Children's Home run by Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 1 SC034313 Registered provider: Hull City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The local authority owns and manages this home. The home provides care for children whose plan is to live in a medium- to long-term residential setting.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since December 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 7 November 2019

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/05/2019 Full Good 14/08/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 3

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outstanding

Children make significant progress in all areas of their life, relative to their starting point. This includes children having 100% attendance and improved achievement in education. In addition, there has been a reduction in criminal behaviour and missing-from-home incidents, and improved relationships with family. The progress is underpinned by high-quality relationships between carers and the children.

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outstanding

Staff provide highly individualised care, which supports children to develop their personality and a sense of their own identity. Children’s wishes and feelings are sought about all aspects of their care, and they are consulted on major decisions about their life. Staff encourage children to influence how they are supported both within the home and throughout the wider care sector. One child attends the Young Voices in Care forum and was put forward as ‘young panel member of the year’. By sharing their opinions, children can influence the care that staff provide, which helps them to achieve their potential.

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outstanding

Staff enable children to have experiences that inspire them to set their sights high in terms of sporting achievements. One child is a talented footballer and is encouraged through attending related events such as a charity football match, corporate hospitality at rugby, and an England World Cup qualifier at Wembley. This child has responded with dedication and commitment to sport, resulting in them being made captain and named ‘parents’ player of the year’. This, in turn, boosts their self- confidence and self-esteem.

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outstanding

Staff work collaboratively with psychologists and mental health professionals to improve the emotional well-being of children. As a result, there are fewer behavioural incidents and a reduction in incidents of self-harm. The children participate in a pilot project run by their health team. This tracks the children’s mood in relation to activity, which provides insight to the professionals who support them. This results in staff and psychologists responding more appropriately and effectively to the children.

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outstanding

The home is running a ‘mutual respect project’ to improve relationships between the children in the home. This project was an idea suggested in one of the regular children’s house meetings and, consequently, the children feel ownership of it. There are fewer arguments between the children, which contributes to children feeling happy and safe in the home. Furthermore, the provider and children have indicated that there are no incidents of bullying that they are aware of. One professional said of a child in the home that ‘now he is so happy, his smile reaches his eyes’. This demonstrates how children are impacted by feeling safe and secure in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 4 Other notable achievements include staff supporting children to apply for Young Lord Mayor, children participating in, and winning, a national competition to have a story published in a ‘Spinechiller’ children’s book and children mentoring classmates

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outstanding

on the Duke of Edinburgh award programme. One child is the only person at their school to achieve both a level 1 and 2 sports leader qualification in the same year. These accomplishments motivate children to have self-belief and broaden their opportunities in the longer term.

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outstanding

Staff follow comprehensive risk management plans, which are up to date and clear. Safety plans are embedded within risk assessment documents, which demonstrate a cohesive and consistent response to risk management. Staff demonstrate an awareness of the significant impact of emotional harm and respond by providing highly nurturing care to the children. Through effective risk management and building strong, trusted relationships, staff help children to become increasingly safe.

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outstanding

When children go missing, staff follow plans, actively search and try to understand the reasons why the child has gone. This helps them to take actions to reduce repetition. Over the last 10 months, there have been only three occasions when children did not come home on time and were reported missing; none of these extended to overnight. This is a significant reduction compared to previous years and has resulted in keeping children safe.

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outstanding

Staff arrange specialist intervention to promote the children’s safety when peer relationships expose them to potential harm. By working with these specialists, children are increasingly protected from online harm and negative influences.

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outstanding

Staff also arrange for preventative work to be completed with children, which reduces future risks to them and gives them skills to protect themselves. The topics covered include the use of social media and online games, knife crime and positive views of the emergency services. This is relevant to some children more than others, but all are offered the opportunity to complete it.

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outstanding

There is sometimes conflict between the children, but staff increase supervision and use other creative ways to manage the relationships. Staff involve the children in discussions about how to live harmoniously together. Staff are vigilant to signs of escalating tension and intervene at the earliest opportunity. This helps to promote the safety and well-being of the children.

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outstanding

Due to the effective intervention and open and trusted relationships that have been established between staff and children, there are currently no concerns in the home with respect to alcohol misuse, substance misuse, exploitation, criminal behaviour, or disengagement from staff or services. Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established a culture of acceptance and nurturing care, which provides a sense of permanence for children. This results in children being visibly happier and more settled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective monitoring of staff practice by the manager, and promotion of consistent adherence to children’s plans, has contributed to children making significant progress. Professionals hold leaders and managers, as well as the wider staff team, in high regard and attribute children’s progress to the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported by leaders and managers through training and team meetings. There is, however, a shortfall in supervision, with some staff not having supervision in line with the frequency set out in the home’s policy. This reduces the opportunity for leaders and managers to check staff’s understanding and promote consistency across the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

At the last visit, there was a recommendation regarding a shortfall in the completion of life-space interviews following behavioural incidents; these are being routinely completed now.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers set an expectation for staff to act ‘like parents’ to the children in their care. In response, staff attend sporting, school or other events to support the children, sometimes in their own time, and, by doing so, children feel loved and valued. This, again, has contributed to the establishment of strong relationships between managers, staff and the children. On the wall in the home is a bespoke piece of art with all the names of the children and staff on it, entitled, ‘The (name of home) family’. This encapsulates the shared sense of identity promoted by the manager. Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 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, 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 ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to all staff having monthly supervision, in line with the home’s policy. 15 October 2021

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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 children’s home: SC034313 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kingston upon Hull City Council, The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

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Inspector

Rachel Ruth, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034313 8 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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