Children's Home run by Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd in HampshireOfsted inspection, 10 Sept 2026

Inspection report for children’s home: SC482301 1 SC482301 Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home provides care and accommodation for up to 4 children. According to the home’s statement of purpose, staff aim to provide a safe and secure home for children with a primary diagnosis of autism and/or learning disabilities and associated complex needs. At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living in the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2026.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 2 December 2025

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC482301 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/12/2025 Full Good 31/07/2024 Full Good 17/10/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/07/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC482301 3

p.2

Summary of findings

Children receive good quality, individualised care from a stable staff team, who know them well. Children feel safe, develop positive relationships and make good progress, including increased independence and continued engagement in education.

p.3

Summary of findings

Effective partnership working with the in-house clinical team ensures that children’s health and specialist needs are understood and supported. Staff help children understand risk through purposeful direct work.

p.3

Summary of findings

The registered manager is ambitious, approachable and responds effectively when practice concerns arise, using reflective practice and regular training to improve care. However, communication around children’s transitions requires improvement to ensure staff are involved early and children are appropriately prepared for change.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides children with a welcoming, spacious and homely environment. Photos are displayed throughout the home and children’s bedrooms are personalised with belongings that reflects their interests. Children have access to a spacious sensory garden with a swimming pool and barbecue area. These facilities provide children with the opportunities to relax, play and spend enjoyable time together.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress from their individual starting points. They benefit from positive and trusting relationships with staff, who know them well and understand their individual needs. Children say that they feel safe and speak warmly about staff. One child said that they will ‘miss’ staff when they leave. Children fondly recall experiences, such as trips to Wales and Tulley’s Farm. These experiences help children develop positive memories and a sense of belonging.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children access education. Children who have recently moved into the home have been supported to remain at the school they attended prior to moving into the home. Staff work effectively with the educational professionals to maintain this continuity. This provides children with stability during periods of significant change and supports their continued educational progress.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop their independence. In particular, one child has made significant progress and is now able to travel independently by bus to college. Staff appropriately balance support with increasing independence, helping children develop skills that prepare them for adulthood.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Key-work sessions are meaningful and purposeful and respond to children’s individual needs. For example, staff used creative direct work to help one child explore and better Inspection report for children’s home: SC482301 4 understand their family dynamics and relationships. This helped the child make sense of important relationships and supported their emotional wellbeing.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff respond sensitively to children’s individual personal care needs. For example, one child finds it difficult to tolerate having their hair brushed and has developed severely matted hair. Staff have sourced a hairdresser experienced in supporting children with additional needs. This demonstrates a child-centred approach that respects the child’s needs while seeking to improve their comfort and wellbeing.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children can communicate their wishes and make choices. For children who do not use spoken language, picture-based communication is readily available throughout the home. Children can use these pictures to communicate what they want and need. This helps ensure that children’s voices influence their everyday care.

p.4

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

The registered manager and staff know children well and have a good understanding of their individual vulnerabilities and risks. Children are supported to develop their own understanding of risk through purposeful key-work sessions and social stories. For example, staff are helping one child understand online safety. Staff work with the clinical team to consider how best to support the child. This coordinated approach helps children develop their understanding of how to keep themselves safe.

p.4

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

Physical interventions are proportionate and reasonable. Following one incident where an intervention was not carried out in line with ‘Team Teach’ guidance, the manager took prompt action to strengthen practice. This included additional safeguards and refresher Team Teach training. Detailed records, debriefs and management oversight support reflection and learning and help to keep children safe.

p.4

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

There have been medication errors. In response, the manager has taken prompt action to strengthen medication practice, including twice daily medication counts, additional checks when medication is administered and further staff training. These measures strengthen oversight and reduce the risks of further errors, helping to ensure that children receive their medication safely.

p.4

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

Managers and staff have reflected on their use of consequences, recognising that these have not always been appropriately linked to children’s actions. Discussions at staff meetings and the introduction of the ’Make it Right’ booklet have strengthened practice. There is evidence that consequences are more proportionate and naturally linked to children’s behaviour. This helps children understand the consequences of their actions and learn from their experience.

p.4

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

Following an incident, managers and staff reflected on practice and identified learning around communication handovers. Team discussions have reinforced expectations and Inspection report for children’s home: SC482301 5 strengthened these arrangements. This reflective approach helps to reduce the likelihood of recurrence and promotes safer, more consistent care for children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is ambitious for the home and has high expectations for children and staff. They have a clear understanding of the home’s strengths and areas requiring further development. This provided a foundation for continued improvement in the quality of care children receive.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight is evident in areas, such as physical intervention, medication practice and reflection following incidents. Managers act when weaknesses are identified, including providing additional training, using supervisions and team meetings to reflect on lessons learned. This demonstrates a culture of reflection and learning.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak positively about the registered manager and describe them as approachable and supportive. They feel able to discuss worries and concerns. This contributes to an open culture in which staff feel confident to raise issues and seek guidance.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff morale is high and teamwork is strong. Children benefit from a stable core staff team, who know them well. Staff receive training designed to equip them with the knowledge and skills necessary to meet children’s individual and sometimes complex needs.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professional feedback about the home is positive. One professional described a child as thriving since moving to the home. The child is now sleeping better and benefiting from consistent structure and routines. This demonstrates the positive difference that stable and predictable care is making to the child’s wellbeing.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that their induction is thorough and helps them understand their roles and responsibilities. However, this is not consistently replicated for all staff. In particular, agency staff do not always receive a sufficiently thorough induction to ensure that they understand children’s care plans and risk assessments before caring for them. This increases the potential for inconsistent practice and avoidable incidents.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders need to strengthen communication of children’s transitions. Staff are not consistently involved in or informed about decisions concerning children moving into or leaving the home. On one occasion, a decision to end a child’s placement was not communicated to the wider staff team in a timely way. This left staff feeling insufficiently involved and limited their opportunity to contribute to planning and effectively prepare and support the child through their transition. Inspection report for children’s home: SC482301 6

p.5

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, 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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(ii))

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff are involved, at the earliest opportunity, in the planning and discussions of children’s transitions into and out of the home, so that staff are appropriately informed and able to support children through these transitions. 31/10/2026

p.6

Recommendations

 The use of external agency staff can be a positive choice to complement the skills and experiences of the permanent workforce. Any external agency staff should meet the requirements in regulation 32(4) regarding mandatory qualifications and the registered person should consider their skills, qualifications and any induction necessary before they commence work in the home. The use of agency staff should be carefully monitored and reviewed to ensure children receive continuity of care (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54 paragraph 10.16).

p.6

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 Inspection report for children’s home: SC482301 7 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: SC482301 8

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Keys Group, Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen B63 4AH

p.8

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Anna Satterthwaite

p.8

Inspector

Ken Bedwell, social care inspector Peter Jackson, regulatory inspection manager Inspection report for children’s home: SC482301 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9