Children's home run by Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull, City of

Inspection report for children’s home: SC036157 1 SC036157 Registered provider: Hull City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A local authority manages the children’s home. It provides care for up to eight children with learning disabilities and/or sensory impairment.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Four children were present during the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since August 2022 and has applied to register with Ofsted. They were not available during the inspection.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC036157 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/10/2021 Full Good 03/03/2020 Full Outstanding 29/08/2018 Full Outstanding 13/03/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC036157 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped by an experienced and committed team, that builds warm and trusting relationships between children and staff. Staff know the children well and recognise how they communicate. Not all children use words to communicate, but staff recognise changes in behaviour. This enables them to be proactive about the children’s well-being.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained and has a homely atmosphere. It is undergoing refurbishment, and the bathrooms and shared spaces are almost complete. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and reflect the children’s personalities.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children see family members regularly and staff support this. Children’s views guide how often this happens. Face-to-face visits and video calls take place regularly. This enables the children to continue relationships with brothers and sisters and supports their sense of identity and belonging.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school regularly and the staff team works closely with education providers. Professionals report that when there have been issues with transport the team has stepped in. This minimises disruption for children, and helps them to have structure and routine. It also gives them the opportunity to progress and learn, preparing them for the future.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in activities in the home and attend clubs that reflect their interests. They have recently had holidays and trips out. One child showed inspectors videos of their favourite characters and danced along to the music. Photo books capture lasting memories of these trips for children.

p.3

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

The staff team understands children’s risks and manages these well. This means that serious incidents are rare. Where incidents have occurred, the manager has responded quickly and robustly, involving other professionals to create safety plans. For one child, the home’s behaviour management plan did not have enough detail about one specific risk. Staff were aware of the risk and, when necessary, took action to reduce the risk. This helps to safeguard the child. Some incidents of self- injury have not been recorded. This prevents the manager from having full oversight of incidents to ensure safe practice.

p.3

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

Children do not go missing regularly from the home, but when they do staff follow the protocols in place. Staff act to return children as quickly as possible, and practice is reviewed to increase safety. The children have little awareness of risks in their community. Staff support them when they are out. Staffing levels are appropriate to the children’s needs to promote their safety. Inspection report for children’s home: SC036157 4 Medication systems are robust and there are rarely any errors. Storage is safe and the policy has been reviewed. Trained staff follow processes and understand the risks. This helps children stay safe. Staff encourage children to be involved in the process where they can.

p.3

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

Recruitment checks are thorough and well recorded. These are in place before staff start work. Staff complete safeguarding training and other related courses as part of their induction.

p.4

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

Children do, at times, become distressed and find it hard to manage their own emotions. Staff are trained to hold children, if necessary, at these times. Records of such incidents are detailed, and staff use the least restrictive approach with children. Staff understand the reasons for children’s behaviour, and this is noted in the records. This helps to reduce incidents.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new manager has been appointed in this period, which can be unsettling for children and staff. Team members and professionals positively view the new manager’s appointment positively. The staff team feels valued by the manager and staff are excited about changes to the building, training, and new responsibilities they have been given to develop their skills. A virtual school head commented, ‘I would like to stress how proactive the staff are. We enjoy a good professional working relationship. Education meetings around children’s plans are productive.’

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervisions, training and team days support a thorough induction. This equips inexperienced staff for their roles. Staff spoke highly of the recent team day. They described it as child focused and said that they felt valued and listened to. Minutes of this reflect a shift in focus which confirm this.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager was not available during the inspection. Two senior care officers, supported by the group home’s manager, led the inspection. They were able to answer questions and share the progress of the children with few prompts. They did this confidently and well.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One impact risk assessment lacks detail of a contingency when a short-term stay had to be extended to meet needs. For one child, an assessment is delayed and may have missed services which could help them. This has affected the child who has found it difficult to cope. The manager and team have worked hard to support the child and build trust. They have involved other agencies and are starting to see progress. Professionals involved with the child speak highly of the way that the manager and team have managed this situation, whilst they try to find a more suitable placement.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals speak of positive relationships with the manager and the team and say that they are proactive, solution focused and advocate strongly for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC036157 5

p.4

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, the 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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

p.5

Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’ s relevant plans.

p.5

Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

p.5

Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’ s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (1)(a)(b)(c)))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should evidence that they have challenged the placing authority where an assessment has not been completed. 18 November

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

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;

p.5

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)) 4 November 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC036157 6 In particular, the registered person should ensure that all identified risks for children are included in the relevant plans.

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that policies concerning self-injury and suicide have the necessary level of senior management oversight and implement a system to do so. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.20)  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

p.6

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: SC036157 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kingston upon Hull City Council

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

p.7

Inspectors

Carol Jagger, Social Care Inspector Rachel Ruth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC036157 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.

p.7

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8