Children's Home run by London Borough of Hillingdon in Hillingdon

Inspection report for children's home: 2872133 1 Registered provider: London Borough of Hillingdon

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in December 2025. The home is owned and operated by a local authority. It is a multibuilding children’s home that provides care in 3 properties for up to 6 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 3 children were living in 2 of the properties.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2872133 2

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Summary of findings

Children receive good-quality care and support from a dedicated and motivated staff team. As a result, they are making progress in many areas of their lives, including educational engagement, learning to manage difficult and complex emotions, learning independence skills and forming trusting bonds with staff.

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Summary of findings

Leaders provide great support to their team, which keeps staff motivated and engaged. As a result, children benefit from consistency and stability from the adults who support them day to day.

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Summary of findings

There were some issues with clarity, accuracy and completeness of some records. However, leaders were quick to accept these concerns and have plans to make the necessary improvements. Children are safe and well cared for at this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide good-quality and highly responsive care and support. They are developing confidence and resilience in their roles, helping to create a stable and consistent environment for children. Staff work hard to build trusting relationships with children and ensure that children receive support from a range of staff members. This wider circle of support helps children to feel safe, reduces reliance on individual staff members and enables children to speak openly about their experiences and the support they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with high-quality individual support that is tailored to their specific needs. They spend dedicated time with children, helping them to reflect on their experiences, recognise their achievements and work towards their goals. Staff also work closely with other professionals to ensure that children receive the support they need, both in the home and from external services. This helps children to make progress, overcome barriers and access opportunities that improve their life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide tailored care that reflects each child’s needs, strengths and aspirations. They actively involve children in decisions about their care and support, ensuring that children’s views are central to planning. Through consistent and responsive support, children make meaningful progress. Individual achievements include improved engagement in education, an increase in positive behaviours and the development of important independence and self-care skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have made some progress in promoting children’s education, particularly for those with a history of poor school attendance. When children move into the home, staff act quickly to secure education arrangements that meet their individual needs. This includes access to tuition, specialist provision, mainstream education or preparation for college. As a result, children are supported to re-engage with learning and make progress from their starting points. Inspection report for children's home: 2872133 3 Staff have had success in bringing about positive health and wellbeing outcomes for children. They have gently guided and encouraged children to engage with external mental health and clinical services, in some cases for the first time. As a result, children have access to a wider range of support to help them understand and manage the emotional and behavioural challenges they face.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious, modern and well equipped. Leaders recognise that creating a homely environment in a newly developed property takes time. They are working with children to identify ways to make the home feel more welcoming and personalised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy spending time at the home and have access to a range of spaces to meet their individual needs, including large kitchens for shared dining, dedicated TV rooms, quiet lounges and computer areas. While the secure outdoor gardens are currently underdeveloped, leaders have taken proactive steps to improve these spaces through an interactive gardening project. This is creating additional opportunities for outdoor play and learning, including growing fruit, vegetables and flowers.

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

Staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities in relation to keeping children safe. They receive regular training and support from managers to help them understand and respond to new and emerging risks for children. As a result, children receive consistent support to understand the risks they face and are increasingly able to make safer choices.

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

Through patient and consistent support, staff help children to feel safer and more settled in the home. As a result, some children have become increasingly comfortable keeping personal belongings and family photos in their bedrooms. This reflects the progress children are making and their growing sense of security and belonging.

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

Staff ensure that safeguarding work with older children is respectful and age appropriate. Rather than simply restricting digital access, staff use education and discussion to help children understand and navigate online risks. This helps children to make informed decisions, develop safer online behaviours and build the skills they need as they move towards adulthood.

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

Staff only use physical intervention as a last resort and any physical intervention is kept as brief as possible. Staff record incidents appropriately, and leaders maintain effective oversight through regular review and evaluation of incidents. This enables leaders to identify learning, challenge practice where necessary and consider alternative approaches. Staff also monitor patterns and trends in incidents to inform their support to children. As a result, there has been a significant reduction in the use of physical intervention over the last 6 months. Inspection report for children's home: 2872133 4 Staff use creative boundaries and positive behaviour strategies to help children take responsibility for their actions. Staff apply age-appropriate approaches to encourage positive behaviours, such as visual charts, frequent praise and rewards. Staff are making steady progress in helping children to understand their behaviour, recognise patterns and

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

identify potential risks. They use tailored behaviour trackers to gather meaningful information about trends and factors that may influence children’s behaviours. However, it is not yet clear how this information is being used to inform or adapt the strategies that staff use when supporting children.

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

Staff respond effectively when children go missing from home. They undertake meaningful direct work with children to help them understand risks in the community and make safer choices. Staff are also skilled at gathering and sharing information about children’s social networks and associations, which supports efforts to locate children and better understand potential risks. However, there is a disconnect between some written missing-from-home procedures and staff practice. Records are not always accurate or complete, and information recorded across multiple logs is inconsistent.

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

Leaders engage effectively with safeguarding partners and have established collaborative working arrangements that are strengthening shared safety plans and protocols. However, these arrangements are relatively recent and there has not yet been sufficient time for them to have a measurable impact on practice and outcomes for children. As a result, one child continues to go missing from home, sometimes for prolonged periods.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy manager operate as a cohesive and highly visible leadership team. They promote a clear, child-centred vision that aligns with the local authority’s strategic priorities. Leaders are committed to supporting children to return to their local communities, where they can access services and support networks that meet their individual needs. They maintain a focus on achieving long-term stability for children through carefully planned pathways, including reunification with family where appropriate or alternative family-based care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders provide visible and hands-on leadership. The registered manager and deputy manager work alongside staff, offering guidance, coaching and emotional support during challenging periods. Their active presence has strengthened staff morale and resilience, helping to create a stable and consistent workforce. As a result, children benefit from continuity of care and support from staff who feel valued and well supported in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior organisational leaders and the responsible individual provide strong support, maintaining constructive relationships with the management team and ensuring effective operational oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders ensure that staff training is well structured and rooted in trauma-informed practice. This helps staff to understand the experiences that may influence children’s behaviour and respond in a thoughtful and supportive way. Staff are supported to Inspection report for children's home: 2872133 5 maintain positive and consistent relationships with children, while leaders also recognise the importance of staff wellbeing and resilience. As a result, children benefit from care provided by a stable and supported workforce.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders prioritise regular, reflective supervision and team meetings to support staff development. The deputy manager uses these opportunities effectively to help staff apply trauma-informed principles in their day-to-day work. Leaders also work closely with external therapeutic professionals to ensure that staff have timely access to specialist advice and guidance. This helps staff to better understand children’s needs and provide informed, consistent and responsive care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders use a wide range of approaches to ensure that children’s views influence the development of the home. Complaints are managed well, helping children to feel listened to and taken seriously when they raise concerns. Children are also proactively supported to access independent advocacy services, giving them opportunities to seek advice and share their views with adults outside of the home. This helps children to have their voices heard and ensures that their rights, wishes and feelings are considered in decisions about their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals, including social workers and virtual school officers, report that communication with the home is highly transparent, proactive and collaborative.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some shortfalls were identified in the home’s oversight of recruitment records, which meant that managers were unable to fully evidence that all staff had been recruited safely. Historical records did not always contain full employment histories, and gaps in employment were not consistently explored before staff commenced work. Following the inspection, the responsible individual took prompt action by initiating a comprehensive audit of personnel files and strengthening expectations around recruitment compliance. While leaders have responded swiftly and appropriately to the concerns identified, these actions are recent and it is too early to assess their effectiveness or whether they have been fully embedded in practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2872133 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;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there are clear protocols for managing missing incidents, ensure all staff are clear on agreed protocols when managing missing incidents and ensure that records are clear and consistent and that guidance for staff is unambiguous. 4 December 2026

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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

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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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 (1) (3)(b)(d)) 4 December 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2872133 7 In particular, the registered person must ensure that they are confident that safer recruitment procedures are being adhered to and that full and satisfactory Schedule 2 information is available before any staff member starts work at the home.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should make best use of internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. In particular, they should demonstrate how their analysis and monitoring of patterns and trends impacts and improves staff practice when managing children’s behaviour. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: 2872133 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: London Borough of Hillingdon

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: London Borough of Hillingdon, Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge UB8 1UW

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Inspector

Peter Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2872133 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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Inspector

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