Children's Home run by Enlightery Ltd in Buckinghamshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2870489 1 Registered provider: Enlightery Ltd

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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 was registered on 9 February 2026 and provides care for up to 2 children with social and emotional and difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The inspection started on 7 April 2026. An inspector returned on 10 June 2026 to gather additional evidence in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

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Information about this children's home

In April 2026, there was one child living in the home who was not seen during the inspection. This child had moved out of the home by the time an inspector returned in June.

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Information about this children's home

This was the first inspection of the home since it was registered.

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Information about this children's home

There has been no registered manager in post since 11 March 2026.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2870489 2 Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2870489 3

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Summary of findings

Staff did not support the child to make consistent progress. As a result, the child's underlying needs were not well understood. The child was frequently missing from home. Staff did not respond effectively to this and there was poor oversight by managers to develop plans to prevent or reduce further episodes.

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Summary of findings

The registered manager left in March 2026 with very short notice. The oversight and management of staff practice is ineffective and there is an over-reliance on the use of artificial intelligence tools to create records.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff did not support the child to make consistent and sustained progress and their aspirations for the child were low. However, the child did start to attend college and engage with a specialist support worker.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child lived in the home for a proportionately longer period than previous arrangements. One social worker said that this was testament to the 'patience and understanding' of staff, who have sought to build relationships with the child. However, as a result of frequently being missing and the failure of leaders and staff to help them to establish positive routines, the child lacked a sense of stability and belonging in their life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff did not support the child to develop a healthier lifestyle. The child had a nocturnal routine and, after moving to the home, they did not engage in meaningful activities or positive social engagements with staff. Consequently, the child lacked the foundations of a positive and fulfilling lifestyle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff provided care that was reactive to the child's behaviour, such as in response to the child consuming alcohol excessively. Staff and managers did not escalate concerns to ensure that the child received well-informed and coordinated care. Furthermore, the lack of a shared understanding of the child's support needs meant that they did not receive the right support to aid their transition into adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child's wishes and feelings are absent from their records and too often, staff were recording their own opinions or secondary information. On occasion, artificial intelligence tools were used to capture conversations, and this raises concerns about the accuracy and credibility of these records.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There is a lack of permanently employed staff in the home and an over-reliance on the use of agency staff. This has included frequent times when no permanent staff were on duty and there was no oversight from managers. Inspection report for children's home: 2870489 4

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

The child frequently went missing from the home and was consuming alcohol during this time. This diminished the child's engagement with staff and impacted the child’s overall wellbeing. Staff struggled to support the child to settle and were unable to prevent or disrupt this pattern of behaviour. Records do not demonstrate that return home interviews took place consistently, which is a missed opportunity to capture the child's views and determine what support they required following periods away from the home.

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

Counter to the home's policies and guidance, staff rarely searched for the child when they were missing. Instead, staff frequently relied on the police to locate the child. This led to concerns being raised by other professionals about the ability of the staff team to respond effectively. In addition, managers failed to use information from episodes where the child had been missing to understand their motivation or develop any strategies to prevent this.

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

Staff booked taxis for the child to leave the home, with the child frequently not returning in line with agreed plans. This directly facilitated the child to go missing and does not reflect good safeguarding practice or the use of sound professional judgements.

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

The management team did not fully understand the intended purpose of the child's financial benefit payments, nor the reason these had been awarded. The child used their financial resources to travel independently and to fund the purchase of alcohol. Despite the concerns about this arrangement, it was not addressed in a timely way. The management team did not escalate their concerns, and this undermined the good intentions across the child's network to keep them safe.

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

There was regular communication, including weekly safeguarding meetings, between the management team and the child's professional network. However, there was no meaningful change for the child that enabled them to be increasingly safe. Managers were ineffective in taking meaningful action or advocating for the child in order for this to improve. As a result, significant risks continued to escalate with no clear strategies to help the child.

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

Risks and vulnerabilities for the child were not consistently understood. Managers failed to acknowledge specific risks despite information being available to them demonstrating live concerns. This lack of understanding impacted on the responses to safety concerns for the child.

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

Recruitment practices are generally good and follow safer recruitment principles. However, on one occasion where concerns were identified regarding a member of agency staff, managers failed to evidence how this information was considered before allowing the individual to work in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Inspection report for children's home: 2870489 5 The registered manager left their post at short notice in March 2026. Interim management arrangements are in place, though the interim management team did not have a strong understanding of the child's needs or effective oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Following quality assurance checks, the interim management team uncovered weaknesses in management practice. The management team recognises that oversight needs to improve and are implementing some changes because of their findings. It is too soon to see the impact of these plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

While the child was living in the home, staff did not support them to make sufficient progress, and leaders did not ensure that staff were given appropriate training to manage risks for the child. Leaders and managers did not effectively advocate for the child or escalate delays in meeting their support needs to senior local authority managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some staff have relied on artificial intelligence tools to complete records, such as risk assessments, key-work sessions and team meeting minutes. This undermines the credibility of the work being completed and raises concerns about the professional competency of the staff. The interim management team has now provided guidance to try and stop this from happening in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff supervision has not always been consistently delivered, and there have been several occasions when these sessions have been missed. However, since the interim management arrangements have been in place, this has improved and staff are benefiting from more frequent supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers installed a security system for the home that included internal cameras. These cameras could capture live images and managers had no oversight of how or when this was being accessed by a monitoring company, which compromised the privacy of the child. This was done without the knowledge or explicit consent of the placing authority. While this has now been removed, managers failed to identify this as a potential infringement on the child’s privacy. Inspection report for children's home: 2870489 6

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home's child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home's child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation (12)(1) (2)(a)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, when children are missing, staff must search for them in accordance with statutory guidance and the provider's own internal policies. Any relevant risk assessments, policies and procedures that staff use must be accurate and kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, ensure that missing episodes are appropriately reviewed and learning from this is used to help develop strategies to prevent recurrence. 2 August 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— 2 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2870489 7 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the management team should maintain effective oversight of staff practice, including record-keeping and their management of safeguarding concerns. Leaders and managers should ensure that any child who comes to live in the home is supported by staff who have suitable experience to meet their identified care needs and are able to respond effectively to their day-to-day needs.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home.

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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 and review the placement of each child in the home; and 9 April 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2870489 8 that each child's relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that the child's placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child's relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child's needs;

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Requirement Due date

the child is, or has been, persistently absent from the home without permission. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(ii)(c)(e)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children's identified needs are well understood and that the relevant support is provided in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child's placing authority effectively in the child's care, in accordance with the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child's needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority's or a relevant person's performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child's needs are met in accordance with the child's relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that any failure or delay in progressing elements of children's care is suitably escalated. 9 April 2026

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

that staff help each child to— 15 May 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2870489 9 develop the child's interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child's interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child's interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The children's views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children's care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child's views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child's best interests when making decisions about the child's care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child's views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home's care;

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Requirement Due date

is given appropriate advocacy support. (Regulation 7 (c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(b)(iii)) 15 May 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only— 2 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2870489 10 if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must demonstrate how they have considered vetting information when determining the suitability of staff to work with children.

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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: 2870489 11

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 35 Ballards Lane, London N3 1XW

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Inspectors

Ashley Edwards, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Jay Shekleton, Social Care Compliance Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2870489 12 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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