Children's Home run by Kent County Council in Kent

Inspection report for children’s home: 2865982 1 Registered provider: Kent County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in November 2025 and is owned and operated by a local authority. It provides accommodation and support for up to 18 newly arrived unaccompanied asylum-seeking children aged under 16 years who are without parents and close family members to look after them. The main priority of the service is to assess the needs of children on their arrival and provide them with somewhere safe to stay. The registered manager has been in post since November 2025.

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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

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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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: 2865982 2

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Summary of findings

The home provides short-term care for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children while longer-term arrangements are made. Despite brief stays, staff create a safe, nurturing environment where children feel valued and cared for. Children benefit from prompt access to education, a range of activities and strong support to express their views. Their cultural and religious needs are well understood. Effective multi-agency work supports continuity of care. Risks are well managed, and incidents are rare. Leaders have high aspirations and provide strong support to staff. However, systems to ensure full managerial oversight of recruitment checks require strengthening.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has been set up to support unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to be safely looked after while applications are made with the National Transfer Scheme to find their permanent home. Despite children only living in the home for a short period, usually around 10 days, staff provide them with safety, love and care and give them an opportunity to learn, play and form friendships. Children respond positively to this, with one child wanting to stay in touch after leaving and children regularly voicing how much it has felt like a family home where they have felt loved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff thoroughly understand children’s cultural and religious needs. Children are encouraged to maintain their religious practices, including attending local mosques each week and celebrating significant events, such as Eid. Staff also promote children’s broader understanding by introducing them to a range of beliefs and celebrations, including those they may be less familiar with, such as Christmas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to express their views effectively. This is achieved through strong, trusting relationships, alongside the use of interpreters and translation technology where required. Regular community meetings provide children with opportunities to express their views and raise any concerns. These meetings also ensure that children receive up- to-date information from staff and social workers about their plans, including future moves. Staff also routinely gather children’s views through surveys and one-to-one sessions to ensure that they feel heard and safe. Children’s suggestions are responded to positively and are given careful consideration.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend education from the day after they move in. An on-site education specialist delivers a bespoke programme that maximises opportunities for all children to learn. The curriculum helps children develop key skills in English and mathematics, alongside increasing their understanding of British culture and everyday expectations of living in the UK. Where children require additional support in specific areas, this is provided swiftly. Staff are skilled in identifying emerging needs and ensure that appropriate interventions are put in place without delay. Inspection report for children’s home: 2865982 3 Children enjoy a wide range of trips and activities, including football, swimming, attending youth clubs and going on trips out in the local area. In the home, children access a wide range of games and sports equipment. Children thrive on these opportunities, and photos are always taken so that children have memory books to take

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

Staff are committed to creating an environment where children feel safe. From the point of admission, children are helped to understand the roles of staff and the support available to them.

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

Children who are deemed at higher risk due to factors known at the point of admission are supported by a detailed safety plan implemented by a team of staff who have a good knowledge of how best to manage risks and help them stay safe.

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

Behaviour incidents are rare. When incidents occur, staff respond promptly and help children to cope. Staff manage incidents without the need for physical interventions, and there have been no incidents of children going missing from the home.

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

Children are cared for in a safe environment. Regular health and safety checks are carried out by staff to maintain this standard. When concerns arise, staff respond promptly and take decisive action. For example, following a recent issue with the electrical system, immediate measures were implemented to ensure children’s safety. Appropriate remedial work was carried out before children returned to the home, ensuring that risks were managed and reduced effectively.

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

Staff are recruited through processes that help ensure they are suitable and safe to work with children. However, when staff transfer within the organisation from roles unrelated to a children’s home, managers have not consistently had access to the full range of recruitment checks. This limits managerial oversight of staff suitability. This was addressed during the inspection. Systems are now required so that managers can routinely review and have full oversight of all recruitment checks to ensure staff suitability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high aspirations and supports staff effectively to provide high standards of care and support for children. He maintains good oversight of care practice and quickly identifies any areas for service development to enhance the quality of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported. Through a combination of individual and group supervision, team meetings and performance-based discussions, staff have various ways to reflect on their performance and focus on areas for development. The manager uses these opportunities effectively to continue to develop the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2865982 4 Staff value the support that is available to them, especially from the manager. They appreciate his open-door policy and commitment to them and the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak with pride about their work and the role they play in children’s lives, even if this is only for a few days. Leaders have a good understanding of the progress that children make through care planning reviews and discussions with staff and children. This level of oversight continues to drive and improve practice. One area of practice that needs strengthening relates to recording. There is an inconsistency in the detail and style of language that staff use, and, in some examples, the language used risks stigmatising children and their circumstances.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work effectively with other professionals. Regular multi-agency reviews involving care staff, education staff and social workers ensure that children continue to make sustained progress. This progress is clearly recorded and shared with children’s onward placements to support continuity of care. This coordinated, multidisciplinary approach provides a holistic understanding of each child’s experiences, enabling achievements to be recognised and celebrated and any concerns to be identified and addressed promptly. Inspection report for children’s home: 2865982 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information about individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about children must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. In particular, there should be a system in place to ensure that all Schedule 2 checks are available to the registered manager for staff who transfer from within the organisation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: 2865982 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kent County Council,

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sessions House, County Road, Maidstone ME14 1XQ

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Inspector

Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2865982 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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