Children's Home run by Mastery Services' Invictus Children's Home in Lewisham

Inspection report for children's home: 2841607 1 Registered provider: Mastery Services' Invictus Children's Home

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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 registered with Ofsted in May 2025 and is privately owned. It provides care for up to 2 children with learning disabilities and/or children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

One child moved out of the home 2 days before the inspection, and another child moved in on the first day of the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered in February 2026. The previous responsible individual left the home in June 2026. A new responsible individual has been appointed and is due to start their role in August 2026. Ofsted is in the process of reviewing the suitability of the new responsible individual.

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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: 23 September 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: The home was judged inadequate at the full inspection on 23 and 24 September 2025. As a result, 4 compliance notices were issued under regulation 12, the protection of children standard, regulation 13, the leadership and management standard, regulation 14, the care planning standard, and regulation 33, employment of staff, of The Children's Homes Regulations (England) Inspection report for children's home: 2841607 2 2015. A notice restricting accommodation was issued on 25 September 2025. On 13 November 2025, a monitoring visit took place. The provider had met the compliance notices and the notice restricting accommodation was lifted. Inspection report for children's home: 2841607 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/09/2025 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: 2841607 4

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Summary of findings

Since the last inspection, one child lived in the home for 3 months, and another child moved in during this inspection. The child who lived in the home for 3 months received good-quality care and made good progress from their starting point. They built trusting relationships with staff, who knew the child well. The number of times the child went missing from care significantly reduced. The staff team is stable, and agency workers have not been used, which enabled the child to build relationships and experience consistent care. Feedback from one family member and professionals about the manager and staff team is extremely positive.

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Summary of findings

Leaders have not ensured that the safer recruitment process is secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

As the child moved out of the home 2 days before the inspection, they did not speak with the inspector. However, a family member and external professionals, including the independent reviewing officer, said that the child very much enjoyed living in the home. They observed the child singing, dancing and cooking during their visits, demonstrating a sense of belonging in the home. One professional reported that the child often talked about how they liked their new home and said they felt safe there.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff built nurturing relationships with the child. They knew the child very well and provided individualised care, which helped the child to make progress from their starting points. A social work manager commented on the registered manager's level of emotional support for the child and attention to their needs. This helped the child to feel safe, valued and confident to share their feelings and experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff effectively met the child's education needs. They prioritised the child's education by putting transport arrangements in place to support them to attend school and improved their attendance. One education professional said that the staff team had a nurturing approach, which led to a positive change to the child's presentation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child's health needs were met to a high standard. Specialist advice and support were secured in a timely manner. Staff worked well with healthcare professionals to ensure that the child's physical and emotional needs were fully met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child took part in activities that they enjoyed. Staff actively encouraged the child to engage in their hobbies, including cadets. When one activity that the child very much wanted to attend appeared unlikely to happen due to concerns about risk, the registered manager produced a safety plan and made staffing arrangements to enable the child to safely participate. Inspection report for children's home: 2841607 5 The home is clean, tidy and well presented. Professionals who regularly visited the home report that the atmosphere was calm, warm and homely, and there was a family feel to it that helped the child to quickly settle in.

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

Staff had a good understanding of the risks posed to the child. Risk assessments were thorough and contained clear and current information to help staff keep the child safe. Staff have regular and meaningful conversations with the child to develop their understanding of how to keep safe in the community. This good practice increased the child's safety. For example, the number of times they were missing from the home significantly reduced during their time living here.

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

Leaders took effective action so that the child was helped to be safe. This included arranging for therapeutic support to be provided without delay, advocating for a suitable level of staffing to be in place, and providing the child with daily transport to reduce risk.

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

There were very few incidents related to the child's behaviour. This is because staff supported the child to safely manage their behaviour and feelings. Good-quality support plans explained how staff should care for the child, and staff followed these well in practice. When incidents occur, they are promptly discussed in team meetings to maintain the child's safety and support staff learning and development.

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

Missing-from-home records do not always contain important information about when a child returns home. Furthermore, requests for independent return home interviews are not always made to the placing authority.

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

Leaders and managers have not assured themselves that staff recruitment processes are sufficient to ensure children's safety. For example, one Disclosure and Barring Service check was over 3 years old, an identity document had expired, a work record that did not start until the applicant was aged 25 was unexplored, and written references were not verified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager brings dedication and a drive for service improvement to her role. Under her leadership, the home has met all the requirements from its previous inspection. She is committed to achieving the best outcomes for children and leads by example. Professionals and a member of the child's family all expressed a very positive view of the registered manager's practice. An independent reviewing officer said, 'This placement has been exceptional for [child's name]. I am convinced that we would not have seen a fraction of the progress made without the commitment of the manager, director and staffing team.'

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a fully permanent staff team, which means that agency workers are not used. This has enabled the child to have consistent care from adults who know them well. Staff enjoy their work and say that they are well supported by leaders and Inspection report for children's home: 2841607 6 managers. They feel rewarded by helping the child to have a sense of safety and belonging in their home and speak of their progress with pride.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers provide staff with regular and effective supervision. They have reflective discussions that enable staff to learn and develop and provide guidance and constructive feedback. Any concerns about performance are followed up to ensure that the child is provided with good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Communication with the child's family members and key professionals is excellent. Staff demonstrate professionalism and provide informative updates on children's wellbeing. As a result, the work with the child is well coordinated, and they are helped to engage with support services.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers were strong advocates for the child. They are skilled at addressing decisions by other professionals that may not be in the child's best interests, while maintaining collaborative working relationships. This approach promotes the best outcomes for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most staff do not hold the level 3 Diploma or an equivalent qualification, and there is no clear plan for how they will achieve this by the relevant date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff who have worked in the home for a year have not had an annual appraisal. The home's policy is unclear about the timeline for performance reviews. Inspection report for children's home: 2841607 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 registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children's safety.

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that thorough safer recruitment procedures are implemented and adhered to when appointing staff to work at the home. 31 July 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records are kept that detail all individual incidents when children go missing from the home. Records should include information about when a child returns home and observations of their wellbeing. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 45, paragraph 9.31)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the workforce plan clearly sets out the procedure for staff gaining their level 3 qualification. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home's Inspection report for children's home: 2841607 8 care. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: 2841607 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Mastery Services' Invictus Children's Home

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Inspector

Jo Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2841607 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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