Children's home run by Lioncare Ltd Operating as The Lioncare Group

Inspection report for children’s home: 2483691 1 Registered provider: Lioncare Ltd Operating as The Lioncare Group Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to 6 children aged between 6 and 12.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were 3 children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 15 November 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2483691 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/03/2025 Full Outstanding 16/05/2023 Full Good 28/06/2022 Full Good 12/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2483691 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make exceptional progress from their starting points. They benefit from well- planned, conscientious and high-quality care. There is a stable and consistent team of staff who are driven and committed to improving outcomes for children. As a result of intense efforts from the skilled team of staff, children are making progress in all areas and, as a result, are keeping themselves safer.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have positive experiences of moving on from the home. Staff prepare children well for upcoming moves, working closely with the placing authority, parents and future carers to ensure that children have suitable plans for their move from the home. As a result of significant planning and partnership working, 2 children have moved on to longer-term foster arrangements and have settled well. Another has reunited with their family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Stability for children is prioritised. When there are challenges, leaders and managers take time to explore with social workers how they can support children to settle and regain stability in the home. On one occasion when a child’s placement needed to end for their safety, extensive and creative plans were used to ensure there was time to find the right home and to prepare the child for the move. Holidays, activities, outings and memory books are used to create positive endings for children. Staff keep in touch with children after they have moved, visiting where appropriate. This has demonstrated to children they are valued and cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Leaders have taken time to explore children’s needs before their admission to the home. Managers and staff visit children in familiar environments to undertake observations and assessments. They use a range of assessments and records to assure themselves that children’s needs can be met and that the home will be able to achieve positive outcomes. Before children move in, bedrooms are prepared in line with their interests. Staff think creatively about how they can support children to prepare for their move and settle in the home. For younger children, this has included bringing teddies and special items for overnight visits first. As a result of extensive planning, children settle quickly in the home and start to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff are passionate about helping children to feel loved and develop a sense of belonging. The home environment is adapted to reflect the needs and interests of the children. Ownership of the home is encouraged, and children are supported to display personal photos and create artwork to be displayed in communal areas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Education is a priority. All children have good levels of attendance and are engaging in full-time education. Children who were previously educated in isolation from their peers have been supported to move schools and are now engaging in age-appropriate education alongside their peers. Inspection report for children’s home: 2483691 4 Staff adapt their communication style to suit the children in the home. Children are encouraged to share their views, wishes and feelings about the care they receive in formats that suit them. Communication through play is encouraged, and children have used puppets and toys to engage in group meetings and individual sessions with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have a wide range of fun and enjoyable activities, which help them to develop their skills, hobbies and interests. Activities are planned in line with children’s requests. This has included swimming trips, trips to football stadiums, theme park visits, beach walks and trampolining. Group activities are encouraged. With support from staff, children spend time together developing their social skills, learning to take turns and engaging respectfully with one another. As a result of learning these skills, incidents between children have decreased.

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

Staff are positive role models and support children to develop socially acceptable behaviours. Staff are adept at navigating conversations and interactions with children to divert away from possible incidents. Children are encouraged to reflect on and think about incidents and the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others. Information is shared with children in child-friendly play sessions, and enjoyable activities are used to encourage discussions that would usually be a challenge for children to engage in. As a result of these sessions, children are learning to keep themselves and others safe.

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

When restraint has been used, it has been a reasonable and proportionate measure to keep children safe. Staff make all reasonable attempts to avoid the use of restraint and restrictive practice. Conversations with children after incidents help them to talk through their feelings and emotions. The use of ‘worry monsters’ and other strategies help staff to explore and understand children’s feelings and behaviours; this is then incorporated into new strategies. As a result, there has been a reduction in the use of restraint and restrictive interventions.

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

Staff know the children well and have good insight into situations and circumstances that may indicate that children need early intervention to steer them to a safe place. There are clear plans in place that help support staff to have a shared understanding about how to respond to behaviour that could be harmful. There are good systems for sharing new information, and staff are conscientious in sharing examples of what has or has not worked. As a result, children receive consistent, well-informed and thoughtful responses from staff.

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

Staff work effectively with social workers and the local authority designated officer (LADO) to ensure that when children raise concerns, they are fully considered and addressed. Where there are clear written agreements in place as to how to respond when children raise concerns, they are generic rather than tailored to individual children, so they do not fully provide an understanding of what each child may be communicating. In practice, staff know the children well and all concerns are managed effectively. Inspection report for children’s home: 2483691 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is knowledgeable and reflective and has high aspirations for children in their care. One professional said, ‘I wouldn’t hesitate to place another child here. I think [name of manager] is a thoughtful and reflective person that oozes kindness, and this filters down into his stable team.’ The manager has been successful in creating a staff team that is committed to working through challenges and providing a thoughtful, caring approach to help children thrive and feel safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers have a clear focus on recruiting, training and stabilising the staff team. There is now a full staff team in place to offer 24-hour care and support for children. The use of agency staffing has stopped. Leaders and managers have a clear strategic focus to upskill and progress staff, which feeds into long-term succession planning and stability for staffing and management arrangements. As a result, staff remain invested and committed to their own development, and retention is improving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There is an open and reflective learning culture. Managers are focused on creating an environment of learning, honesty and accountability. A blame-free culture supports staff to feel safe and secure in sharing their experiences, learning and reflection. Managers are proactive in ensuring their own development. The registered manager is currently completing a course in psychodynamic coaching and is using his knowledge to develop systems for exploring teamwork dynamics and the compatibility of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

In addition to ensuring managerial development, there is a range of training courses available to staff, supporting them to explore and understand children’s needs. There are good plans in place to further embed the therapeutic model used in the home in order to enhance care practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers have a thorough understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. A range of systems, including individual supervision, provider-wide monitoring groups and twice-monthly leadership meetings, help managers to monitor and track the effectiveness of the home and interventions in relation to the progress and experiences of children. External consultants and trainers are included in these reviews to maintain an open learning culture. As a result of this, the manager has a continuous loop of externalised feedback, which he uses to guide and develop the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2483691 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any protocol agreed with the LADO is adapted for individual children so that guidance on how to respond to and manage allegations is clear for staff and regularly reviewed with placing authorities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, Paragraph 9.18)

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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: 2483691 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lioncare Ltd Operating as The Lioncare Group

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lioncare House, 58a Livingstone Road, Hove, Sussex BN3 3WL

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Inspector

Georgia Carty, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2483691 8 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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