Children's Home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2580626 1 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private organisation. It provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2026.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2580626 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/07/2025 Full Good 22/05/2024 Full Good 12/07/2023 Full Good 12/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2580626 3

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Summary of findings

Children are happy and receive a good level of support from staff. Children are encouraged to talk about worries, maintain important relationships and take part in activities that build confidence and independence.

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Summary of findings

Staff understand children’s individual needs and risks well, providing tailored support with education, health and emotional wellbeing. Leaders and staff work effectively with professionals to help children make progress and experience stability. Although minor shortfalls were identified in safeguarding practice and staff training, managers have recognised these issues and are taking action to improve them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from children and consultation with professionals indicate that children are happy living in the home. One child is currently refusing to return to the home as they wish to live with family members and have experienced difficulties in their relationship with another child. These difficulties included bullying behaviours, which staff responded to appropriately and managed effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child spoken with stated that they can talk to staff about any worries or concerns. Children are making progress in line with their individual needs and the support provided by staff. Overall, children benefit from positive relationships with staff and a supportive environment that promotes their safety and wellbeing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged and supported to engage in education and make progress from their starting points. One child is accessing a bespoke education package that combines mainstream education with alternative provision to meet their individual needs. Another child is being supported to explore suitable college courses and alternative educational opportunities following the summer period, ensuring that plans remain focused on their future aspirations and outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s physical and emotional health and support them to maintain healthy lifestyles. All children are registered with universal health services and have access to healthcare professionals when required. One child is receiving specialist support to meet their individual health needs. Staff respond appropriately to incidents of self-harm, seeking medical advice when necessary and working alongside therapeutic services to help children understand, express and manage their emotions safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of enjoyable and meaningful experiences that reflect their interests and preferences. Activities such as horse riding, visits to the beach, holidays, youth groups, baking, gaming, and community outings help children develop confidence, friendships and positive memories. Inspection report for children’s home: 2580626 4 Staff support children to move on from the home in a planned and positive manner. Since the last inspection, one child has moved on to semi-independent accommodation. The child continues to receive support and reassurance from staff, who have maintained contact and provided ongoing encouragement to help them settle into their new environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into the home, detailed assessments are completed. These assessments consider the individual needs and vulnerabilities of the child and evaluate how these may affect the children already living in the home. This helps staff to plan effectively, promote positive group living arrangements and ensure that children’s needs can be met safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain meaningful relationships with people who are important to them, regardless of where they live. Staff promote and facilitate family time and work closely with placing authorities to ensure that children’s emotional, cultural and identity needs continue to be met. This helps children remain connected to their family networks and sustain important relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff create a nurturing and welcoming environment where children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms and express their individuality. Staff actively seek children’s views about the home and involve them in discussions about potential changes, demonstrating that their opinions are listened to and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop practical independence skills and confidence appropriate to their age, abilities and stage of development. Transition planning is thorough and individualised, as evidenced by detailed plans for children moving on from the home and the ongoing support provided following their departure. One child has expressed that they do not feel ready to move on to semi-independent living. This has been clearly reflected in their care plan, and staff continue to support the child to develop independence skills at a pace that meets their needs.

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

Staff have a strong understanding of each child’s individual risks and vulnerabilities, which is reflected in regularly reviewed risk assessments that provide clear guidance for staff. Staff have developed a detailed understanding of one child’s risks, recognising the links between emotional regulation and peer influences. This understanding has informed targeted support and intervention strategies.

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

Staff review and update risk-management plans in response to emerging concerns, including bullying incidents and one child’s refusal to return to the home. This enables Inspection report for children’s home: 2580626 5 staff to adapt their practice and provide support that promotes children’s safety, wellbeing and positive outcomes.

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

Staff respond appropriately when children are at risk of harm and generally follow the home’s safeguarding procedures. On 2 occasions, staff did not notify relevant external professionals promptly when a child was missing. The manager identified these shortfalls, maintained appropriate oversight of the incidents and challenged staff practice to address the delays. Although safeguarding arrangements are generally effective, these incidents demonstrate that staff do not always follow procedures consistently.

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

When children go missing from home, staff respond promptly and support their safe return. However, this has not been consistent. For example, on 2 occasions, staff did not notify the relevant external professionals. A recommendation has been made to address this shortfall.

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

Children have return-home discussions and targeted support to help them understand the risks associated with going missing. Staff use therapeutic parenting approaches and positive relationships to help children recognise and manage risky behaviour.

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

Staff have used physical restraint to hold children. This is used as a last resort, and records demonstrate that staff make extensive efforts to de-escalate situations before intervening, with children supported to reflect on events.

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

Staff work effectively with professionals and therapists to protect children from harm, using targeted work, risk assessments and monitoring arrangements to help children understand risks. Where one child experienced bullying from peers, the manager and staff supported children to understand the impact of this. Due to this work, children feel safe and supported.

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

Children have been consulted when room searches are completed. Where this has not been possible, it has been for reasons of risk and to ensure the safety of everyone in the home and the environment. These are recorded in detail, consistent and used as a last resort.

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

Medication is stored securely and out of reach of children. Administered medication is recorded. There have been no medication errors or concerns. All staff are trained to administer and manage controlled medications.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are ambitious for children and have created a nurturing, therapeutic environment that places children’s needs at the centre of practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have maintained stability following previous management changes and have clear plans to strengthen this through the recruitment of a deputy manager. Recruitment activity is ongoing due to staffing shortages. This has meant that staff from other homes Inspection report for children’s home: 2580626 6 under the same provider are being used. However, there is a need to achieve a stable core staff team within the home. A requirement has been issued to address this shortfall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers understand children’s histories, vulnerabilities and the factors influencing their progress. They regularly review incidents, analyse patterns of behaviour and adapt care planning in response to emerging needs. This enables managers to identify barriers to progress and take timely action to improve outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, reflective support and access to a broad training programme that helps them meet the needs of the children living in the home. Managers actively identify development needs, provide guidance and utilise therapeutic support to strengthen staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training is generally well managed, with leaders maintaining oversight of compliance and commissioning specialist training where children’s needs require additional knowledge or skills. There are some gaps in learning for some staff members who require refresher training

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have an understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. They identify practice shortfalls, investigate concerns, address safeguarding issues and implement development plans to improve staff performance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff maintain good communication systems with social workers, therapists, health professionals and education providers. This ensures that children receive coordinated and holistic support. Feedback from professionals is positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers challenge other agencies when children’s needs are not being met. Examples include escalating concerns regarding delays from local authorities, chasing overdue meeting records, questioning educational arrangements and seeking multi-agency responses when safeguarding concerns arise. Their persistence helps ensure that children’s plans remain active and focused on achieving the best possible outcomes. . Inspection report for children’s home: 2580626 7

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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 has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 1(a)(b) (2)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there are sufficient staffing levels in the home to meet the needs of all children. 30 September 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child, and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. Staff should consistently follow identified guidance as set out in risk assessment planning. Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff are up to date with their training, specifically in relation to topics specific to the child living in the home. (‘Guide to the Inspection report for children’s home: 2580626 8 Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: 2580626 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: First Floor, Harbour House, Portway, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2DW

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Inspector

Paul McKay-Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2580626 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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