Children's Home run by Higher Hopes Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 1 Registered provider: Higher Hopes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to five female children aged between eight and 18. The home cares for children who may have experienced childhood trauma and have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/07/2021 Full Good 08/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were four children living at the home at the time of this inspection. The children have previously experienced significant trauma, disruption and life instability. Since moving to the home, they have made good progress to slowly settle. They have been able to develop an understanding of safe behaviours and learn about risks from others that may result in harm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have school placements with good and improving levels of attendance and engagement. Staff have high expectations of the children. The manager works collaboratively with one school to respond when a child goes missing from school. This work results in the child being contacted or found more quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in developing their emotional resilience and strategies for positive behaviour. This reduces the risk of school exclusion and exploitation. Staff are consistent in their use of boundaries and share clear expectations of positive behaviour with children. Activities and daily living routines are rigorously assessed to protect children and reviewed after incidents.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make improvements to their lifestyles and live more healthily. This includes better nutrition, cessation of smoking and substance misuse, and developing awareness of safer sexual health. Staff encourage children to lead active lifestyles and take exercise at local swimming pools and gyms.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy many activities which contribute to their well-being and community engagement, including holidays and joining the army cadets. Since coming into post, the manager has focused on children developing their independence skills. Children proudly say that they are enjoying learning to cook, food shop and budget.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s relatives said that they feel fully included in their children’s care and kept up to date with important matters. The manager recognises the importance of children’s positive relationships with their families and arranges barbecues and gatherings to support this. A relative said, ‘Everything at the home ticks all the boxes. The staff have gone above the call of duty, they are 100% responsive. We couldn’t look after our child like that ourselves.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s life journeys and their time living at the home are captured in handmade books with stories, photos and reflections. Children are proud to show these to adults and recollect happy occasions and achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The house is spacious and welcoming. It is adapted to give opportunities to children to develop their independence and personalise their own spaces. However, improvements are needed to ensure that the garden areas are regularly maintained and office spaces kept tidy and free from clutter. Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 4

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

Children said that they feel safe and enjoy living at the home. They feel listened to and confident to share their views. They trust staff and have a very close and warm bond with the manager. The manager has extensive experience in supporting children with complex needs. The manager has mentored and developed the staff to equip them with the skills needed to provide safe and effective care.

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

The manager makes extensive assessments of the suitability of the home to meet children’s needs before they move in. The manager considers the impact of children’s previous trauma and the breakdown of previous placements. The manager and staff team have the confidence and experience to stabilise and continue children’s placements when serious incidents occur. They work closely with the local authority, police and safeguarding professionals to find solutions. Professionals said that this work had been instrumental in keeping placements going. This is important to reduce the risk of further placement breakdowns contributing to feelings of instability for children.

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

The assessment and management of risk is comprehensive. This work is done collaboratively with the professional team around the child. When children go missing from the home, staff respond quickly with dedication to search for and find the child. When children return home after being missing from care, staff show empathy and warmth and start the reflective process so that children can learn.

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

When serious incidents occur and support is needed, managers and senior staff provide a quick response. However, on one recent occasion, a staff member did not inform the on-call manager that a child needed to be taken off site for medical treatment during the night. This left the remaining staff member unaware that they were on their own with children. An incident then later occurred which placed the staff member at risk, and managers had to respond to the incident retrospectively. Learning from the incident has taken place and professionals involved remarked on the response by the provider positively.

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

Incidents of restrictive physical interventions are managed well by staff, who ensure that they follow plans to avoid the triggers of challenging behaviour. Staff use proportionate restraint and only as a last resort to protect children from serious harm. Following these incidents, restorative work takes place between the staff and children to explore the cause honestly and openly. This helps children to understand boundaries and expectations and rebuild trust with adults who care for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post for over a year. She has implemented improvements and higher standards and stabilised staffing turnover. Since arriving, she has set new expectations on staff and working pattens that better meet children’s needs. Staff now work a shift pattern that provides time for relationships Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 5 to be fostered. Consequently, children see the same adults at either end of the school day. This gives opportunities for consistency and restorative work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

During the first part of the year, there has been a high turnover of staff. The manager has reviewed the reasons for this, which include performance management, higher expectations, and pressures felt by the care sector in recruitment. Recent recruitment has been successful and there remains just one vacancy. The manager is focusing on equipping these staff with the skills and experience that they need. Staff said that they have received excellent support and training since the start of their employment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has worked with the provider to review the terms and conditions for staff to be competitive, and attract and retain the right calibre of staff. There has been considerable investment in building a team of senior therapeutic care workers. This team provides mentoring to care staff and brings creative approaches when supporting children who have experienced significant trauma.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are enthusiastic and speak of a strong and positive team dynamic and morale. The manager is considered very highly by staff and professionals as being dynamic, creative and focused on finding solutions for children with high-risk support needs. She is regarded as a passionate advocate for children and challenges other professionals when needed. The manager and responsible individual work closely together and recognise each other’s skills and strengths. They are confident to provide constructive challenge to each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff team are clear on the purpose of the home and how it should meet the needs of children living there. The manager is ambitious for children to make progress and enjoy their lives while working to repair the negative experiences that they have had. Staff seek and value children’s views and celebrate children’s individuality and identity. Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 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

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

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)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff follow the provider’s procedures for contacting on-call staff for urgent incidents out of normal hours, so that arrangements can be considered to ensure that children remain safe and well supervised. 31 October 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. Specifically, ensure that the garden area receives regular maintenance and all areas of the home, including office space, are kept tidy. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should demonstrate every effort to achieve continuity of staffing so that children’s attachments are not overly disrupted. This includes ensuring that the employment of any temporary staff will not prevent children from receiving the continuity of care that they need. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1) Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 7

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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: 2531620 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Higher Hopes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Old Forge Manor Farm, Bygrave, Herts SG7 5EE

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Inspector

Jamie Cousins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2531620 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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