsible individual made extensive plans with the wider professional team to increase the child’s support and to reduce risks going forward.

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

The child living in the home is helped to talk about how they are feeling, reflect on their actions and guided to think about what they could do differently in future. More recently, the child has been involved in decision-making around the consequences for their actions and making repairs to the environment. This will give the child a sense of ownership and responsibility for their home. However, there is no currently formal system in place for logging and overseeing consequences.

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

Safeguarding concerns are responded to and the children in the home have been kept safe. However, the arrangements for reviewing incidents, reporting allegations to the appropriate professionals and checking records are not consistent. For some incidents, there has been no evaluation of action taken, and no reflective learning on practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager considered the impact of new children moving into the home. However, not all potential risks posed were fully explored and assessed. As a result, staff were not equipped to understand and respond to the child’s needs, and risks between children were increased. This created an unsafe and unsettled environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff say they did not feel listened to by the registered manager. They raised concerns about not being able to meet the child’s needs before they moved in. Staff’s attempts to manage high risk situations without having the appropriate care planning or guidance in place had a negative impact on their well-being. Inspection report for children’s home: 2828708 4 OFSTED USE ONLY

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager did not have systems in place to plan care and ensure consistent oversight. For example, records were not always completed, and supervisions did not take place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

On one occasion, a concern raised by a child who previously lived in the home was not taken seriously. Staff were not guided to listen to the child or record action taken. The registered manager did not appropriately escalate to the relevant professionals, and the associated risks were not fully assessed to determine the necessary safeguarding actions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The responsible individual quickly identified the shortfalls and took immediate action to minimise the impact on staff and children. They worked tirelessly to stabilise the home, support staff and prioritise safeguarding children. As a result, children were kept safe and provided with nurturing care in difficult circumstances. Staff say that this made a huge difference, that they learned a lot in a short amount of time and that the home is now settled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Professionals recognise and appreciate the hard work and dedication demonstrated by the responsible individual and the staff team to keep the children who previously lived in the home safe while alternate placements could be found. The responsible individual and staff have demonstrated learning, reflection and a determination to help the child living in the home settle and have a stable base from which they can thrive. Inspection report for children’s home: 2828708 5 OFSTED USE ONLY

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; 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

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Requirement Due date

quality of care provided in the home; demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and 31 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2828708 6 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h)) In particular, the registered person must ensure that the needs of the children who come to stay at the home are fully assessed in order to understand if the staff have the skills and experience to care for the children, and if there will be any impact on other children living in the home. This should be considered before a new child comes to stay. In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is full and consistent management oversight of the home. This includes monitoring of work completed and decisions made for children’s day-to-day care, ensuring that case records are maintained and accurate, and tracking and auditing key concerns and events to establish patterns and trends. Any

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Requirement Due date

learning identified should be used to ensure continuous improvements.

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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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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; 31 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2828708 7 OFSTED USE ONLY

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that there is consistent management oversight of incidents to identify any required actions, learning and support needs of staff and children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that allegations are promptly referred to the appropriate professionals for consultation.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the procedure must provide that no person who is the subject of a complaint takes any part in its consideration or investigation, except at the informal resolution stage if the registered person considers it appropriate.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response and the outcome of any investigation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that no child is subject to any reprisal for making a complaint or representation. 31 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2828708 8 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must supply to HMCI, at HMCI’s request, a statement containing a summary of any complaints made during the preceding twelve months and the action that was taken in response to each complaint.

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Requirement Due date

This regulation (apart from paragraph (4)) does not apply to any matter to which the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006 apply. (Regulation 39 (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6))

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2828708 9 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hygge Children’s Social Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Norfolk House, 106 Saxon Gate West, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK9 2DN

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Inspector

Shirin White, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2828708 10 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Inspector

regulates 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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