Children's home run by Kingston upon Hull City Council

Inspection report children’s home: 2589771 1 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 home registered in April 2020 and is operated and managed by a local authority. It provides care and support for up to two children with emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 24 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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 outstanding

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2589771 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2589771 3

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outstanding

Children benefit from attentive, nurturing care which helps them to flourish, and grow socially and emotionally. This promotes the likelihood of them moving on safely and happily to live in a family home. The relationships with staff are integral to children achieving this.

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outstanding

Managers and staff work closely and effectively with education and social care professionals. Staff use their skills to support social workers and carers to understand the children’s needs and prepare them to move out of the home. This helps the move to be successful and sustainable.

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outstanding

Children make excellent progress in school, both in learning and in forming friendships and other social relationships. One education professional identified that a child’s time at the home enabled them to ‘plug gaps’ in their learning and helped them to start to catch up with their peers.

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outstanding

Children’s views are at the heart of decisions about their care. They are regularly consulted with over small and big decisions, and, through this, staff teach children about negotiation, rewards, boundaries and consequences. This supports the children to acquire valuable skills, which promotes their ability to live in a family setting.

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outstanding

Children are offered the opportunity to experience new places and activities, which broadens their horizons. Children are helped to feel part of the local community by participating in local initiatives, such as litter picking, which gives them a sense of belonging and ownership.

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outstanding

Children benefit from living in a cosy, settled and comforting home which makes them feel cherished. Staff support positive continued contact with siblings, which is vital in helping children to develop a sense of identity. After children move out of the home, they stay in touch with staff and the other children. The positive outcomes are the key strength of the home.

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outstanding

Risks are well understood around children’s contact with family or over-attachment to staff. Staff work with social workers and mental health services to mitigate these risks and have constant and open dialogue to find strategies to address these.

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outstanding

When children make disclosures of abuse, they are properly responded to. There is continued support for children to understand the emotional and psychological impact of these incidents. Staff work with other professionals to ensure that these Inspection report children’s home: 2589771 4 discussions and any imparting of information are done sensitively and in an age- appropriate way.

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outstanding

There have been no incidents of children going missing from care or of self-injurious behaviours, which reflects how settled children feel. Any conflict between children is well documented and managed and does not meet the threshold to be termed as bullying. Instead, staff model and teach mutual respect and encourage children to develop friendships with their peers. This contributes to a congenial and relaxed environment.

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outstanding

Staff have lots of relevant experience and are trained to care for children. Staff understand the vulnerabilities of the children, which helps to meet each child’s needs. This, underpinned by the trusted relationships which have formed, has helped the children to improve the regulation and management of their emotions. This results in a significant reduction of incidents where children are held for their own safety.

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outstanding

Staff seek to achieve consistency when setting boundaries for children. When any disparity occurs, the managers and the staff work together to overcome this. Staff articulate why consistency is necessary for children’s well-being, and the manager uses regular monitoring to evaluate and promote it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is aspirational and uncompromising in her objective to achieve the best outcomes for children. She is passionate about their well-being and will not settle for mediocre care or progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers have a clear understanding of how and why children make progress. The manager uses her own training and learning to positive effect. She cites family finding and domestic violence training as being particularly pertinent to the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers provide a supportive environment for staff through a variety of supervision and appraisal and high-quality induction and training programmes. These are tailored to the needs of the children. Some of the supervision sessions are delivered on an informal basis, which does not ensure a fully documented picture of staff’s concerns or progress. Any gaps in staff training, due to a lack of availability, are well mitigated, and additional complementary training is offered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers take swift action when staffing issues arise. There have been difficulties between some staff. However, these have been managed effectively. The manager is held in high regard by the staff and by other professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager actively promotes tolerance and equality. Gender dynamics are of particular relevance to the child currently in the home, and the manager has reflected on this and devised a plan to support the child to develop healthy attitudes in this respect. Inspection report children’s home: 2589771 5 The children are central to everything that happens in the home. The investment in the children by the staff and the manager is palpable, which contributes to children leaving the home well prepared, settled and happy. Inspection report children’s home: 2589771 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions is kept and that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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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: 2589771 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: 2589771 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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