Children's Home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Leeds

Inspection report for children's home: 2530059 1 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services 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 provider. It offers care for up to 2 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2024.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living in the home. Both children were spoken with during the inspection.

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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 outstanding

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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: 2530059 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/04/2025 Full Good 13/08/2024 Full Outstanding 13/11/2023 Full Good 28/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2530059 3

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Summary of findings

Children are welcomed in the home in a sensitive way and staff take time to build nurturing relationships with the children. As a result, children feel valued and develop a sense of belonging.

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Summary of findings

Children's health, emotional and developmental needs are well understood by staff.

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Summary of findings

Children learn valuable skills that help them to become more independent and prepare them for the future.

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Summary of findings

Children feel safe living in this home. Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities and follow the procedures, which reduce the risks for the children.

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Summary of findings

There is effective multi-agency work with partners to ensure that children are better protected from harm.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers are ambitious for the children.

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Summary of findings

Monitoring undertaken by the manager is exceptional. All incident reports and focused work with children are thoroughly reviewed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop trusting and positive relationships and enjoy living in the home. This is because staff take time to build nurturing relationships with children and get to know them well. As a result, children feel valued and develop a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed in the home in a sensitive way. These moves are well planned and occur at the pace of the child. Children are supported to personalise their bedrooms. When children leave the home, this is planned to ensure that they have positive endings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are generally healthy. Staff ensure that children access universal health services and attend routine appointments. Staff work closely with the organisation's therapist and ensure that the children's emotional wellbeing is supported. Regular meetings take place between the staff and the therapist to help deepen the staff's understanding of children's trauma. These meetings are open to other professionals supporting the children. This means that professionals develop a shared understanding of children's needs and how these are being supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children's education. When issues arise at school, staff work closely with teachers to help children overcome the challenges and barriers to their learning. This support is essential to help children develop aspirations for their future. Inspection report for children's home: 2530059 4 Staff support children to participate in a range of activities to help them explore their talents and interests. These activities allow children to have age-appropriate experiences and develop their self-esteem. Children learn valuable skills to help them become more independent. Staff encourage them to cook, clean and open bank accounts. These essential skills help children to develop their independent living skills and prepare them for adulthood.

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

Children are cared for by staff who understand their individual needs and associated risks. Risk assessments are detailed and comprehensive, providing staff with clear guidance to effectively manage any risks. As a result, staff are confident in their ability to safeguard children and protect them from harm.

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

Staff provide the children with a clear message that their safety and wellbeing are important. When children leave the home without permission, the staff follow the missing-from-home procedure consistently and actively try to encourage children's safe return. They work closely with local police, social workers and families to quickly locate children. In addition, staff have meaningful discussions with children to help them to understand how their actions may be harmful to themselves or others. This approach helps to promote children's safety.

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

Staff only use physical restraint as a last resort to prevent children from harming themselves or others. All incidents are thoroughly recorded, with the manager maintaining clear oversight of these records. Reflective discussions are held following these incidents, involving both the children and staff to support learning and ongoing improvement. Positive behaviour is encouraged through effective praise and rewards. The trusting relationships that staff build with children act as key protective factors. As a result of this relationship-based approach, there have been no physical interventions in recent months.

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

Safer recruitment and employment practices mean that the suitability of staff to work with children is thoroughly checked. This process ensures children's safety and gives assurances that only suitable people are supporting children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers have a clear vision for the service. They are ambitious and deeply committed to children and champion relational practice. Leaders and managers create a safe environment for staff to reflect on their practice. As a result, a culture of high aspiration is being embedded in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The managers set consistently high expectations for both themselves and staff. They provide strong and effective leadership, offering appropriate support while also Inspection report for children's home: 2530059 5 confidently challenging practice to ensure that high standards are consistently maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff feel well supported and describe the manager as both knowledgeable and approachable. Arrangements for supervision are well established, with staff receiving regular, reflective supervision in both individual and group sessions. This supports their ongoing professional development. Staff also benefit from relevant training opportunities and regular team meetings, which are further strengthened by input from the organisation's clinical team. As a result, staff have the appropriate knowledge and skills to deliver good-quality care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Monitoring undertaken by the manager is exceptional. All incident reports and focused work with children are thoroughly reviewed. Various aspects of the quality of care are carefully evaluated, ensuring that practice remains responsive to children's needs and alternative approaches for staff are identified when appropriate. This ongoing review ensures that children are supported by a team who are continually encouraged to develop and strengthen their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Overall, children's records are well organised, up to date and detailed. However, on occasion, the language used can be stigmatising towards children. This detracts from the child-centred ethos that the manager works hard to promote. Inspection report for children's home: 2530059 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that 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 on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2530059 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: First Floor, Harbour House, Portway, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2DW

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Inspector

Evelyn Chafota, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2530059 8 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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