Children's Home run by Lightshine in Hertfordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2820889 1 Registered provider: Lightshine Children’s home Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to 3 children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since June 2026 and has not applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 20 October 2025

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2820889 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/10/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2820889 3

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Summary of findings

Children have not always been supervised or monitored effectively by staff. Plans to manage risks and protect children from harm have not focused on all relevant risk factors and are not fully understood by all staff. The management and supervision of staff are limited. Staff have not always benefited from adequate support or empowerment to respond to behaviours that challenge. As a result, children’s experiences at the home have been varied. At times, children have not always felt secure or settled.

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improvement to be good

Managers and leaders have not consistently supported staff to develop the skills and confidence required to manage challenging behaviours. The procedures and training have not empowered staff to manage situations effectively. When shortfalls in management have been identified, staff have not benefited from additional support and oversight of their practice. Improved management of the home has been limited by the delay in the appointment of a suitably experienced and qualified manager.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not always felt confident in managing children’s behaviour. On occasion, behaviours have escalated over prolonged periods to the extent that the intervention of emergency services has been required. During these times, children have not felt secure and have been disturbed and disrupted by incidents. During the inspection, a child spoke of their unease and concern about the behaviours at the home and the ability of staff to manage and contain these.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are not always up to date. Some risks and the plans to manage them are not clearly understood by staff. This means that staff do not always have a full understanding of the risks for each child or a plan to manage presenting risks. As a result, children have become distressed because risks have not been well managed.

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improvement to be good

The home does not feel welcome or child focused. Shared areas are not personalised, and more could be done to provide a homely feel. Outdoor spaces lack resources to encourage children to spend time outside.

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improvement to be good

Key-work sessions provide children with some emotional support. However, staff fail to explore children’s feelings in depth. Opportunities are missed to follow up on important issues, including significant events, relationships and changes in children’s lives.

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improvement to be good

Children are encouraged to express their views during key-work sessions and house meetings. Both children spoke positively about their daily lives, including time spent with staff and the activities they enjoy. Inspection report for children’s home: 2820889 4 Staff support children’s individual interests and encourage them to take part in hobbies and experiences they enjoy, including activities linked to their education and future goals. Both children are supported to engage in education and work experience opportunities that are suited to their needs and interests. When children experience difficulties in their work experience, staff advocate effectively on their behalf to help them maintain these opportunities.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to take part in different activities and often take part in activities on their own. The staff encourage some shared activities, while recognising that children have different needs and interests.

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improvement to be good

Staff work hard and show affection towards the children. They work well with other professionals, including health and education services, to support children.

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improvement to be good

The records of supervised contact between children and their families are not strong enough. The current recording does not support monitoring, reviewing or sharing of information with professionals effectively as required. Recording does not include all types of communication, and, as a result, there is no full understanding of relevant issues and concerns relating to the child. A new recording system has been introduced, but it is not yet fully compliant with professional guidance. This means that the staff do not always have a clear picture of children’s contact with others.

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improvement to be good

The staff communicate well with external professionals. Concerns about children are shared with social workers, and there is evidence of joint working.

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improvement to be good

After significant incidents, there is little evidence of reflection. Records do not show that staff or children are regularly spoken to. There is also limited evaluation of incidents or any review of the staff responses. Incident reports do not clearly describe how staff help children to calm down. In some cases, staff appear to lack confidence in managing behaviour. Records do not always show what actions were taken, whether advice was sought, or what has been learned to improve future practice.

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improvement to be good

Care plans are not always updated quickly after important events or changes in children’s lives. In some cases, they do not reflect current legal arrangements or new risks. However, there is some evidence that staff are thinking about how to adapt these and support each child’s needs, including using different approaches to help and engage them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

A manager has been appointed and is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders have not consistently met regulatory requirements. The required notifications to Ofsted about changes in management arrangements have not been made in a timely Inspection report for children’s home: 2820889 5 manner. Following changes in leadership arrangements, there has been limited additional support provided to address identified gaps. This has contributed to weaknesses in managerial oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Management oversight is not sufficiently robust. There is limited evidence of any formal evaluation of significant incidents, including reflection on staff practice. While actions relating to children are identified, there is less focus on reviewing the effectiveness of staff responses or identifying learning. There is no clear system for analysing patterns or trends from incidents to inform service development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Safer recruitment practices have not been fully applied and need to be strengthened. The children’s and staff’s records are not consistently organised or maintained. Relevant information is stored across different files, making it difficult to access a clear and cohesive account. Plans to move to an electronic recording system may support improvement in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home does not have a defined practice model to underpin staff’s approach. While a relationship-based approach is described, this is not supported by a consistent framework that guides day-to-day practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have good team relationships and speak positively about the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2820889 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments identify known and potential risks for each child. 7 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. 7 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2820889 7 (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all safeguarding concerns involving the registered person are reported to HMCI.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b)) 7 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the statement of purpose to HMCI and make a copy of it available upon request to— 7 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2820889 8 a person who works at the home;

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Requirement Due date

a child, or a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered;

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Requirement Due date

a parent of a child, or a parent of a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered;

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Requirement Due date

in the case of a qualifying school, the Secretary of State.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e) (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must give notice in writing to HMCI, as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, if any of the following events take place or are expected by the registered person to take place—

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Requirement Due date

a person other than the registered person carries on or manages the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

a person ceases to carry on or manage the home. (Regulation 49 (a)(b)) 17 July 2026

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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: 2820889 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lightshine Children’s home

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Inspectors

Daniel Sancto, Social Care Inspector Sarah Cooper, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2820889 10 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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