Children's Home run by Sheffield City Council in Sheffield

Inspection report for children’s home: SC066747 1 SC066747 Registered provider: Sheffield City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home provides care for up to five children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties. There are three children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2021. The registered manager and the deputy manager were away from the home during the inspection. Senior staff members were able to lead the inspection in the absence of the managers.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 10 February 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC066747 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/02/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/12/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/08/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC066747 3

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improvement to be good

The quality of care for some children living at this home is not yet good enough. Staff have been unable to offer the level of care needed to help children to develop the skills and strategies needed to manage conflicts and difficult feelings.

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improvement to be good

Staff have yet to embed the approach needed to help children to overcome the barriers to education. There is variable progress with children’s attendance and attainment levels. One child attends school on a regular basis and thoroughly enjoys their learning experience, while other children have had minimal or no learning at all. This limits the children’s future prospects.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from a variety of practical learning experiences such as food and clothes shopping, cooking and cleaning, and using public transport. They also develop independence skills through regular structured and reflective conversations with staff. However, one child’s plan provided conflicting information about their ability to budget and shop independently. The contradictory information makes it unclear about how prepared children are for when they move onto independent living.

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improvement to be good

Children voice their opinion and influence decisions that are made about their day- to-day care. They are able to request new items for their bedrooms, activities that they would like to experience, as well as more significant matters such as making arrangements to go on holiday with family members.

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improvement to be good

Staff are strong advocates for children and speak out when they feel children are not receiving the service they are entitled to. For one child, this helped to maintain their school placement.

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improvement to be good

The connection staff develop with the children allows them to continue to offer advice to the children when they have moved on from the home. Children receive guidance about their personal relationships and are offered emotional support when they are coping with difficult feelings. Their relationship with staff allows children to seek direction and comfort from the adults they are most familiar with.

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improvement to be good

The matching of the children’s needs is well thought out and fully considered by managers and the children’s social workers. The children benefit from the planning process because they are introduced to the adults who will be caring for them at the earliest opportunity. This helps to harvest secure relationships.

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improvement to be good

Inspection report for children’s home: SC066747 4 The level of concern for some children in relation to their vulnerabilities has not reduced. Staff try to make a difference to the children’s lives and have shown a determined and committed attitude to safeguarding. However, some children have moved on from the home because they have not felt safe, and other children’s risks have escalated.

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improvement to be good

The multi-agency approach to safeguarding helps to ensure that key professionals are involved in developing the children’s safety plans. Regular review of the children’s risks with professionals helps to develop and maintain a shared accountability for safeguarding children.

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improvement to be good

Restraint practice is proportionate and focused on keeping children safe. However, the content of the records completed after incidents occur are inconsistent. The quality of the debrief with staff does not always show how managers have explored the incident with them. This may impact on staff’s effectiveness to reduce the risk of unsafe behaviours reoccurring.

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improvement to be good

The manager has not consistently notified the regulator when a serious incident has occurred. This prevents the regulator from having oversight and assurance that children are protected from harm.

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improvement to be good

Checks relating to the premises have not identified an existing hazard in a child’s bedroom. This has been overlooked and could have resulted in harm.

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improvement to be good

The system for managing the safe storage of sharp knives does not allow for staff to record when the knives have been used. This does not support the importance of accurate record-keeping.

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improvement to be good

The children’s risk assessments and behaviour support plans provide direction to staff about how to keep children safe. Staff have reflective conversations with children about how the decisions they make can impact on their safety and well- being. This helps children to think about the consequences of their behaviours for themselves and others.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and the deputy manager were away from the home during the inspection. In their absence, senior staff members were able to show the inspector their detailed insight of the children, their care plans, and the operational aspects for the home. This demonstrates good leadership and a shared awareness of the children’s needs and the outcomes the staff aim to achieve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are committed to helping the children to feel well cared for and want to provide them with positive experiences. They hold high aspirations for the children and have a strong team culture that is based on the importance of having good relationships. The positive relationships that staff develop with the children are recognised by the children’s social workers. Inspection report for children’s home: SC066747 5 Team meetings and supervisions provide staff with opportunities for reflection where the needs of children are discussed. Staff and other professionals use these meetings to review the children’s care plans and explore new strategies to meet the children’s changing needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A programme of recruitment means the staff team is now at full complement. This is following a period of staffing shortages. This is helping to create stability for staff and continuity of care for the children as the new staff members continue to settle into life at this home. Safe recruitment practice means the staff appointed are appropriately vetted to care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well decorated and provides children with a comfortable living space. Staff take pride in the homely environment and children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms and invest in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The aims and objectives for children as set out in the statement of purpose are not clearly visible in their plans. This may limit the children’s ability to look back at their time at this home and understand how the care they have received has helped them. Inspection report for children’s home: SC066747 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

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)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that the premises are suitably maintained and safe. 24 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 24 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the quality of restraint records provide consistent information about the incident to allow the registered person to evaluate the effectiveness of staff practice. Also, the debriefs with staff should be a reflective conversation about the incident to help staff learn from the event. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including, the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that the monitoring and recording of the use of sharp knives reduces the risk of errors and a potential hazard to staff or children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59) Inspection report for children’s home: SC066747 7  The registered person should ensure that the children’s plans show how the progress they make aligns to the aims and objectives described in the statement

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Recommendations

of purpose. The registered person should consider how the children’s plans show the outcomes that children have sustained throughout their time living at this home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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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 for children’s home: SC066747 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sheffield City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sheffield City Council, Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield S1 2HH

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Inspector

Aaron Mcloughlin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC066747 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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