Children's Home run by City of Doncaster Council in Doncaster

Inspection report for children’s home: 2701843 1 Registered provider: Doncaster Metropolitan Borough 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 four children with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, four children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

A manager has been appointed and has applied to Ofsted for registration.

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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

Date of last inspection: 31 October 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2701843 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2701843 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences of moving in to and on from the home. Staff make sure that they plan carefully for children coming to live at the home. Children visit the home prior to moving in, and information is shared to ensure that it is a suitable placement. When children are preparing to move out, staff work well to prepare children to be ready to move, including by working alongside those who will care for them in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a welcoming and homely environment. The home is well decorated and maintained, and the identity of the children is visible throughout the home. Children personalise their bedrooms. There is a range of photographs of the children on display, and additional touches that show children are involved in their care. For example, the meals that children choose are put onto a weekly menu chalk board in the kitchen. This helps the home to feel nurturing, like a family home, and gives children a strong sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children told the inspector that they like all the staff. The strong relationships that are built through close working with staff benefit the children. Children enjoy doing a range of different activities with staff. Some of these are new experiences and include different sports. Staff support children to celebrate key milestones in their life, creating fond and important memories for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health and are making positive progress in their education. Staff support children to attend routine medical appointments and seek medical advice for any emerging health needs or concerns, including mental health. Staff help children to attend school and to overcome obstacles that may impact on children attending and receiving education. Since moving in to the home, all children are attending education more regularly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spend time with their families and friends. Staff communicate well with children’s parents and see them as partners in children’s care. This helps children to stay connected to their loved ones and helps children to receive consistent care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work effectively with professionals whose input benefits the children’s experience and progress. Staff and managers understand their delegated roles and responsibilities and make appropriate decisions about children’s care. This has a positive impact on children’s lives as they are able to do things without any unnecessary delays.

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

Children told the inspector that they feel safe at the home and that they can talk to staff about any concerns or worries. Staff support children to take risks that are appropriate for their age. Staff are proactive in helping children to learn about things Inspection report for children’s home: 2701843 4 that may affect their safety inside and outside of the home. Staff work with children to help them to understand how to behave appropriately and be a good citizen.

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

Staff promote and praise positive behaviours. However, there is not always a clear relevance between behaviour and consequences given to children. This means that the effectiveness of consequences on helping children to learn from their behaviour could be reduced.

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

Children are better protected from risks to their safety by staff who know them and their needs. The children’s records include clear, individualised risk assessments. These are comprehensive, regularly reviewed and updated, and identify the key risks for children. The staff have clear information and strategies to follow to help to reduce the risks to children’s safety.

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

There are few incidents of children going missing from the home. When this does occur, staff take appropriate action to find and return children quickly and notify the relevant organisations.

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

Staff use their knowledge and skills effectively to defuse incidents. As a result, there is no use of restraint. Staff report incidents clearly and managers review incidents to identify good practice and lessons learned. Staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children.

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

Staff oversight of the use of window restrictors in children’s bedrooms needs to be strengthened to reduce the risk of falls from height. Children can and have overridden window restrictors in their bedrooms, which are on the first floor.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers of the home are aspirational for children and lead by example. They set expectations for staff and have a clear vision for children’s care and future development. The staff team is well established, consisting of long-standing and newer members of staff. Importantly, staff feel valued equally, well supported and listened to. Staff receive regular supervision and training. Managers encourage and help staff to take on additional responsibilities. This strengthens the leadership and running of the home, enables staff development, and helps to provide children with stability and continuity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers make sure that children’s records fully reflect the children, their everyday lives and the work that is carried out with them. Staff knowledge and the information in children’s records is cohesive. There are clear audit trails and records that demonstrate the care that children have received at the home. Both now and in the future, children will be able to understand their history and memories better through the clarity of their records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are effective oversight systems and processes in place to support the running of the home. These enable managers to understand the quality of care provided and put plans in place to address any emerging weaknesses. Managers welcome Inspection report for children’s home: 2701843 5 feedback through quality assurance reviews to support the continuous improvement of the home. These additional processes strengthen the governance of the home. There are no shortfalls identified at this inspection. Managers make sure that significant events are appropriately notified to the relevant organisations, including the regulator.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have good working relationships with the local community and external professionals. This enables managers to build connections and networks in the local community for children to access the support that is needed promptly. This also supports managers to be aware of any important information about the area, including risks to children’s safety. Inspection report for children’s home: 2701843 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should make sure that window restrictors are in use in accordance with health and safety legislation. (‘Guide of the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards 2015’, paragraph 3.9, page 15)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should make sure that any consequences or sanctions used to address behaviour are restorative in nature. In particular, the consequence or sanction should be meaningful and related to the behaviour. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards 2015’, paragraph 9.38, page 46)

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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: 2701843 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster DN1 3BU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Catherine Richardson

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Inspector

Honor Hamshaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2701843 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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