Children's Home run by Kent County Council in Kent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC037282 1 SC037282

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Registered provider: Kent County Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home provides short break care for children with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and associated complex needs. The maximum number of children who can stay at the home at any one time is 7. There were 4 children staying at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since September 2022.

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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: 12 January 2026

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC037282 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/01/2026 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/02/2025 Full Good 06/02/2024 Full Good 02/08/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC037282 3

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Summary of findings

Children benefit from consistent, nurturing care delivered by a committed staff team, enabling them to flourish during short breaks. Leaders have made significant changes since the last inspection with a focus on improving the consistency of care for children. Children enjoy a wide range of enriching activities and are supported to develop independence through tailored opportunities and specialist equipment. Their views are valued and inform practice. Safeguarding is effective, with robust risk management, rare interventions and clear procedures. Staff feel supported, and monitoring systems provide increased challenge, ensuring safe, high-quality care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who access short breaks are cared for by a staff team that has prioritised consistent care since the last inspection. As a result, children are flourishing and benefit from positive, nurturing experiences during their stays away from home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Comprehensive admission meetings take place at the start of each child’s stay, so staff have up-to-date information about children’s needs and a clear understanding of their care and health requirements. Any changes that need to be made to care plans are done so immediately and shared with the rest of the team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with parents to make sure that care, boundaries and expectations are consistent with those experienced at home. Parents speak highly of this approach and feel confident and reassured when leaving their children in the care of staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive an enriching experience when they come to stay. There is a wide range of activities and specialist equipment available to them. Alongside this, there are regular trips to the local beach, shopping or local soft play centres.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to take age-appropriate and development-based steps to learn new skills. This can range from being supported to reduce the need for personal care or helping themselves to eat, to preparing food. Specialist equipment, such as height adjustable cookers and kitchen work tops, ensure that these opportunities are accessible to everyone.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are taken seriously. Staff use creative ways to gather feedback, including children’s meetings and day-to-day conversations, while always using a child’s preferred method of communication. Staff ensure that children know how their views have influenced decisions. This helps children to feel valued and understand that their opinions matter. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037282 4

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

Staff have focused on ensuring that their care is consistent, and this includes how children are kept safe. Risk assessments and behaviour support plans are comprehensive and include detailed understanding of how best to support children in different situations. Children are confident, showing they feel safe with the people who are looking after them.

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

Physical interventions are rare, with only one occurring since the last inspection. This was done to keep the child safe from a situation where he was potentially at risk. Leaders have recognised the importance of giving children the opportunity to communicate how they feel following incidents and have introduced methods to support children to do this, no matter how they choose to communicate.

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

Children do not go missing. A combination of knowledgeable staff and a safe environment ensures that children do not go missing. Staff are well informed of what to do and are clear of their responsibilities should a child go missing.

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

Concerns about staff practice are taken seriously. Leaders immediately report concerns to external safeguarding professionals and always take any actions recommended. Internal investigations are thorough and further show the diligence of leaders to ensure practice is suitable and children are safe. However, on one occasion, a practice issue was not reported to leaders, and this was picked up through the manager’s oversight. Leaders took immediate action and provided guidance to staff. However, staff should feel confident in recognising and reporting care that is not to the expected high standard.

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

Staff have access to specialist equipment to support the complex needs of children. This equipment is regularly checked to ensure it is in full working order and there are clear instructions and training available to all staff to know how best to use it. On one occasion, a piece of equipment was used incorrectly. This was addressed and learning was shared with the wider team to avoid a repeat of this mistake.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively and efficiently by a permanent, suitably experienced and qualified registered manager, who has delivered a robust response to the shortfalls of the previous inspection. Leaders have continued to evaluate their response to the last inspection, and with the use of review and action plans have met all requirements that were set.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have focused on the importance of ensuring consistently high standards of care for children and have used opportunities such as training, team meetings, observation and reviewed guidance to ensure this level of care has been achieved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. This includes child-focused discussion and identifies any practice issues or training needs with appropriate action plans if required. Alongside this, staff receive regular and purposeful training. Since the last inspection, the manager Inspection report for children’s home: SC037282 5 has placed a focus on development and upskilling staff and has used a recent training week to ensure that all staff are trained in key communication methods.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have welcomed the changes made by leaders and the focus on working positively together. Staff value the support from all leaders and know they do not have to wait for supervision as the manager has an open-door policy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been no complaints since the last inspection. However, comments from parents that could be seen as grumbles are taken seriously and treated with the same significance. The manager always ensures that there is good feedback to parents when any concerns are raised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Independent monitoring takes place through monthly visits. There has been a significant increase in scrutiny and challenge through visits that have provided assurance to leaders on the impact of their changes. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037282 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff need the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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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: SC037282 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kent County Council

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspectors

Mark Newington, Social Care inspector Lee Muchmore, Social Care inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC037282 8 regulates 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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