Children's Home run by New Horizons (Stockport) Limited in Bury

Inspection report for children's home: 1261138 1 Registered provider: New Horizons (Stockport) 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 children's home is operated by a private organisation. The home provides care for up to 6 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

There were 3 children living at the home at the time of the inspection. Two children spoke to the inspector.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2023.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1261138 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/05/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/07/2024 Full Good 25/07/2023 Full Good 15/11/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1261138 3

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Summary of findings

Children living in the home are making progress from their starting points.

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Summary of findings

Staff encourage children's engagement with education and promote meaningful family relationships.

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Summary of findings

Practice is not yet consistently effective. Shortfalls in the management of children going missing from home and weaknesses in supervision arrangements have contributed to incidents between children.

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Summary of findings

Recording practice is variable, which limits the manager's ability to effectively evaluate incidents and identify learning from practice to improve the quality of care provided to children.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, 2 children have moved out of the home and one child has moved in. Before children move into the home, the manager gathers information about them and their needs. They consider the skills, experience and training of the staff in meeting these needs. However, one child's move from the home was unplanned, which resulted in disruption to the child's stability and routine.

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improvement to be good

The home is a large, detached house with an enclosed garden. It is nicely decorated and has plenty of communal areas for children to enjoy. However, there are several areas in the home that are showing some signs of wear, including walls and some damaged furniture, which reduce the overall quality of the living environment.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy good overall health and are supported to attend routine appointments. Where concerns arise in relation to children's mental health or substance misuse, advice is sought from relevant health professionals to ensure that children receive support from the appropriate services.

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improvement to be good

Staff place a strong emphasis on the value of education. Two children are attending school and are making progress in line with their individual abilities and starting points. For another child, the manager is working proactively with the placing authority and education professionals to agree a suitable education plan that meets their needs and is in line with their wishes.

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improvement to be good

There are plans in place to ensure that children remain connected to those people who are important to them. Children's family time plans have progressed in line with their needs and age. Inspection report for children's home: 1261138 4 Children have positive relationships with staff and can identify trusted adults who they can speak to. Children are encouraged to share their wishes and feelings and participate in decisions that shape their day-to-day lives.

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improvement to be good

There has been a rise in the number of missing-from-home episodes. Some opportunities to strengthen safeguarding practice and learning were missed. Clear missing-from-home procedures are in place to guide staff practice and they are generally followed. However, staff do not always intervene at the earliest opportunity, resulting in children being missing for longer periods of time than necessary. This reduces the home's ability to minimise risks and support children to return safely and promptly.

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improvement to be good

There have been 3 occasions where a child has been held as a last resort to keep them and others safe. However, debriefs with children and staff are not routinely completed. This reduces the manager's ability to fully understand and evaluate the effectiveness of the responses.

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improvement to be good

The arrangements for supervising children are not consistently effective, resulting in occasions where incidents between children have escalated. This has reduced staff's ability to respond promptly to children's needs and any emerging risks.

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improvement to be good

When children or staff raise concerns about staff conduct, the manager takes concerns seriously and manages them in line with safeguarding procedures. Appropriate referrals are made to the local authority designated officer and detailed internal investigations are completed to ensure that action is taken.

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improvement to be good

Staff recruitment is done safely to ensure that only suitable individuals work with children. Agency staff have been used since the last inspection to cover a high turnover of staff and periods of sickness. The manager has taken steps to minimise the impact by carefully considering the skills and strengths of staff when planning the rota.

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

The manager is suitably experienced and demonstrates high aspirations for the children. She is supported by a newly appointed deputy manager and, together, they have oversight of the home and understand the children's needs. The manager has identified weaknesses in staff practice and safeguarding arrangements and is taking steps to improve standards. However, these improvements are not yet embedded and practice remains variable.

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

Staff describe feeling well supported. One member of staff said that the home is well managed, with a supportive leadership team that keeps children at the centre of practice. Inspection report for children's home: 1261138 5 Staff have access to a range of training to support them in their roles. However, there are gaps in areas directly linked to the specific risks and children's needs. Additionally, not all staff have achieved their qualification within the required time frame. This limits staff's understanding and their ability to manage some risks effectively. The manager has recognised this and is taking steps to address this through the implementation of targeted training.

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

The recording of incidents is inconsistent and, at times, key information is missing. This limits the manager's ability to fully evaluate incidents, implement learning and embed it in practice.

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

Staff receive regular supervision sessions. This allows staff to consolidate their knowledge, discuss challenges and identify learning opportunities. New members of staff complete an induction before being enrolled to attain a recognised childcare qualification.

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

Team meetings take place regularly. The manager also welcomes the contribution of outside agencies, which provides a forum for open communication and opportunities for reflection and learning. Inspection report for children's home: 1261138 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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;

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff fully understand the risks related to children who may go missing from home and ensure that staff follow children's individualised missing-from-home protocols. 29 May 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 1261138 7 Additionally, the registered person must ensure that children are appropriately supervised as per their plans to prevent incidents of the children causing harm to each other.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children's home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(b)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that following all significant incidents, debriefs with children and staff are consistently undertaken and clearly recorded. 29 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 29 May 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 1261138 8 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when incidents are recorded, they include all relevant information to enable robust evaluation and take into account any learning outcomes that can be put in place to support the development of staff.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff working in the home are suitably qualified, experienced and competent to carry out their roles effectively and lead a team to deliver high-quality care.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, the registered person must ensure that staff are trained to meet the children's needs.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home is maintained to an acceptable standard, and repairs, the replacement of furniture and painting is carried out in a timely manner. ('Guide to The Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 1261138 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider: New Horizons (Stockport) Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 154-156 Buxton Road High Lane, Stockport, Cheshire SK6 8EA

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Inspector

Shauna Morley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1261138 10 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 children looked after , safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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