Children's Home run by Northern Community Pathways Children’s Residential Services Ltd in Kirklees

Inspection report children’s home: 2571759 1 Registered provider: Northern Community Pathways Children’s Residential Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately run. It provides care and accommodation for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2020 and is suitably qualified for the role.

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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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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2571759 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy meaningful and loving relationships with the staff. The basis for this stems from the manager, who leads by example and is child-focused. The staff have invested in their manager’s drive and aspiration to provide a home where children can thrive. This has resulted in children feeling loved and respected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of maintaining a homely environment. Some of the children understandably struggle to manage their emotions, which, on occasion, results in minor damage to the home. Staff work hard to make repairs in a timely manner. This teaches children to respect and love their home environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Framed photos of the children taking part in various activities are displayed throughout the home, including in the children’s bedrooms. Children have a personalised photo album, which staff organise with love and care. These details give the children a sense of belonging and self-worth and preserve their cherished memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff try to integrate the children into their community and help them to make a positive contribution to it. Staff have supported children with various charitable endeavours. This has enabled children to connect and empathise with other people’s life experiences. Staff also educate children to understand complex societal issues in the wider world. This has broadened the children’s understanding of topical issues and provided reassurance when needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager is vocal but respectful when challenging professionals about the planning of children’s care. This enables staff to support children more effectively in key areas of their life, for example with their education or enjoying visits with family members.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. However, for children who smoke tobacco, the support to reduce and stop smoking is not clear or consistent. This means that staff do not have clear strategies in place to help children in this area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care plans offer a good overview of the children and their needs and vulnerabilities. However, not all of the children’s specific health or neurological conditions are clearly explored in their plans. This has the potential to hinder how staff support children with such matters.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has a vison to establish a team that helps children to feel included in their community. One aspect of this vision is for staff to avoid the use of jargon in the children’s written records. This remains an area of development for the team.

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

Inspection report children’s home: 2571759 3 Staff are thorough when recording significant incidents involving children. This enables the manager to have clarity in his decision-making. The manager consistently notifies professionals following all significant incidents. This ensures that there is a multi-agency response to keeping children safe.

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

Children are supported by staff to reflect and learn following incidents. This includes incidents where staff have restrained children. The manager has good oversight of all incidents and shares information with the children’s parents and social workers. This promotes scrutiny of staff’s practice and reassures parents and professionals about the staff team’s care of the children.

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

Staff undertake frequent key-work sessions on a variety of topical issues with the children. However, the quality of key-work sessions varies. This means that, on occasions, staff overlook opportune moments to deliver key messages to children that would raise their awareness around risk-taking behaviour. The manager accepts that this continues to be an area of development.

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

The staff team is stable and well established. Staff are confident in the care of the children and have a good understanding of the risks associated with the children’s behaviours. However, written risk assessments lack clarity regarding what managers expect staff to do when responding to specific high-risk situations involving children. This leaves the less experienced staff members and children vulnerable to harm.

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

The manager has established an excellent working relationship with the police liaison officer and the local authority. This enables a swift response when staff report children as missing from the home. The manager ensures that risk management meetings are prompt. This ensures multi-agency intervention and promotes multi- agency accountability in their role with the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses his status in the team to act as a role model for both the children and the staff. The manager uses appropriate personal life experiences to support children to overcome their perceived obstacles in life. This motivates staff to emulate this practice with the children and, in doing so, helps children to learn positive life skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a deep understanding of the issues associated with children who are looked after. This enables him to apply sound analysis when considering referrals. One young person, who now lives independently, stated, ‘I don’t know where I’d be if it wasn’t for the staff here.’ One professional stated that the setting has enabled children who have complex needs to remain living in their local area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is pivotal in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with professionals and members of the children’s families. This ensures that there is a cohesive approach to the care of the children. Inspection report children’s home: 2571759 4 The manager ensures that staff receive regular supervision sessions and an annual performance appraisal. The manager uses these opportunities to develop staff’s skills. Staff’s morale is therefore high, and this is reflected in the atmosphere in the home. This provides the foundation for children to live in a happy and vibrant home environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has strong oversight of the overall functioning of the home through weekly and monthly audits. This enables him to maintain a sound grasp of the staff team’s care of the children. This also enables the manager to keep abreast of any areas for staff development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the team’s areas of development, particularly with the shortfalls concerning the written records. The manager is also keen to learn and invites fresh ideas from outside the home. This enables the team to grow and develop for the ultimate benefit of the children. Inspection report children’s home: 2571759 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

(2) 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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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)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(b)) 31 March 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should encourage children to take a proactive role in looking after their day-to-day health and well-being. Where children have specific health needs or conditions, they should be supported to manage these subject to their age and understanding. In particular, this relates to children smoking tobacco and children understanding any specific diagnosis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10) Inspection report children’s home: 2571759 6

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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: 2571759 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Northern Community Pathways Children’s Residential Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Office 3, 321 Red Bank Road, Blackpool FY2 0HJ

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Inspectors

Ceri Evans, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2571759 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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