Children's Home run by Ardent Residential Children’s Service Ltd in Medway

Inspection report for children’s home: 2843791 1 Registered provider: Ardent Residential Children’s Service Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home is registered to provide care for up to four children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. One child was living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The setting and the manager have been registered with Ofsted since June 2025.

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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 widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected, their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2843791 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

This area has been judged as inadequate due to shortfalls in the management of safeguarding concerns in the home. A poor safeguarding culture in the home has resulted in poor experiences for children. Managers have been unable to create a safeguarding culture that encourages and enables staff to raise concerns or challenge practices that impact on children’s welfare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

As a result of this inspection, a notice to suspend the registration of the setting has been issued with immediate effect. Staff are not equipped to ensure that they understand children’s needs or how to meet them. One child has been living in the home for several months without clear guidance in place to address their educational, health and well-being needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff and managers do not have high aspirations for children. Staff have not made all reasonable efforts to support the child in attending education in line with their relevant plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Relevant plans and records relating to the care of children have not been completed. In one instance, staff had no clear guidance for how to support a child in relation to their education, health or well-being. Multiple records kept in the home were blank or not yet developed. In addition, children have moved into the home without adequate guidance being in place for staff to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

CCTV is not being used in line with the home’s policy for the use of monitoring and surveillance. Accurate information has not been shared with children to help them understand why it is necessary and how their privacy is being respected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home is generally well decorated. However, there are some areas of the home that require redecoration and repair. Damage in the home has been identified by the manager, but has not been responded to promptly to reduce risk.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff are responding to the child’s wishes and interests. As a result, the child is being supported to go to the gym and prepare meals to maintain a healthy, balanced diet.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Relationships with family members are prioritised. The child is supported to maintain positive relationships with their family and people that they identify as important.

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

The systems in place to safeguard children are ineffective. Staff report feeling fearful to raise concerns about the conduct of a senior leader of the home. When concerns have been raised, they have not been addressed. There are no systems in place to ensure Inspection report for children’s home: 2843791 3 that concerns in relation to senior leaders can be independently investigated. As a result of this, staff have felt unable to raise concerns, and there is a significant risk of a closed culture. This places children at risk of harm.

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

There have been substantial delays in sharing appropriate information with professionals and taking effective action to reduce risks following allegations. Managers have failed to take action to supervise or limit staff contact with children following allegations or conduct concerns. There have been at least two occasions when allegations shared with the manager have not been shared with the local authority designated officer. Managers do not take appropriate actions to follow up on referrals made to external agencies. As a result of this, children have continued to be exposed to potential risks of harm.

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

Risk management practices are not effective in responding to known and emerging risks for staff or children. When managers identify risks, they do not take action or ensure that there are clear safety plans in place. This means that staff are not providing the support children need to keep themselves and others safe.

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

The systems in place to reduce the risks to the child when they are missing from home are ineffective. Records relating to how staff have responded lack sufficient detail and are sometimes not completed. Children have not been supported to speak to someone independent of the home following incidents of being missing from home. Another professional reported that they felt that staff and the manager are not always clear about how to respond when the child is missing from the home.

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

Safer recruitment practices are not adhered to. A staff member was recruited and worked directly in the home before leaders received suitable Disclosure and Barring Service checks. Recruitment checks also failed to identify discrepancies in staff documents relating to proof of address. In addition, key information is not always sought to clarify information obtained from references from previous employers.

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

The kitchen is routinely locked, preventing the child from accessing this area. There are no assessments in place to indicate why this is necessary and no process in place to keep this under review.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a breakdown of relationship and communication between the registered manager and the responsible individual in the setting. This has resulted in ineffective managerial practice and oversight. There are multiple systemic failings that are preventing actions from being taken to address significant staff conduct concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Feedback from another professional raised concerns about the oversight of the home and safeguarding practices. The oversight and support provided by the responsible individual is not effective in addressing these concerns. Inspection report for children’s home: 2843791 4 Managers have been unable to inspire a culture of openness and transparency in managing safeguarding concerns. They have failed to notify the regulator of several serious incidents, including allegations against staff and incidents when the police were called to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders’ and managers’ oversight of care practice is poor. The quality of recording is also poor. For example, there are no internal individual care plans for the child. There is no evidence as to how the child’s needs are being assessed or met. Similarly, risk management plans are generic and not individual to the child. An incident that required physical restraint lacked effective oversight by the registered manager. This demonstrates that the quality assurance systems in place are ineffective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staffing arrangements do not provide consistency for children. Apart from the manager, all staff are on zero-hours contracts, and at times, there are insufficient staff to provide the agreed levels of support and supervision for the child. Staff raised concerns that, at times, they work excessive hours. This does not provide a secure and stable group of adults to provide consistent and safe care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Supervision does not take place in line with the organisation’s policy. Supervision is infrequent, and a new team member has not received regular opportunities to reflect on the impact of their work. On occasion, staff receive formal supervision from administrative staff who are not working in a care role. One staff member said they had not had any formal supervision and that they did not feel valued or supported by leaders and managers. Inspection report for children’s home: 2843791 5

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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 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

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 effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e)) 12 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2843791 6 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for 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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(a)(d)(c)(f)(g)(ii)(h)) 12 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— 12 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2843791 7 full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

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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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii)(c)) 12 November 2025

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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

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(ix)(x)) 12 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2843791 8 The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d)) 12 November 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: 2843791 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ardent Residential Children’s Service Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 75 Westow Hill, Crystal Palace, London SE19 1TX

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Inspector

Georgia Carty, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2843791 10 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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