Children's Home run by Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd in Kent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC416915 1 SC416915

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Registered provider: Acorn Homes (UK) 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

This home is owned and managed by a private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

It offers care for up to 7 children who experience social and emotional difficulties or may have experienced trauma that has left them vulnerable.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 2014. At the time of this inspection, 5 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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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: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC416915 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/07/2025 Full Outstanding 05/11/2024 Full Good 27/02/2024 Full Outstanding 07/03/2023 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC416915 3

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Summary of findings

Children flourish because they receive exceptionally nurturing, highly effective care from a dedicated and ambitious staff team, whose members know them exceptionally well. Their views, wishes and feelings consistently underpin practice, enabling children to become confident, resilient and make significant progress from their individual starting points.

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Summary of findings

Children feel demonstrably happy, safe and highly valued through trusting relationships with staff that promote emotional security and reduce risk.

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Summary of findings

Creative leadership, comprehensive safeguarding practice and an unwavering commitment to achieving the very best outcomes ensure that children thrive in a stable, loving home where they are empowered to realise their full potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

One child described living at the home as ‘life changing’, and said staff have stuck by them. This child also said that without staff, they would not be the person they are today.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

One child has been able to be reunified home with their parent following many years of support and intervention by staff. This child’s parent has attributed the progress their child has made and the reparation of the relationship to the support offered by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff know the children in the home extremely well. They are highly attuned to their needs and understand their behaviours, being able to interpret even subtle changes that children display, enabling them to respond effectively. As a result, children feel emotionally secure, develop a strong sense of belonging and are increasingly confident to share their worries, seek support and accept guidance from staff they trust.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children who previously struggled to engage with education now attend school full time. Staff work effectively with education professionals and are tenacious advocates for children, ensuring that barriers to learning are addressed promptly. When one child was in hospital for an extended period, staff independently sought a specialist and remote provision for this child to ensure that they were able to maintain academic engagement and progress, thus enabling the child to also maintain some normalcy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s needs, wishes and feelings are at the forefront of staff practice. Children’s views underpin decisions that are made in the home. This includes children’s views around activities and holidays. The children benefit from going on purposeful and enriching activities, including BMX, drama and choir clubs. This empowers children, strengthens their confidence and promotes a genuine sense of belonging and ownership in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC416915 4 Family members report that they are very happy with the care provided to their children. Families feel that they are included in their children’s lives and that they are impressed with the quality of care provided by staff. They describe the staff as approachable, compassionate and highly responsive, recognising that children’s wishes and feelings consistently underpin the care they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Professional feedback is consistently strong. Professionals involved with children attest to knowing that their children are loved and cared for, and they feel that staff go the extra mile to ensure that children’s needs are met. For one child who has developed complex needs, professionals’ comment that staff have taken great care of the child with the diligence and precision required to meet that child’s needs. One professional said that they wished other homes practised in the same way. All professionals appreciate the weekly updates they receive from the home and refer to these as ‘outstanding reports’, offering real insight and reassurances into the lived experience of children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children who have experienced multiple moves before coming to live at the home are now settled, thriving and no longer feel the need to move to a different home. Children invest in the staff here, just as the staff invest in them. They have developed secure, trusting relationships with staff because they know they are cared for, listened to and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

One child who moved into the home who initially did not want to be there has now been supported to develop a strong sense of belonging, to the point where this child has expressed to their social workers a desire to remain within the home. This child has been supported and empowered to advocate for themselves within the professional network, ensuring that their wishes and feelings are heard and considered. Consequently, the child feels secure, invested in the home and optimistic about their future, representing exceptional progress from their starting point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children who were not previously able to say no and who were eager to please others even at their own detriment have been supported to learn to express their views. These children now feel confident and safe enough to be able to express themselves and have developed their own voice. As a result, children are increasingly able to advocate for themselves, make informed choices and keep themselves safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

One child who was not consistently verbal has made exceptional progress in developing their communication skills. Through patient, nurturing and individualised support from staff, the child is now able to articulate themselves well and they communicate well both with the adults in the home and other children. As a result, the child has developed meaningful relationships, increased self-confidence and is better able to participate in daily life and decisions that affect them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff have high aspirations for children and are teaching children to have similarly high ambitions for themselves. Children are learning to develop high standards expectations of themselves, and similarly, of others around them. This is contributing to children Inspection report for children’s home: SC416915 5 developing an increased sense of self-worth and self-esteem, thus improving their life chances significantly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s health needs are met to an exceptional standard. The commitment that staff have for children, ensuring that all their health needs are met, is testament to the love that staff have for the children. No task is too great when it comes to meeting children’s health needs and staff view their actions as simply what any good parent would do.

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

Staff use creative and innovative ways to involve children in developing their behaviour support plans with staff. They ensure that plans are meaningful, age appropriate and reflect children’s individual views, wishes and experience. As a result, children take ownership of their plans and understand the reasons behind agreed strategies and increasingly taking responsibility for managing their own behaviour. This promotes children’s ability to make safer choices meaning that incidents reduced.

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

Staff have a deep understanding of each of the child’s individual triggers, preferred coping strategies and communication needs, enabling them to provide personalised support that reflects the children’s wishes and promotes positive outcomes. This results in the children experiencing consistent and trusting relationships with staff, contributing to a strong sense of belonging.

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

Children are supported to understand and manage risks associated with online safety through purposeful, creative and highly individualised planning. Staff work alongside children to explore online risks in a way that is relevant to their age, understanding and lived experience. As a result, children develop the knowledge, confidence and resilience to recognise potential risks, make safer decisions online and seek support from trusted staff when they need it.

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

The home adopts a highly effective restorative and relationship-based approach to behaviour support. They use positive relationships to help children reflect on their experiences, understand the reasons behind the behaviour. Natural consequences are used thoughtfully and proportionality, ensuring they are relevant to the child’s actions and focused on learning rather than punishment. As a result, children develop a greater understanding of how their behaviours affects themselves and others, taking increasing responsibility for their actions.

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

When there is conflict between children in the home there is appropriate intervention from staff. Children are supported to understand their actions and the impact on others. As a result, children learn from these incidents and develop respect and an understanding of one another. Boundaries are clear and consistent for the children, and this contributes to them feeling safe and secure.

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

Safeguarding arrangements are exceptionally well embedded withing the home’s day-to- day practice and culture. Although safeguarding incidents in this home are now rare, staff consistently demonstrate confidence, competence and professional curiosity in Inspection report for children’s home: SC416915 6 recognising, responding to and managing potential risks. Staff provide children with clear, consistent boundaries and age-appropriate expectations, delivered through trusting and nurturing relationships. Consequently, children demonstrate increased emotional regulation, make safer decisions and require fewer interventions from staff.

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

Children feel demonstrably happy, safe and secure living in the home. They have developed deep, trusting relationship with staff who consistently make them feel seen, listened to and understood. As a result, children willingly seek support when they are worried, accept guidance from staff they trust and increasingly able to regulate their emotions.

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

When children move into the home, meticulous planning is implemented to ensure that staff understand any risks both towards the children moving in and existing children. Careful consideration is given to children’s planning, ensuring that risks are minimised and that children are kept increasingly safe both inside the home and in the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is highly skilled and engages in all aspects of the running of the home. The registered manager demonstrates a palpable commitment to every child in the home and to her staff team. The registered manager contributes to every shift and continues to be hands on with children, even sleeping on shifts within the home. This is to ensure that they continue to have oversight of the daily experiences of children within the home. The registered manager is a tenacious advocate for children and goes to great lengths to ensure that children receive the highest standard of care, both from her own staff team and from those in the wider network.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Children seek out the registered manager for care and support, and they demonstrate a high level of care and affection toward one another. Staff describe the registered manager as approachable, present and committed. The registered manager’s attitude and commitment to children is infectious and her attitude is reflected by the whole staff team and permeates through to the children. As a result, children benefit from the highest level of care and support, which the registered manager sees as the expected level of good parenting which all children deserve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is exceptionally well supported by a highly skilled deputy manager, who shares the same unwavering commitment to improving children’s lives. Together, they lead by example, demonstrating genuine warmth, compassion and investment in each child. Their visible presence, strong leadership and nurturing ethos have created a culture where children experience consistency, stability and enduring relationships. Consequently, children feel secure, valued and loved, enabling them to thrive and make sustained progress all areas of their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has established and retained a small, highly skilled and committed staff team, whose members share an unwavering ambition to improve the lives of children. Staff demonstrate genuine warmth, compassion and dedication to their day-to-day practice, consistently placing children’s needs at the centre of everything they Inspection report for children’s home: SC416915 7 do. Staff morale is exceptionally high, creating a positive and supportive culture where colleagues willingly go the extra mile to achieve the best outcomes for children. As a result, children benefit from consistent, nurturing relationships and emotional security.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

For one child, during periods of ill-health, staff and leaders demonstrated levels of care and commitment that went beyond what is expected. Staff and leaders feel that the care they delivered is no more than what any good parent would do for their own child. During a period of extremely ill-health, this child spent several months in hospital. During this time, staff spent 5 days at a time with the child 24 hours a day in a hospital room. This meant that staff were away from their own families. Staff did this without any issue, and this speaks to the level of care, commitment and love that staff have for the children they care for. Throughout this challenging period, leaders and staff ensured that the care for the other children was uncompromised. Careful planning and thought ensured that children’s daily routines remained unaffected.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are supported with meaningful supervision which takes place at regular intervals. Training for staff is sought when it is needed and is bespoke to the care of the children’s presenting needs. This gives staff the skills, knowledge and confidence to be able to provide care of the highest standard to children, even during times where complex health needs arise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Professional relationships with those involved with children’s lives are consistently strong. Social workers report high levels of communication and meaningful updates, providing them with reassurance that children are well cared for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers value equality and diversity and promote children’s individual needs with purpose. For one child, this means that staff are supporting them to go abroad to visit their parents’ home country. For other children, their sense of identity goes beyond what is written about them or what their background dictates. This means that staff consider children’s views and feelings about how they see themselves and how they wish for others to see them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers are tenacious advocates for children they care for. They go above and beyond to ensure that children’s voices are heard and that their needs are well represented. For one child, leaders advocated with health professionals when they felt a child was incorrectly diagnosed. As a result, this diagnosis was overturned and this child is now not labelled or misdiagnosed, significantly improving their life chances and ensuring that their needs are not unnecessarily pathologized. Inspection report for children’s home: SC416915 8

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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: SC416915 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 73 And 74 Maple Leaf Business Park, Manston, Ramsgate CT12 5GD

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Inspector

Ken Bedwell, Social Care Inspector Alexia Hosker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC416915 10 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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