Children's Home run by Horizon Care and Education Group Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 1 SC463852 Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group 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 operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home. All children spoke with the inspector.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 19 November 2024

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/11/2024 Full Outstanding 07/02/2024 Full Outstanding 14/02/2023 Full Good 01/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home. No children have moved out. The child who moved into the home met with the manager and visited the home before moving in. This supported the child to settle into their new environment and build positive relationships with staff and the other children.

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improvement to be good

Strong relationships with staff support children to make progress and children enjoy living at the home. Shared positive experiences, such as a summer holiday by the seaside, have strengthened these relationships. Staff are committed to understanding children’s needs. Children feel safe and able to share their concerns with staff.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to pursue hobbies and extra-curricular activities. Staff spend time getting to know children and help them to access clubs and experiences to develop their individual interests. Children’s achievements are celebrated. This gives children enjoyment and a sense of positive self-worth.

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improvement to be good

Children have made progress in their education and have excellent attendance. Staff work in partnership with professionals to advocate for and support children’s learning needs to be met. When one child struggled at school, staff were sensitive to how other experiences in the child’s life were having an impact on how well they were able to engage at school. When the child could no longer attend their school, staff implemented a programme of in-house education, while continuing to collaborate with professionals to find a more suitable provision.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children’s relationships with people who are important to them. When children express confusion around specific family relationships, staff listen to them and help them to make sense of difficult emotions. This helps children to feel heard and maintain a sense of identity.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is well presented and homely. There are photos of children enjoying activities displayed on the walls. Communal areas are nicely furnished, providing children with comfortable spaces to relax. Children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms to their individual tastes.

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improvement to be good

Serious safeguarding incidents involving children are not consistently recorded. Risk assessments are not always reviewed and updated to reflect new information about known risks to children. This prevents staff from providing informed care to children that adequately keeps them safe and reduces the risk of harm. Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 4 When children go missing, staff respond promptly and inform the appropriate safeguarding agencies. Children receive attuned and sensitive care when they return home. Within staff debriefs, curiosity is used to explore the underlying cause of children’s behaviours. However, the broader lack of recording of serious events does not provide assurance that all incidents are responded to appropriately by staff, or that staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities. This places children at greater risk and undermines protective factors, such as staff practice.

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improvement to be good

The use of physical restraint is rare. Staff draw on their strong, trusting relationships with children to positively guide and motivate them. This develops children’s emotional resilience and promotes a sense of stability.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to understand the risks concerned with vaping. Proactive engagement with specialist services has helped staff understand how to engage children effectively around this issue. Children are praised by staff when they hand in vapes, which has encouraged children to continue to do so.

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

The home is managed by an experienced registered manager, who shows commitment to the home and children in her care. At the time of the inspection, an interim responsible individual was supporting the manager, in the absence of a permanent responsible individual. However, competing demands on the registered manager has impacted their availability and significantly reduced their oversight of the home.

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

Monitoring and review systems have not been used effectively. This has had a substantial impact on the identification and addressing of shortfalls in safeguarding practice. In the absence of incidents being recorded and risk assessments updated, care planning for children has not been informed by known risks. As a result, children’s vulnerability has increased.

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

Staff enjoy working in the home and feel supported in their role. Feedback from professionals is positive and consistently acknowledges that staff understand the children they care for.

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

Team meetings take place regularly and are well attended. While a discussion of children’s needs and experiences takes place, known risks and safeguarding incidents are not routinely discussed or reflected on. This is a missed opportunity to review practice and consider how care to children can be improved. Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 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

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;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff recording and reporting to safeguarding agencies when children are involved in safeguarding incidents, for example being found in possession of illegal substances or weapons. Furthermore, that this information is used to update risk assessments that inform staff how to care for the child and keep them safe. 31 January 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 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 staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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

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)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff understand and adhere to safeguarding procedures; that monitoring systems are effective and used to identify and address shortfalls in the home. 31 January 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 31 January 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 7

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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: SC463852 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/O DWF Company Secretarial Services Limited, 1 Scott Place 2 Hardman Street, Manchester M3 3AA

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Inspector

Becky Rutter, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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