Children's Home run by Kisimul Group Limited in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report children's home: 1277726 1 Registered provider: Kisimul Group Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to six children and young people with severe learning disabilities. The home registered in July 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since February 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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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be 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: 10 December 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/12/2019 Full Good 06/03/2019 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1277726 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make good progress at this home. Staff support young people to develop independent living skills. For example, young people are supported, by staff, to prepare the evening meal and help clear away after dinner. This helps young people to develop important life skills that will help them in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people continue to make progress in education. Attendance at school is good. Young people enjoy the school environment and learning. Additionally, less structured learning through the development of life skills continues to take place. This means young people have wide and varied opportunities for learning and development, both in education and at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use alternative and pictorial methods of communicating with young people. Some staff can use sign language and Makaton. All staff use picture exchange communication systems and social stories. These methods are effective in ensuring that young people’s needs, wishes and feelings are known. Young people are encouraged to give feedback and make choices about the care they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has had an impact on the activities available for young people. However, this has been managed well. Young people continue to benefit from activities in and around the house and its grounds. With the restrictions lifted, young people are beginning to undertake more activities in the local community. These have included helping older residents and looking after the local community with litter picking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Prior to young people being admitted to the home, they are provided with a video showcasing the home. This includes their new bedroom and the staff team using sign language to welcome them. This means young people know what to expect and are more likely to settle quicker.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a large, detached house with extensive outside space. They enjoy large bedrooms and bathrooms. These areas are personalised with photos of their family and other belongings. However, one bedroom needs some repair. Additionally, the main television in the lounge was not working. These issues detract from what is otherwise a pleasant and homely environment.

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improvement to be good

Managers have not made certain that risk assessments, completed by staff and managers, for young people contain sufficient detail. This hampers the staff in having the right information in enough detail to manage and reduce risk. Additionally, when risks have been identified about the location of the home, staff do not always follow strategies to the reduce risk to young people. Inspection report children's home: 1277726 3 High numbers of staff provide a safe level of supervision for young people. However, when young people have left the home without direct supervision, risk assessments have not been updated and amended to reflect the increased risk. Also, risk assessments for new young people coming to live at the home do not identify all known risks. This leads to confusion and inconsistencies as to what action staff should take, and this has the potential to leave young people vulnerable.

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improvement to be good

The manager has not ensured that one young person’s placing local authority has provided agreement for a monitoring system in their bedroom. This young person’s placement plan has omitted the details and reasons for the monitoring. This is a shortfall.

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improvement to be good

Incidents of physical intervention are rare. This is because staff develop good relationships with young people based on mutual respect and trust. Staff are aware of what triggers negative behaviour displayed by young people. The staff are proactive in their practice to avoid the need for physical intervention, and this strategy has been successful. However, when a physical intervention does take place, staff recording could be strengthened to include further detail of methods used in the intervention. This would provide clarity that the intervention was undertaken in accordance with guidance and prescribed methods.

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improvement to be good

Staff know how to keep young people safe. Staff understand the home’s safeguarding processes. They are clear about the circumstances in which they would escalate any concerns about young people. The regular provision of refresher safeguarding training provides staff with the confidence and knowledge they need to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced and qualified. The manager is supported well by two deputy managers. As a management team, they are at the forefront of developing the service and care practice of staff, and this bodes well for the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have improved staff retention. Changes in the staff team are now less common. This means young people experience consistent approaches to their care from staff they know well and trust. The manager and leaders have developed a diverse staff team. This provides young people with good role models of staff from different backgrounds and genders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff trust and respond to the manager’s approach to improving the children’s home. Staff say, ‘This is a fantastic place to work.’ The staff enjoy watching young people develop, grow and meet their full potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report feeling very well supported by managers. They have regular supervision. There are good training opportunities, including autism spectrum disorder awareness, safeguarding and epilepsy. However, supervision is not yet fully effective because the individual young people are not discussed. This means a valuable opportunity to talk about the young people and their care needs is lost. Inspection report children's home: 1277726 4 Stakeholder feedback continues to be positive. One family said: ‘Our lives have improved. At this home, our child has greater opportunities to develop their social experiences, emotional health and education.’ This is testimony to the progress children make in their overall development, which will support them going forward in their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

At the last inspection, two recommendations were made. One recommendation has been made again together with four statutory requirements and two further recommendations. Inspection report children's home: 1277726 5

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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 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

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)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the location risk assessment not being effective in ensuring that young people are safe in the grounds of the home. 19/11/2021

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to risk assessments, in particular missing-from-care risk assessments, not having sufficient detail about control measures which reduce risk. 19/11/2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. 19/11/2021 Inspection report children's home: 1277726 6 In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to epilepsy medication records being incorrect. This has meant other records are also incorrect.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitor- ing or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the moni- toring or surveillance. (Regulation 24 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to no agreement being in place with a local authority to use a monitoring device in a child’s bedroom. 19/11/2021

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children; they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislation (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered manager should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that is

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Recommendations

helpful to the child. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered manager should ensure that, as set out in regulations 31-33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risk to them. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) Inspection report children's home: 1277726 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 children's home: 1277726 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kisimul School, The Old Vicarage High Street, Swinderby, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN6 9LU

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Inspector

Simon Hunter, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1277726 9 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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