Children's home run by Hopscotch Care Limited

Inspection report children's home: 2638535 1 Registered provider: Hopscotch Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care and support for up to two children. At the time of the inspection there were two children living in the home.

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Information about this children's home

There is a manager in post who registered with Ofsted in July 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 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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Date of last inspection:

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children's home: 2638535 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Inspection report children's home: 2638535 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in this home are making good progress in all areas of their lives including in education, their health and their emotional and behavioural development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff place a high importance on children’s education and there are clear expectations for children about school attendance. Children are well supported by staff to follow good routines, and this is helping them to have improved attendance and attainment in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between children and staff are positive. Children are listened to and encouraged to express their views, wishes and feelings. When children have a problem, they say that they can talk to the manager and staff about this, and they feel confident that they will get help and support to address any issues.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are being met and they are in good health. Routine health appointments are attended regularly, and children are given advice and support to manage their health needs and any lifelong conditions. Children are referred to services as soon as possible, when a need for specialist help is identified.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to pursue their hobbies and interests. One child, who had recently moved to the home, was already engaging in a placement at a local animal sanctuary. This had been arranged soon after their arrival and was a very positive placement for them allowing them to access free riding lessons whilst gaining employability and life skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff make sure that children have quality time with their families and are committed to supporting the arrangements for children that have moved far away from their home. One parent said that the home make sure that the distance isn’t a barrier to them seeing their child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents and professionals report that children are making good progress at the home because of the care and support that they receive. One professional commented on the quality of the relationships between their child and staff and felt that the child had settled into the home quickly; because staff made them feel comfortable and safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated and maintained to a good standard throughout. Children’s bedrooms have been re decorated to reflect their personal tastes and they take pride in keeping these clean. Children enjoy spending their time with staff in the lounge or helping to prepare the evening meal which they enjoy eating together at the dining table. Inspection report children's home: 2638535 4

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe. Staff take action to reduce the risks to children and to maintain a safe environment for them.

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments outline reactive strategies for staff, but do not include the actions that staff should take as a proactive measure to reduce risks. Strategies are in place which keep children safe, however, they do not support children to learn how to keep themselves safe. For example, children have strict controls around the use of the internet. Direct work in this area has been limited and the controls in place are not supporting children to develop their understanding.

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improvement to be good

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted in the home and sanctions are rarely used. However, when sanctions have been used these have been poorly recorded and have lacked oversight from the manager. On one occasion a sanction was used by staff which was not appropriate or in line with statutory guidance. On other occasions, sanctions imposed have not been proportionate or restorative in nature. This does not support the children to reflect upon and improve their behaviour.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to eat healthy, home cooked meals. Staff ensure that children have access to healthy snacks at all times and children take part in shopping for the home to ensure that they can exercise choice in the food that is being bought and prepared for them. Children’s access to unhealthy snacks and convenience food is restricted by staff who place this in a locked cupboard. Whilst moderation around unhealthy food is advisable, restricting access in this way is not appropriate and does not help children to manage their own diet and make healthy choices for themselves.

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improvement to be good

Children rarely go missing from this home. Individualised guidance is in place for each child, providing staff with the action they should take should this occur. When this does occur, staff take appropriate action and work with relevant agencies to ensure that children are safeguarded.

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improvement to be good

When considering whether to move children into the home, managers have failed to make effective use of impact risk assessments. In one example, the impact of one child moving into the home was not effectively assessed. Without careful impact risk assessment, children are at risk of negative impact as a result of ineffective decision making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an experienced manager in post who registered with Ofsted in July 2021. The manager and deputy manager have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and have high aspirations for all children. Inspection report children's home: 2638535 5 Staff are recruited inline with procedures that are designed to promote children’s safety. Although there are staff vacancies, the manager does not need to use agency staff. This means that children are always cared for by a consistent staff team, that know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the training needs for staff are met and has identified additional learning for staff on matters that are relevant to the children that are living in the home. Staff have had informal training around the specific health needs for children which has helped them to understand the impact of these conditions on the child’s daily lives and understand how best to support children to manage lifelong conditions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has reviewed records in the home in relation to sanctions but has failed to address the shortfalls in the content and quality of records. Therefore, poor practice in this area has not been addressed. The effect of this on children has been limited because sanctions are not often used to manage behaviour, however, a requirement has been made to support the necessary improvements to management monitoring arrangements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals praise the communication from the manager and the staff team. The manager ensures that information is shared as soon as possible with relevant professionals and parents. When responses form other services have not been effective, the manager has actively challenged this to ensure that all agencies are working in partnership to meet children’s needs. Inspection report children's home: 2638535 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 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)) 29 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(h)) 29 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. 29 April 2022 Inspection report children's home: 2638535 7 The following measures may not be used to discipline any child—

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Requirement Due date

any punishment involving the consumption or deprivation of food or drink (Regulation 19 (1)(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children's home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child's behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; 29 April 2022 Inspection report children's home: 2638535 8 within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b)(2)(3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Recommendations

 Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. ("Guide to the children's home regulations page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: 2638535 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 19 Lancaster Road, Carnforth, LA5 9LD

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Inspector

Emma Thornton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2638535 10 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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