Children's home run by Nottingham City Council in Nottingham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC424348 1 SC424348 Registered provider: Nottingham City Council 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 local authority. The home provides medium- to long- term care for two children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a manager who is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC424348 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/05/2021 Full Good 10/09/2019 Full Outstanding 26/06/2018 Full Good 11/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC424348 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a say in how their home is decorated and designed. For example, the lounge has been repainted, and one child uses the room to play their drum kit and keyboard. Another child has been supported by staff to plant flowers and vegetables in the garden. Photos of children and staff are displayed, providing a homely feel. Children are supported by staff to keep their bedrooms tidy. Children like the home but said they would like the bathroom to be repaired. Although this work has been agreed, there has been some delay in completing it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in their education. For example, both have recently passed exams and have enrolled onto college courses. Where children have experienced setbacks in their education, staff have encouraged them to persevere. This encouragement has worked because it has led to one child resitting an exam and another child getting a part-time job. This is very good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of children’s health needs. A senior manager has known one child for many years. They have advocated strongly for this child to have an assessment to identify any additional needs they may have. This has resulted in the child receiving an education, health and care plan and more tailored support at college. This will help this child to continue making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although staff can recall many anecdotal memories of children’s progress and milestones, these are not yet well recorded. Consequently, there is a risk of children’s histories being lost.

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

Overall, staff have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and what risks they may be exposed to. However, some serious incidents have not been reported to Ofsted. Additionally, the recording of some incidents lacks the required clarity and accuracy.

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

Staff have a good understanding of contextual safeguarding risks. There are systems in place for staff to monitor children’s phones to keep them safe. The responsible individual has been innovative in sharing her expertise with a local university, with the aim of promoting a better understanding of the impact that social media usage has on children who have suffered trauma. There is a plan to disseminate this research throughout the staff team.

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

The staff work hard to ensure that, when children see their families, this time is meaningful. For example, both children had planned holidays with their siblings. However, on two occasions the manager did not respond to a child’s concerns after they returned from seeing family. It is unclear what steps the manager took to ensure that the child’s concerns were listened to and the appropriate action taken. Inspection report for children’s home: SC424348 4 When the manager is dissatisfied with the response from wider professionals, the manager will advocate on behalf of children and challenge external agencies. However, there is not yet an organised approach to ensure that this challenge achieves the desired outcome. For example, on two occasions, the manager challenged the response from the police but failed to escalate these matters when no further response from the police was forthcoming. Additionally, recordings in

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

children’s files do not yet evidence how the manager is advocating on their behalf.

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

When children are involved in incidents, there is no plan for follow-up work and it is therefore unclear how children are being supported to problem-solve and reflect on their behaviour.

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

Overall staff do keep children safe, and they take action to ensure that children are protected. The children have a good relationship with one another and have formed trusting relationships with staff. Wider professionals are positive about the care being provided to children and were unequivocal in their views that children are safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been some changes in the management structure. The manager is new to the role but experienced, and has quickly built a positive relationship with the children and staff. The manager is supported by an experienced deputy manager. Furthermore, the previous registered manager maintains her relationship with the children through her role as the responsible individual. This means that staff and the children benefit from continuity in leadership despite the recent changes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff to the home receive a good induction. They receive relevant training and are given opportunities to learn from more experienced staff who already have established relationships with the children. Staff are positive about the team and describe it as ‘feeling like a family’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision. They are confident to ask for support from the manager if needed. The recording of supervision has improved; this is now of a much better standard. The quality of staff supervision means that staff feel supported and have the direction they need to provide good care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are proactive in terms of their own learning and development. Some staff have taken the lead in learning about topics such as coaching and animal therapy, and they then share this knowledge in team meetings. This is working well because staff are becoming more knowledgeable and, in turn, are better able to meet the needs of the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, the management of the home is good. However, the manager acknowledges that some improvements need to be made in terms of how information is recorded. The manager has started to review current recording practices and aims to make Inspection report for children’s home: SC424348 5 them more child-friendly. The manager has met the requirements and recommendations from the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC424348 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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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 an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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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(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that Ofsted is notified of a serious incident without delay. 30 October 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The responsible person 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 Inspection report for children’s home: SC424348 7 non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that

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Recommendations

will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Children and their parents should be supported to understand the nature of records kept by the home and how to access them. Staff should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. Staff should keep, and encourage children to keep, appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. (‘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: SC424348 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Nottingham City Council, Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham NG2 3NG

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Inspector

Andi Lilley-Tams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC424348 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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