Children's Home run by The Hills Children’s Homes Limited in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2795987 1 Registered provider: The Hills Children’s Homes Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is owned and run by a private organisation. The home is registered to care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

There were 3 children living in the home at the time of the inspection. The children were provided with opportunities to speak to the inspector.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2795987 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/04/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/12/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2795987 3

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Summary of findings

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2025 and has worked hard to drive improvements across the home. There has been a clear focus on strengthening systems, processes and the overall quality of practice to ensure that children are safe, well cared for and supported to achieve positive outcomes. The manager has implemented a range of changes to improve oversight, accountability and consistency, including enhancements to documentation, risk management and safeguarding processes. As a result, practice across the home has become more structured and child focused.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have a wide range of positive experiences. Children have enjoyed memorable holidays and activities, including a trip to a themed resort abroad and climbing Snowdon. These achievements are significant and reflect the home’s commitment to providing children with enriching experiences, promoting their confidence and helping them create lasting memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their starting points. For example, one child has made exceptional progress in their personal care. When they moved into the home, they were unable to complete personal care tasks independently and experienced significant distress associated with personal care activities. Through patience, consistency and the development of trusting relationships, staff supported the child at their own pace and without pressure. As a result, the child now bathes regularly and engages in personal care routines with increasing independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Key-work sessions are completed daily, with staff undertaking both planned and direct work with children, capturing learning opportunities as they arise. The frequency of these sessions demonstrates that staff spend meaningful time with children to support their development. Sessions are tailored to children’s individual needs and interests and are clearly recorded, reflecting the learning from these discussions and the impact they have on progress made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain relationships with the people who are important to them. These relationships are well supported by the team. Staff ensure that children receive both practical and emotional support before, during and after spending time with family members and other significant people. This helps children to maintain meaningful relationships and promotes their sense of identity and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has a clear understanding of the positive impact that engagement in education can have on children’s outcomes. One child had not accessed any form of education since 2024, before moving into the home. Since starting a new education provision at the beginning of the September term, the child has attended regularly. This Inspection report for children’s home: 2795987 4 is a significant achievement and represents a positive step in re-engaging the child with education and supporting their future aspirations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A child is due to move on from the home following the provider’s decision to end their placement. However, at the time of the inspection, a clear transition plan had not been implemented. This leaves the child facing significant uncertainty about their future, including when they will move and where they will be living. The lack of effective planning places the child at risk of unnecessary anxiety and instability during an already challenging period of change.

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

The manager has made significant improvements to the home’s safeguarding processes, which are now well established. There are robust systems in place for recording safeguarding concerns and incidents. Concerns are appropriately shared with the local authority and other relevant agencies in a timely manner, with actions taken and follow- up activity clearly documented. This helps to ensure that children are safeguarded effectively and that risks are promptly addressed.

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

Managers and leaders ensure that medication processes and systems align with best practice and safeguard children’s health effectively. Medication is stored securely with clear oversight and accountability.

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

The manager ensures that health and safety checks are completed in line with the organisation’s required timescales, including checks of sharp items. A clear sharps inventory is maintained, with all items counted and recorded twice a day. This enables any missing items to be identified promptly and appropriate action to be taken, helping to keep children and staff safe.

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

One child has a newly identified risk in relation to ligatures. The manager has implemented a comprehensive risk assessment that clearly identifies the risks, preventative strategies and staff responses required to keep the child safe. Leaders have ensured that this emerging risk has been discussed with the staff team to promote awareness and a consistent approach.

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

When physical interventions are used, they are proportionate and necessary to keep children safe. There is management oversight of these incidents, with reflective discussions and restorative work undertaken with the children afterwards. However, records do not consistently provide a full and accurate account of the intervention, with key information missing, including the type of hold used, and the duration of the intervention.

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

The home is warm and welcoming. However, at the time of the inspection, some areas required redecoration, general maintenance and refreshing. The manager is aware of these issues and has implemented a plan to ensure they are addressed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2795987 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is dedicated in supporting the staff to develop in their roles and to achieve their full potential. He ensures staff are supported to complete the required qualification, while also encouraging them to pursue additional training. This investment in staff development helps to strengthen their knowledge, skills and practice, ultimately improving outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from external professionals is consistently positive. Professionals spoken to described the home as doing all it can to meet children’s needs and reported that there have been significant improvements in children’s progress and wellbeing since moving to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported in their roles and enjoy working at the home. There is a positive and supportive team culture where staff feel valued, listened to and confident to raise concerns or seek guidance when needed. Staff describe leaders as approachable and report that they receive the support necessary to carry out their roles effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are held regularly and are well structured. They provide staff with meaningful opportunities to discuss and reflect on practice. Meetings remain child focused, exploring children’s individual needs, progress and how the team can work together to improve their outcomes. There is a clear emphasis on reflective learning and continuous improvement, helping to ensure that practice remains proactive in meeting children’s emerging needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management monitoring and review systems demonstrate the manager’s understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. While team leaders complete regular weekly audits, leaders have recognised the need to strengthen the manager’s quality assurance processes to provide greater oversight and further improve monitoring of practice and service delivery.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person’s visits are completed regularly and provide independent oversight of the home. However, they do not demonstrate how children’s views are influencing practice. Greater consideration should also be given to obtaining and evidencing detailed feedback from children and relevant professionals. Inspection report for children’s home: 2795987 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that records of physical intervention include all the required details. 25 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of 25 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2795987 7 needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should escalate concerns to the local authority when plans for the child to move on from the home are not implemented in a timely manner.

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that repairs and maintenance are completed in a timely way and to a good standard. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of the information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44). This includes seeking regular feedback from stakeholders to ensure continuous improvement. (‘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: 2795987 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Hills Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Briar Hill Childrens Centre, Coronation Court, Ashbrow Road, Northampton NN4 8SZ

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Inspector

Sarah Wilkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2795987 9 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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Inspector

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