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

Inspection report for children's home: SC480704 1 SC480704 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned by a private provider. It provides care for up to 5 children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, there were 5 children being cared for at the home. The inspector spoke to all children during the inspection. Two children have moved out since the last inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children's home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children's home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC480704 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/06/2025 Full Good 08/07/2024 Full Good 10/05/2023 Full Good 18/05/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC480704 3

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Summary of findings

Five children live at the home and report that they feel increasingly safe and happy. They receive highly effective care, enjoy a wide range of positive experiences and are making significant progress in all areas of their lives. Children have developed trusting and respectful relationships with staff, which has resulted in their risks considerably reducing over time. An experienced and suitably qualified manager leads the home and provides aspirational leadership.

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Summary of findings

However, there are some minor areas for further development. Children's voices are not yet consistently captured in records of direct work with staff. In addition, reports completed by the independent person do not always provide sufficient clarity or consistently include feedback from key stakeholders to ensure effective regulatory oversight.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are happy and settled and thrive in the home, which provides a warm nurturing environment with a strong family ethos that children deeply value. The highly positive and nurturing relationships they share with staff supports them to make consistently excellent and sustained progress in all areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children confidently share their views, trusting that staff will listen and respond. Staff prioritise meaningful, timely conversations, both planned and following significant events, ensuring that children feel heard and understood. All children have access to advocacy and are supported to make informed decisions about their futures. Their voices are central to planning, and, in some cases, permanence plans have appropriately changed to reflect their wishes and feelings and the positive relationships and experiences they have at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All children have made significant and sustained progress in their education. Some have exceeded expectations by successfully completing their GCSEs. Staff support children to identify suitable college courses and work with them to develop the skills needed to attend independently. Children benefit from structured routines, which contribute to consistently high attendance and positive engagement in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children participate in a wide range of activities that reflect their individual interests, while being encouraged by staff to try new experiences. For some children, this has included having the opportunity to enjoy their first holiday abroad. Staff actively promote independence, supporting children to build confidence and develop their self-esteem. They also assist children in accessing work experience and securing their first employment. As a result, children are increasingly prepared for adulthood. For example, Inspection report for children's home: SC480704 4 one child has begun driving lessons, reflecting their growing independence and ambition for the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children enjoy spending increasingly positive and meaningful time with the people who are important to them. Staff support children to strengthen and sustain relationships with family and friends, while offering appropriate and effective challenge when contact arrangements do not fully meet children's needs. When children spend time with their families, staff maintain regular communication, and families are warmly welcomed into the home and encouraged to join in activities, which they often do.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children's health needs are met to a consistently high standard. Staff support them to adopt healthier lifestyles and improve their personal hygiene. Some children are increasingly independent in managing their health, including making their own routine health appointments and accessing specialist services when required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are supported to move into the home through highly effective and carefully considered planning. Staff make excellent use of all available information to ensure that they are prepared to meet each child's individual needs. Risks, including the impact on other children already living at the home, are carefully considered and clearly recorded. When children move out of the home, these decisions are made with their best interests at the forefront. Staff ensure that transitions are carefully considered and sensitively managed. They maintain positive and meaningful relationships with children after they leave, promoting a continued sense of connection, stability and support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home environment is warm, welcoming and personalised, reflecting each child's individuality. Shared areas offer ample space for children to relax and engage in activities of their choice. Children benefit from access to an extensive gym and leisure area within a well-equipped outbuilding, where they often spend time with friends. They take pride in the photos displayed around the home, which capture their shared activities and holidays.

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

All children say that they feel safe living in the home and know that staff care about them. Their positive, trusting relationships with staff have considerably reduced their risks over time.

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

Children's risk management plans are dynamic, regularly reviewed and clearly understood by all staff who contribute to them. They reflect a comprehensive understanding of each child's known vulnerabilities and provide clear actions for staff to take to ensure that they care for the children safely and appropriately.

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

Staff consistently adopt a positive, therapeutic approach to care. Children's achievements and positive behaviours are recognised and celebrated through praise and rewards, with incentives such as additional pocket money, takeaways, meals out and special activities used effectively to motivate and reinforce progress. This has contributed to improved Inspection report for children's home: SC480704 5 educational outcomes for some children. When consequences are required, these are reasonable, proportionate and restorative, such as supervised spending or repairing damage. Children understand their purpose, and this approach has led to a reduction in one child's substance misuse.

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

Children are well supported to understand how to keep themselves safe, including completing safety courses tailored to their known risks, such as substance misuse and online safety. When children are reluctant to share information about their safety in the community, their views are not consistently recorded. However, all children report that they feel able to share their views with staff.

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

When children go missing from home, staff take effective action to locate them and ensure their safe return. Managers respond immediately, including out of hours, to actively support search efforts. When children return, staff demonstrate a high level of professional curiosity, engaging children in purposeful conversations to understand the triggers and underlying factors. The manager has oversight of all missing-from-home reports and is reflective about staff practice.

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

Staff take appropriate action when children are at risk of harm from exploitation. They are well trained in child criminal exploitation and county lines and work effectively with external professionals, including drug and alcohol services, the missing-from-home team and the police. There is strong partnership working with the complex safeguarding team, who commend staff for their valuable contributions to intelligence-sharing to protect vulnerable children in the local area.

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

When children raise concerns about harm, these are taken seriously and reported promptly to the appropriate agencies. Investigations are thorough, well-coordinated and child focused. The home has effective links with local safeguarding partners, ensuring that children's welfare remains a priority. Children are kept informed of outcomes, and restorative work is undertaken where appropriate.

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

Staff demonstrate consistent and effective incident management. They implement a range of appropriate strategies, including room searches, welfare checks, key-work sessions and communication with relevant professionals, ensuring that children's safety and wellbeing remain a priority. Children are informed and involved in decisions wherever possible. When there are concerns relating to substance misuse or accidental injury, staff ensure that prompt medical attention is sought.

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

Physical intervention is only used as a last resort when necessary to protect children and others from harm. Records of physical intervention are detailed, and the manager provides robust oversight, reviewing all incidents to evaluate their effectiveness. The views of staff and children are sought and understood, identifying opportunities to improve practice. Inspection report for children's home: SC480704 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There is an experienced and suitably qualified manager in post who provides aspirational and highly effective leadership. He knows the children well and is proud of their achievements and progress. The manager is a strong advocate for children, which has led to improved outcomes for them, including more secure and well-informed long-term plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has highly effective systems in place to monitor and oversee the home, using these to identify strengths, address shortfalls and drive improvement. Development plans are clear, measurable and regularly reviewed, with a strong focus on consultation to monitor the quality of care provided. However, the manager has not consistently challenged the independent person when reports lack clarity or sufficient stakeholder feedback to ensure effective regulatory oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Children's meetings and staff meetings are clearly connected. They are held regularly and have good attendance. Actions agreed within meetings are consistently linked to focused work with children and have contributed to children's progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home benefits from a stable and consistent staff team that know the children exceptionally well. Staff are suitably trained and qualified, enabling them to meet children's needs with confidence. In addition, staff access specialist training tailored to the children's individual needs, such as exploitation, gang-related violence, autism and substance misuse. This ensures that staff are highly skilled and equipped to respond to complex behaviours and vulnerabilities, contributing to improved safety, wellbeing and outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager provides staff with high-quality, regular supervision and appraisal. Children's experiences and feedback are central to these processes. Staff value these opportunities, recognising their importance in promoting their development and wellbeing. This strong culture of support and reflection contributes to a motivated and skilled workforce, which in turn enhances the quality of care provided to children. Inspection report for children's home: SC480704 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of direct work with children reflect their voice so that their views and wishes are clearly evidenced. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 58, paragraph 11.19)  The registered person should make best use of information from internal and external monitoring, such as ensuring that the independent person reports are clear and include feedback from all stakeholders. Leaders and managers should provide appropriate challenge where the quality of the report does not support effective regulatory oversight. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: SC480704 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd

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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

Samantha Cooper, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC480704 9 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 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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Inspector

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