Children's Home run by Kisimul Group Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2851720 1 Registered provider: Kisimul Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to 2 children with special educational needs.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living at the home. The inspector spent time with both children and took their views into account as part of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager recently left her role but is yet to inform Ofsted.

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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: 9 December 2025

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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: 2851720 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/12/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2851720 3

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Summary of findings

The children have made notable progress since the last inspection. Children are supported by staff who care about them and want them to achieve good outcomes. Internal and external professionals work together to regularly review the needs of each child, ensuring support is tailored to meet these needs. Staff feel supported in their role. There are some aspects of the manager’s oversight that need to improve to ensure that children’s records remain up to date and staff receive the guidance and support they need to carry out their role.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are 2 children living in the home, and they have bespoke placements to reflect their specific needs. The home has 2 distinct living areas, where each child lives, and these have been furnished and decorated to reflect their needs and wishes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Through the support and encouragement of dedicated staff, children have made progress in all areas of their life. For example, one child expressed a wish to go on a train. Even though the child had never done this before, staff worked hard to enable the child to experience this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of each child’s needs and of the approaches used to support them. They speak about the children with warmth and fondness. Staff can clearly identify the progress that each child has made over the recent months and are proud of their achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Neither child receives their education within a school setting. For this reason, individual education plans have been developed, and there is a weekly timetable in place. As part of the timetable, children receive specialist therapeutic input based in their home. The lessons have been tailored to reflect the children’s ongoing targets, enabling them to build on their skills and knowledge. Children’s progress is subject to ongoing reviews, with the team around each child working together alongside parents to discuss updates and to plan next steps.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Over the last few months, off-site activities had been slowly reducing for one child. When this was identified, leaders and managers worked with staff to rectify this issue. Both children select various activities for the week ahead and staff ensure that the right resources are in place, supporting children to participate in different activities both within the home and the community. Recent analysis of the activities completed showed the preferred activities of both children, and identified those that they did not engage in. This is a valuable source of information to support the staff in their role and the planning of future activities. Inspection report for children’s home: 2851720 4 Staff are keen to develop the children’s skills and knowledge about day-to-day living both at home and within the community. Staff use planned and unplanned individualised sessions to support the children to develop and enhance their daily living

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

skills. For example, this can mean going to the shop and buying the ingredients to make sausage rolls or going out for dinner and choosing where they would like to go. Leaders and managers are of the view that this area of work can be improved to enable children to attain all their targets. They have developed training that is soon to be delivered to staff to enhance the focused work that they do with the children.

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

The children have detailed care plans that outline all their known risks. Staff are provided with guidance on how they need to respond when an identified risk is noted. If the child exhibits an unknown risk, this is explored by those working with the child and the care plan is updated to reflect how staff should respond, moving forward.

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

Both children exhibit behaviours that can escalate. At times, physical interventions have been used to protect the child and staff. These have been proportionate, appropriate and used as a last resort. When the child involved is spoken with after the incident, staff do not always fully consider how the child is feeling. Leaders and managers have recognised that the current debrief with children does not fully support the needs of the children. Therefore, resources have been developed and shared with staff to enhance this process so responses from children can be fully explored.

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

No child has gone missing from the home. There have been 2 occasions where a child managed to get out of a minibus and run away from staff while they were out in the community. The child remained in sight of staff, who were quick to respond; they caught up with the child and walked with them back to the minibus. Staff have been reflective around these incidents, and as a result, managers have implemented a check list whereby staff undertake various checks prior to leaving for an activity. This ensures that risks are mitigated as much as possible.

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

There have been 3 medication errors since the last inspection. Health advice has always been sought in a timely manner and staff followed the health advice given. Parents and social workers were updated. Staff had a debrief that allowed them to explore how the incident occurred and what learning could be determined from this. The manager shared the learning with the staff team, highlighting any updates to processes and key points to be aware of when administering medication, with a focus on reducing errors overall.

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

The children have trusted relationships with some staff. This is evidenced by the children favouring staff whom they see on a regular basis, and these tend to be permanent staff. The children struggle to accept new or agency members of staff, and social stories are shared with them prior to introducing new people. When shift planning is undertaken, the manager ensures that most staff are core staff members, as it is Inspection report for children’s home: 2851720 5 recognised that as the children feel safer with them it is less likely that they will become dysregulated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the manager has not been a consistent presence in the home. During these periods, other managers within the organisation have supported the home and staff, but there has been an impact on the oversight and direction that a manager brings to this role, overall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has recently decided to leave her role, and another manager has been appointed. The new manager has not yet applied to Ofsted to become the registered manager. A leader has been working closely with the home. Over time, they have identified areas where some improvements could be made for the benefit of staff and children. Senior leaders and managers have devised a plan showing how they are going to respond to the issues identified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place every month and a standard agenda is followed. Staff are provided with an update regarding the children, and new risks are also highlighted. More recently, the manager has started to share lessons learned from incidents with staff. It has raised their awareness about issues impacting on the home and about the action that is planned. The minutes of these meetings do not contain the attendees, and this would be a useful addition.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Three members of staff have not received supervision in line with the organisation’s statement of purpose, meaning that they have not had supervision for over 4 months. The lack of supervision means that staff have had limited opportunities for professional development, to discuss concerns or to maintain safe and effective practice. Supervisions are now planned with all staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff follow the organisation’s induction. They spend time working in the home that they have been recruited for and undertake several shadow shifts. Staff are being provided with management support throughout their induction process.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak proudly of working in the home. They feel supported by their managers and are already noticing the effects of the newly appointed manager being in the home, saying that they feel happier coming to work. Parents and professionals feel that staff are responsive to the children’s needs and have confidence in the support being provided to them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2851720 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

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 the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that all records are detailed and up to date and capture all known information. In addition, the manager must ensure that they have appropriate monitoring and review systems embedded across all work completed in the home. 14 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the child; 14 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2851720 7 details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that all physical interventions are recorded on the correct forms. In addition, if a specific debrief is needed for an individual, the manager must ensure that this is completed.

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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: 2851720 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kisimul Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Old Vicarage, 61 High Street, Swinderby, Lincolnshire LN6 9LU

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Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2851720 9 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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