Children's Home run by Horizon Care and Education Group Limited in Derby

Inspection report for children’s home: 2655345 1 Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to 3 children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2026.

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Information about this children’s home

There were 2 children living at the home at the time of the inspection. The children contributed to the inspection.

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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: 3 February 2026

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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: 2655345 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/02/2026 Full Good 14/01/2025 Full Outstanding 13/09/2023 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2655345 3

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Summary of findings

The home is clean and homely, and children are supported to personalise their spaces. Staff care for and speak positively about children. Children enjoy positive relationships with staff so they feel able to share their wishes and feelings. Staff support children to make progress with their friendship groups and family relationships. Risk management plans are clear so that staff understand what actions are required to keep children safe. Staff work with children to help them make positive and healthier choices in their lives. The registered manager has promoted a strong learning culture in the home. In addition, the responsible individual has implemented new processes to improve the consistency of management oversight. While these developments are positive, they need to be fully embedded.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a welcoming, clean and well-maintained home. They are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms with photos of people who are important to them, along with their artwork and posters. This helps to create a warm, homely environment where children feel a sense of belonging and ownership of their space.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are proactive in supporting children’s educational progress and work effectively with relevant services to secure appropriate educational provision. The registered manager has advocated for one child to receive more tailored educational support to meet their individual needs. In addition, another child completed their exams with the encouragement and support of staff. This demonstrates the home’s commitment to promoting the value of education and supports long-term progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. Staff support children to spend time with friends and family, both in and outside of the home, and they help children develop new friendships in a safe and age-appropriate way. Children speak positively about how meaningful these relationships are and the difference they make to their lives. This helps children develop a strong sense of identity and build long-term relationships that can support them into adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop independence skills that are appropriate to their age and individual needs. Staff work with children to develop cookery skills, budgeting, use of public transport and maintaining good health. One child is supported practically and emotionally to develop independence skills in line with their wishes. One child has been supported to have increased independence in the community with their friends. This helps children develop skills and prepare for the next stage of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have not been able to effectively support children to maintain positive relationships with one another. Although staff have worked with both children to repair the Inspection report for children’s home: 2655345 4 relationship, these efforts have not been fully successful. One child described feeling scared when the other child displays behaviours that staff find difficult to manage. The challenges in this relationship have also contributed to the manager serving notice on one child’s placement. As a result, children’s emotional wellbeing and stability in the home have been affected.

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

Staff understand how to keep children safe. Children’s risk management plans provide staff with clear guidance, including relevant background information, strategies to reduce identified risks and actions to take should incidents occur. These plans are regularly reviewed and updated to reflect children’s changing needs and circumstances. As a result, staff understand children’s risks and the support required to promote their safety and wellbeing.

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

The manager and staff work effectively with partner agencies to meet children’s needs and work proactively to reduce risks. The manager maintains strong partnerships with those involved in children’s care, ensuring that information is shared appropriately to promote children’s safety and wellbeing. Professionals report having regular communication with staff and describe a shared focus on promoting positive outcomes for children. This collaborative approach enables risks to be managed effectively in a coordinated manner.

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

Children are supported sensitively during moments of distress. Staff remain calm and seek to ensure that situations do not escalate. Staff understand the needs of children and how they communicate. Children report having good relationships with staff and feel able to share any worries with them. After any incident, staff check how children are feeling and continue to monitor their wellbeing. This promotes children’s safety.

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

Staff work closely with children to help them understand risks and make safer, more informed choices. This is achieved through direct work and key-work sessions that support children to reflect on their experiences, increase their awareness of potential dangers and develop the skills needed to make safer decisions. As a result of this work, children have been able to spend more time in the community and develop friendships with greater confidence and awareness of how to keep themselves safe.

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

The registered manager ensures safeguarding and practice concerns about staff are taken seriously and responded to without delay. Children are listened to in an age- appropriate and sensitive manner, ensuring they feel heard and understood. Thorough investigations are undertaken to safeguard the wellbeing of children. The manager ensures that children are kept informed of the outcomes of any concerns or complaints they have raised. Where practice issues are identified, appropriate action is taken to address these. Inspection report for children’s home: 2655345 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager speaks about the children with genuine care, warmth and ambition for their futures. They have developed a therapeutic, child-focused culture that is reflected throughout the staff team. One social worker described the registered manager as ‘the backbone of the home’, adding, ‘all staff care’. The manager leads by example, role modelling and promoting a high standard of care for children for staff to follow.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager promotes a learning culture in the home. Staff receive regular supervision and participate in team meetings, where children’s needs, progress and experiences are discussed in detail. In addition, staff benefit from reflective group supervision led by the in-house therapist. This helps them to develop a deeper understanding of children’s needs, behaviours and methods of communication. This ongoing support helps staff to continually build their knowledge and skills, enabling them to implement this in practice to support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training that is appropriate to meet the needs of the children they care for. Staff are up to date with their mandatory training, including safeguarding, which strengthens their abilities to keep children safe. New staff members benefit from a structured induction and additional support to help them develop the skills and knowledge required for the role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is proactive and robust in addressing any inconsistencies in the care provided to children. They escalate concerns appropriately, both internally and with external professionals, to ensure effective monitoring and oversight. When shortfalls are identified, the manager implements additional individual and team supervision sessions to reflect on practice and share learning with the team. Where necessary, they also take disciplinary action to address poor practice. This strong management oversight ensures learning from incidents and that children’s needs are paramount.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior leaders have not ensured robust management oversight in the registered manager’s absence. This means staff have not always received consistent guidance. In addition, the registered manager has not received regular supervision. This limits management reflection, support and development. Since the last inspection, a new responsible individual has been appointed and has introduced new processes, which need to be embedded. Inspection report for children’s home: 2655345 6

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Statutory requirement

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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure clear arrangements are in place to maintain effective management when the manager is absent, off duty or on leave, to ensure continuity of care to children. 11 December 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff help children to develop the skills to build and maintain positive relationships with other children living in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.6)  The registered person must have systems in place so that the manager, receives regular supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Inspection report for children’s home: 2655345 7

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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: 2655345 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/O DWF Company Secretarial Services Limited, 1 Scott Place 2 Hardman Street, Manchester M3 3AA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Danielle Madeley

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Inspector

Nile Blanchard, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2655345 9 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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