Children's Home, Residential special school run by Kisimul Group Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC034241 1 SC034241 Registered provider: Kisimul Group Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This residential special school is registered as a children’s home because children stay overnight for more than 295 days per year. The home provides care for up to 37 children and young people with severe learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a manager who is in the process of registering 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 children’s home: SC034241 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/08/2021 Full Good 10/09/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/06/2019 Full Inadequate 07/08/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC034241 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and staff have excellent relationships. Staff know and understand the children very well. They talk warmly and positively about children’s strengths and achievements. Children trust staff and seek physical interaction and affection from them. The home provides a calm, settled environment in which children are happy and relaxed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a thorough understanding of the children’s histories and reasons for being in care. This understanding helps the staff to support the children to achieve excellent outcomes. A staff member said, ‘We want them to achieve and have better outcomes. We are like a family and have huge aspirations for them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The property feels loved and cared for. Children and staff take great pride in the home. Every room is full of children’s belongings and activities. Children’s artwork and their photographs are on display throughout. Their bedrooms are personalised, and children help to choose the décor of the home. One child’s bedroom replicates the colours and soft furnishings of their bedroom in their family home, further supporting the child to settle in and feel at home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make excellent progress in developing their life skills. Staff recognise and celebrate small, but significant, achievements for children, such as brushing their teeth or using a new communication symbol. Some children’s progress fluctuates, but staff quickly identify this and adjust the support to the child to get them on track to make progress. This helps children to make small but continuous progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are sought through a variety of means. Staff are skilled at observing children and picking up on non-verbal cues and changes in their behaviour. This is used alongside key-work conversations and the use of independent advocacy service to support children to make decisions about their home and transition plans for their next steps.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are engaged in education. Children with a history of poor educational engagement are supported to learn and achieve. When children have difficulties in education, there is a strong response from care and education staff to find solutions and re-engage children.

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

Children’s individual risk assessments are of good quality. Risk management and support plans identify all known risks and provide detailed guidance to staff on keeping children safe. They provide staff with the direction they need to manage children’s risks and vulnerabilities. These are regularly reviewed and updated. Inspection report children’s home: SC034241 4 Significant events are well managed. There are detailed records of all incidents and the actions taken. Staff are trained and skilled in de-escalation, and the home has a restraint-reduction plan in place, meaning that restraints are only used as a last resort. Managers review and reflect on all incidents with the team, identifying more- innovative ways to support children in times of crisis learning and discussion.

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

Children rarely go missing. When they do, clear and detailed missing-from-care protocols enable the staff to know what action to take. Debriefs with staff always take place, which enable the protocols to be reviewed and updated.

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

Allegations are logged and are treated very seriously. The response from the manager is timely and very detailed. Learning from complaints is appropriately identified, and action is taken.

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

Staff work in partnership with other professionals to keep children safe, including across all areas of health, education and social care. For example, when there was a significant change in one child’s health needs, staff were tenacious in ensuring that medical professionals, the social worker and home worked consistently to create a bespoke package of support to meet the child’s changing needs. This work is commendable.

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

Medication processes are generally safe. However, there have been some errors in the recording of the administration records. Managers’ audits have identified these errors and learning has been taken from this to improve practice in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are motivated, passionate and committed to improving the quality of care for children. They have a clear vision for the home and have shown a real commitment to the children in their care, the home and staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been significant changes within the management structure, moving towards each home having a registered manager. In turn, this is providing a strong and effective management team that has systematic oversight of all aspects of the homes. Managers know when children are making progress. They also know if children are not making progress and set about to change this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have led the home through a difficult period of increased staff turnover. Recruitment is ongoing to fill several vacancies. However, the core staff group has been stable, and it is very experienced. Staffing shortages impact the home’s ability to respond to unplanned events, should these arise. Senior leaders have made changes to the recruitment process, improving pay structures, and reviewed how to improve staff retention overall. Staff turnover has been an issue, and leaders have taken action to stabilise the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home. They act quickly to address any shortfalls or areas for development. They are highly organised and have embedded effective monitoring and review systems. This has been key to the Inspection report children’s home: SC034241 5 smooth running of the home and helped to improve behaviour management practices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have developed effective relationships with all external professional agencies. This partnership working is a key strength of the home. Stakeholders are confident in the ability of this children’s home to provide good experiences that support children’s progress. Feedback from social workers is positive. One social worker said, `they [staff] are just fantastic’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training is of a high standard. It is tailored to meet the individual complex needs of children. This results in a competent workforce that delivers a high quality of care. Staff attend regular team meetings. There is now a greater emphasis on reflective practice within staff supervision, helping staff to learn and develop their confidence and skills to provide consistent care and support each child’s individual needs. However, not all staff have received regular supervision. This prevents them from being able to talk about issues that are important to them. Inspection report children’s home: SC034241 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 make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that–

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child;

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b)(c)) 19 December

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Recommendations

 The registered person should plan staffing levels to ensure that they meet the needs of children and can respond flexibly to unexpected events or opportunities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.15)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: SC034241 7

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kisimul School, The Old Vicarage High Street, Swinderby, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN6 9LU

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Inspectors

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Simon Hunter, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034241 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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