Children's Home run by Heartwood Seabrook Limited in Kent

Inspection report for children's home: 2778288 1 Registered provider: Heartwood Seabrook Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately run and is registered to provide care for up to 5 children who experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, there were 4 children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2024.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 2778288 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/07/2025 Full Good 26/11/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2778288 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children living at the home have positive experiences and have made good progress from their individual starting points. Strong relationships between children and staff are at the centre of children’s care. Even though one child’s participation in life at the home is limited due to missing-from-home incidents, they are improving their relationships with staff, who persistently aim to show their care and support for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child’s social skills have improved and they have made friends with children outside of the home. The other children have developed more positive relationships with staff. Because of this they have attended all health appointments and are participating in necessary medical assessments. One child was unable to leave the home on their own in the past and now they do not need staff support to get to and from school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are enrolled in education. Most are attending regularly and understand the benefits of learning. This is because staff proactively listen to children and address any difficulties that children face in their schools. Staff also support children to plan their future careers. When children cannot attend school, staff ensure that educational activities are built into their day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s wishes and feelings are acted on by staff. Children’s involvement in creating a homely environment is evident. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and reflect their interests and hobbies. When children requested that artwork was displayed around the home rather than their photos, staff acted on their wishes. Children have agreed on a modern design for a garden refurbishment and this work is being arranged.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between children are fractious at times. Although staff are aware of this, they do not take affective action to help all children to live harmoniously. One child said that they wish staff would intervene and break up challenging situations when these arise. Furthermore, the work done with all children in relation to their disagreements is not consistent.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to be safe most of the time, but overall staff support and response to risk situations is inconsistent, due to a shortage of permanent staff and the use of agency staff.

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improvement to be good

All children have personalised plans and staff aim to adhere to these most of the time. One child frequently goes missing from the home. Staff report them to the relevant professionals and agencies. Staff are concerned about children’s welfare and aim to return them to safety. However, they do not always proactively look for the child or try to make contact with them. Furthermore, in one incident, staff did not know for 5 hours Inspection report for children's home: 2778288 4 about the child being missing because staff did not carry out welfare checks on him in line with his plan.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding concerns and allegations are reported to the registered manager without delay. These are shared with the local authority designated officer (LADO) and other relevant professionals. Staff working arrangements are also adjusted to ensure children’s safety. Despite otherwise good practice, allegations were not identified in one complaint from a child for a period of weeks. This led to significant delay in informing the LADO and Ofsted.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children to understand their own risks and vulnerabilities. For example, staff carry out meaningful work with children to enhance their understanding of appropriate relationships and the risks of social media and smoking.

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improvement to be good

There has been one medication error which was investigated and followed up appropriately by the registered manager. Staff have been supported to learn from their mistakes and the registered manager has ensured that appropriate tools are implemented to prevent them occurring again. However, reflection and learning are not consistently put in place when safeguarding investigations are concluded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, there have been several changes to the senior leadership team. Currently there is no registered responsible individual but there is a plan for a previous responsible individual to return. Further changes at deputy manager level have led to the registered manager being stretched and the home not having consistent oversight from senior leaders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has strong relationships with children and is dedicated to ensuring children’s welfare and progress. They invest time in training staff and role model good practice in relation to how children’s needs are best met. The home has too few staff, and this leads to a need to use agency staff. Staff speak positively about the registered manager and praise their inclusive approach. However, they also say that working with agency staff means that the permanent staff are working harder and fulfil other roles that they are not contracted for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is thorough in their approach in helping the staff to develop and progress. They ensure that supervisions and appraisals are completed regularly. Staff supervisions are in depth, keeping children at the centre and helping staff to reflect on practice. The registered manager uses safeguarding scenarios to assess learning needs for staff. Furthermore, they arrange training for staff that is in line with children’s needs. This allows staff to develop a better understanding of how to care for children. Inspection report for children's home: 2778288 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iv)(v)) 6 July 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 the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e)(f)) 6 July 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2778288 6 In particular, the registered manager must ensure that reflective practice is implemented when outcomes of safeguarding investigations are concluded.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii)(iv)(v)(ix)(xi)(xii)(xiii)) 6 July 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2778288 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: 2778288 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Heartwood Seabrook Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 416 Green Lane, Ilford, Essex IG3 9JX

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Inspector

Sonata Brisley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2778288 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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