Children's Home run by Illuminate Care Group Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2842571 1 Registered provider: Illuminate Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned home that provides care for up to 4 children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the first inspection since the home’s registration in December 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children are living at the home and were spoken with as part of 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 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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2842571 2

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Summary of findings

Since registration, 3 children have moved into the home. The children are cared for by staff who understand the importance of building strong and nurturing relationships. Staff and managers have developed good relationships with children’s families and other professionals to support children’s needs and help them to progress and achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated to a high standard, and the children and staff take pride in the appearance of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff strongly advocate for children and speak about them with pride and affection. The importance of relationships with children’s families is recognised, and children are supported to spend time with people who are important to them. Two parents spoken to during the inspection commented on the care afforded to their children and the progress they have made since living in the home. One parent said her child ‘has a voice now’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place high value on the importance of learning; children are supported to attend and achieve in education. One child is attending a college that is a long distance to travel to. This child has been supported to increase their face-to-face attendance and is doing well. For other children, staff and managers work closely with other agencies to ensure they have school places that are suitable for them, and they support them in taking part in educational activities alongside formal education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs, including emotional health, are understood and promoted. Staff are proactive in ensuring any assessments for children are progressed to enable staff to understand and meet their needs better and to help the child understand any implications. Staff have taken part in specialist training to increase their understanding of one child’s health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s wishes and feelings are evident throughout their care planning. Managers ensure that staff understand the importance of sensitively writing all records to the child, which conveys the care and attention and sense of pride staff have in children and their achievements.

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

Children have individualised care plans and safety plans that are updated regularly, including after any incidents. Children’s voices are evident in all areas of their care planning, which reflects how children want to be supported by staff. Staff understand Inspection report for children’s home: 2842571 3 individual children’s needs and vulnerabilities and are made aware when any changes are made to children’s plans.

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

Staff have strong relationships with children, which helps staff to recognise if children might need some additional support. This enables staff to intervene sooner and have supportive conversations with children about things that are important to them.

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

There have been few incidents, and staff are proactive in responding to incidents. The manager has oversight of all records, ensures that children and staff are supported after any incidents and takes action to ensure any reflection and lessons learned are embedded. For one child who returned late to the home, although staff took action to support the child and monitor them, medical advice was not sought when the child was under the influence of alcohol.

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

Staff communicate effectively with safeguarding agencies and family members, which helps keep children safer. Staff go and look for children if they are missing from home or late home, and there are plans in place, including actions for staff to take if children are missing. The recordings of these incidents could, however, be improved.

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

The door to the living room has been locked at times. There was no evidenced rationale for this other than managing some behaviours that were not proportionate to restricting areas of the home for children. The manager reflected on this during the inspection and has plans to review this with all staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak highly of the support they receive from the manager, the deputy manager and senior leaders. Staff describe strong team morale and the ‘family’ feel of the home. Staff and managers have shared aspirations for the children that they care for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular and reflective one-to-one supervision with managers and participate in team meetings. Staff are up to date with training, and managers have ensured staff receive specialist training in addition to their mandatory training, which reflects the needs of the children they care for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands and follows safer recruitment and vetting procedures for new staff. There is an induction and training programme for new staff. Children are cared for by a permanent and consistent staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals and family members speak highly of the manager and leadership team. All spoken to commented on the team’s effective communication and the progress children have made since living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager gathers feedback from a range of stakeholders about the quality of care provided for children. The strengthening of this to inform the quality of care review Inspection report for children’s home: 2842571 4 report, along with addressing the actions raised in this report, is an area for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager was reflective on the areas for development, outlined in the 2 requirements and the recommendation, and made changes during the inspection to address these. Inspection report for children’s home: 2842571 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that known risks associated with children, such as missing from home, alcohol, and medication, are clearly recorded in risk assessments with clear actions of the steps staff should take. 12 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child); 12 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2842571 6 serious damage to the property of any person (including the child); or

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Requirement Due date

a child who is accommodated in a secure children’s home from absconding from the home.

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to restrictive practices such as locking doors and restricting children’s access to areas of the home.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘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: 2842571 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Illuminate Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8 Castlegate, Tickhill, Doncaster DN11 9QU

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Inspector

Caroline Hose, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2842571 8 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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