Children's home run by Heartlands Group Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2807553 1 Registered provider: Heartlands Group 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 home is owned by a private provider and provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties and/or learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager and the home registered with Ofsted on 25 April 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the first inspection after registration, and three children are currently living in the home. Only two children were present during the inspection, but all three children communicated with the inspector.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2807553 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children said that they like living at the home, that they feel safe, that staff are supportive, and that they enjoy the activities that they do. Children participate in a range of activities with staff and with each other, such as going to the cinema, bouldering, air cadets, horse riding and enjoying visits to theme parks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children have plans for education. Two children are attending regularly and progressing well. Despite encouragement by staff, one child is not engaging with school. The registered manager talks regularly with professionals to address this, and as a result, there are plans in place to ensure that all children engage in learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress because staff use a very child-centred approach. Children have increased confidence and self-esteem. They have developed positive relationships, so they can express themselves and share their thoughts and feelings with staff. Professionals said there is a significant improvement in behaviour because ‘staff are invested in children’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to learn practical skills in preparation for independence, such as learning to cook meals. Once a week, children take it in turns to prepare and cook the evening meal for everyone in the home. Children have also learned to do their own washing and complete daily household tasks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to meet their health and well-being needs. They are registered with local universal services and attend all appointments. Staff seek additional resources for children and support them to engage with external professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are prepared well for moves into the home. The registered manager meets with them beforehand and offers the opportunity to visit the home, meet other children and stay overnight, which helps alleviate any anxiety, so children feel comfortable and welcome before the move.

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

Staff engage children in regular and meaningful conversations. They cover a range of topics with children surrounding online safety, exploitation, stranger danger, drug-use and vaping. This helps children’s understanding and provides them with the knowledge to help them to keep safe.

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

There have been serious safeguarding concerns surrounding one child. However, staff work closely with external professionals and have good working partnerships, so there is robust safety planning to reduce and minimise risk. One professional said, ‘[They are] reassured by the joint working to support the child in complex circumstances, where they need quality trauma-informed care.’ However, despite continuous measures to Inspection report for children’s home: 2807553 3 address substance misuse, at times there is a strong, pungent smell of cannabis throughout the home, which is an indication of its presence. This has a significant effect on the children’s environment and detracts from the homely feel.

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

Staff have not needed to use restraint in the home, and there has only been one missing-from-care incident. However, staff are up to date with training. Therefore, when children go missing, they follow protocol and work with external professionals to keep children safe and return them home.

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

There have been no medication errors in the home. This is because staff have completed training, and the registered manager has implemented an efficient recording system. As a result, when staff are administering medication to children, they can monitor use in the home. However, children’s medication is stored together on one shelf and is disorganised. Furthermore, some packaging is not intact, which could lead to errors.

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

When children make complaints about staff, the registered manager addresses these in a robust and timely manner, so there is effective management oversight. She completes thorough internal investigations and seeks resolution that children are comfortable with. The registered manager informs children of outcomes, so that they feel listened to.

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

Staff have a thorough understanding of children’s needs and risks, and they know how to manage these. Plans contain effective strategies, so staff know how to respond.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is an excellent advocate for children. When children do not have their needs met, she challenges professionals appropriately in children’s best interests. The registered manager is committed to developing staff to ensure that children live in a stable and secure environment. She said that staff have worked hard to develop good working relationships with professionals and give children opportunities that they have not had before, such as the in-depth range of activities that they engage in.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said they enjoy working at the home and spending time with children. They provide examples of the progress that children have made with their support. This is because of the positive relationships that they have built with children, as well as their nurturing approach to their care. Staff said that they feel supported by leaders and managers and have access to a wealth of training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the home. They demonstrate that they recognise the strengths of the home but also areas of improvement. Leaders and managers said they are keen to provide staff with a range of opportunities to upskill and develop their areas of expertise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers support staff to complete a comprehensive training and induction programme. Alongside mandatory training, staff complete specialist training, tailored to children’s specific needs. All staff have relevant qualifications or are working towards obtaining them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2807553 4 Effective monitoring and review systems are in place. Leaders and managers complete regular quality assurance audits to evaluate the standard of care. Additionally, staff engage in debriefs at the end of each day so they can reflect on incidents and discuss safeguarding issues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that all staff working with children are safe. Recruitment checks are thorough and in line with safer recruitment guidance. Inspection report for children’s home: 2807553 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home environment feels nurturing and homely for children and not smell of cannabis. The registered manager and staff should ensure that they take all measures possible to address it being stored in or smoked near the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that medication is stored safely for children. It is vital to ensure that medication is organised and stored safely for each child so that it does not get mixed up, which could lead to confusion and errors. Furthermore, the registered manager should ensure that the packaging of each medication is intact and not damaged. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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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: 2807553 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Heartlands Group Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 7 Goodson Road, Malvern WR14 1BG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Louise Battersby

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Inspector

Emma Fryer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2807553 7 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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