Children's home run by Moonreach LTD in Dover

Inspection report for children's home: 1226977 1 Registered provider: Moonreach 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

The home provides care for up to 2 children with social and/or emotional difficulties. A private company owns and manages this home. There were 2 children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2025.

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Information about this children's home

Staff are referred to as adults throughout the report.

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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: 1226977 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/03/2025 Full Good 26/07/2023 Full Good 12/07/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1226977 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live in the home experience care that is kind, fun and respectful. Adults get to know the children well and build relationships with them that are meaningful. This has led to positive outcomes for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's health needs are met by adults who strive to ensure that the children's needs are met but also balanced with listening to the wishes of the child. Adults are tenacious in their efforts to support one child who struggles to attend health appointments. Through key-work sessions they are improving the child's confidence, self-worth and understanding of why the appointments are needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who require additional services to meet their health, education and psychological wellbeing needs are referred to services promptly. This has resulted in one child accessing significant mental health support during crisis following in-depth work and dedicated efforts from the manager and adults.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to prepare for adulthood. They encourage children to complete self-care tasks in line with their abilities. Children speak proudly of the skills they have learned.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience a range of activities and have also been on holidays. Adults encourage children's hobbies and provide new experiences to broaden their lived experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults support children to have positive relationships with their families where possible. Monthly updates are provided to parents when appropriate, which keeps them informed of the child's achievements and struggles. One child was supported to rebuild a relationship with a parent, which resulted in them being able to live together.

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

Adults have a good understanding of the risks for the children and work with the children to manage these risks. Overall, this has resulted in a reduction in incidents for children over time from when they move into the home.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. Adults are vigilant and ensure that procedures are followed, which supports the children to stay safe when out in the community and help to locate them when they go missing from home.

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

Adults support children who self-harm and respond with care and empathy. One child stopped self-harming when they moved into the home and adults celebrated every month with them to acknowledge the achievement and progress they had made. Inspection report for children's home: 1226977 4 Children's behaviour is managed by adults who promote positive behaviour and only use consequences that are reflective of the incident when necessary. Restraint is rarely used. Children are encouraged to focus on repair and learning from incidents. Adults build trusting relationships with the children, which allow for open and frank discussions and have resulted in the children's behaviours improving. One child has significantly improved their responses to difficult situations, meaning they are now able to advocate their feelings rather than causing physical damage to the home.

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

Adults are recruited into the home safely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is ambitious, caring and has high expectations for the care provided to the children. She has a good understanding of the progress that the children make and uses effective methods of collating information to show areas of concerns or progress to create care plans that are meaningful for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager thoroughly understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home and has plans to make continuous improvements. This is supported by the change in the monthly independent person who visits the home. The independent visitor provides clear and constructive support that has helped to improve the management oversight of records, which are more detailed and reflective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children's views are gained on a regular basis and impact decision-making where possible. Children can decorate their bedrooms as they wish and are proud of their bedrooms. Children's artwork and photos are displayed around the home, and they can make suggestions on how they would like the rest of the home decorated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager challenges professionals when responses from other services are not effective. She holds professionals to account when needed and promotes the children's views and best interests. Professionals compliment the manager and adults on their effective and meaningful communication, placing the needs of the children at the forefront of conversations and promoting safeguarding.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy manager work well together to provide good-quality support to the adults working in the home. Adults report feeling supported, whether this is through formal or informal methods of support. They have built positive working relationships with adults, which is allowing them to effectively challenge practice when needed. However, supervisions have not always been provided in line with the company policy, and targets set within adult's appraisals are not always clear enough to allow adults to make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults have access to a range of training to meet the needs of the children, as well as more generalised training. However, mandatory training in restraint was delayed significantly for one member of staff, resulting in a restraint being used before the training had been provided. Inspection report for children's home: 1226977 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff receive supervision of their practice that allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care, in a timely way that is in line with their policy. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Recommendations

 In a restraint situation, staff should use their professional judgement, supported by their knowledge of each child's risk assessment, an understanding of the needs of the child (as set out in their relevant plans) and an understanding of the risks the child faces. Professional judgements may need to be taken quickly, and staff training and supervision of practice should support this. In particular, delay should not be taken in ensuring that staff are trained in restraint techniques. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 48, paragraph 9.53)

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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: 1226977 6

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 4 Dane John Works, Gordon Road, Canterbury CT1 3PP

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Inspector

Faye McCarthy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1226977 7 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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