Children's home run by Hull City Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2550526 1 Registered provider: Hull City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A local authority owns and runs this home. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who may experience emotional and social difficulties or learning disabilities. There are currently two children living at the home. Staff also provide support to children and their families in the community, away from the home, when required.

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Information about this children’s home

The suitable qualified manager registered with Ofsted in August 2019. She holds the registration of this and another home in the local area.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2550526 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/05/2022 Full Outstanding 10/05/2021 Full Outstanding 27/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2550526 3

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outstanding

There is significant evidence that children who live in the home make exceptional progress from their starting points. This is because they receive an excellent quality of care, which is provided by a nurturing and loving staff team, whose members are heavily invested in them. Children enjoy trusted and secure relationships with the registered manager and the staff, who know them well. When a new child arrives at the home the staff work tirelessly to get to know and understand them. This enables staff to quickly establish ways of working, which helps children to settle and feel more comfortable in the home.

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outstanding

The registered manager considers the impact of any new children moving into the home in detail, not just for the new child but for the child already present. This process is revisited and reviewed regularly once a child moves in and is managed sensitively, with care and consideration. When children leave the home, this is planned well with the child being at the centre of all decision-making. Timescales for any move are fully considered when planning the length of the transition.

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outstanding

There are numerous examples of how staff have supported children to reconnect with their families and loved ones. For one child, this was a close family member who lives in another county, and who the child had not seen for many years. Staff have also helped children to re-establish contact with people important to them, such as teachers and previous carers.

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outstanding

Staff have completed outreach work with children and their families to support reunification back into family care. This work has involved formulating creative solutions so that plans have been able to progress despite their being challenges to overcome. This has included practical and emotional support to children and families. This has been invaluable in enabling the plans to be successful and for the child to be able to return home.

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outstanding

Children are supported to have regular, enjoyable family contact which is safe for everyone involved. One child has recently been on a day trip with their parents and siblings, which was arranged by staff. Another child who has elderly grandparents has been supported to help care for them and to visit one of them in hospital. At times, this support has gone above and beyond. The exceptional care provided enhances the relationships the children have with staff. One member of staff said, ‘The children can see we really care about them.’

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outstanding

The children are able to participate in a wide range of activities, both in and outside of the home. They can also travel further afield, and a holiday abroad is being discussed for later this year. The children are able to decide on what they do and where they would like to visit. These activities are then captured in memory books Inspection report for children’s home: 2550526 4 and memory boxes, which creatively document what the children have achieved while living in the home.

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outstanding

Staff prioritise children’s happiness and emotional well-being. Staff act on guidance from a clinician that supports them to better understand the children’s individual needs. The staff have a warm and nurturing approach with the children, which is modelled by the registered manager. One child showed examples of messages the staff send them when they are not in the home. These funny, friendly messages reassure children that staff are available and care about them, even when they do not need their help.

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outstanding

Both children are in education and attend regularly. For one child, this is outstanding progress as they did not attend school for a significant period of time. The child’s attendance is now more than 90%. In part, this is due to the consistency and reliability of the staff in supporting this child to go to school, and as a result, they have built resilience and determination in the child, who also wants to do well and succeed.

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outstanding

Children say they feel safe and happy in the home. The relationships that the staff build with the children afford them a sense of safety and security. A consistent team of staff means the children know their carers well.

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outstanding

Children do go missing from care. For one child, there are particular circumstances that cause this to happen. As the staff know this child so well, they can anticipate this happening and are therefore proactive in the actions they take to prevent this happening. Due to this approach, the number of missing-from-care incidents for this child have significantly reduced. There are effective systems in place, with detailed plans to guide staff as to what should happen should a child go missing from care, which staff follow.

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outstanding

The home takes a positive stance in relation to consequences for unwanted behaviours. The children have incentives in place to recognise positive choices, and natural consequences are used, rather than any punitive measures, as a response to unwanted behaviours. This approach raises the self-esteem of the children, who can see that their achievements are celebrated by staff.

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outstanding

Staff are very clear that physical interventions are only used as a last resort to keep children and others safe. The staff utilise a wealth of de-escalation methods when a child is upset or distressed. When physical interventions are used they are recorded with the detail of what has happened and why. Discussions are held with staff and the child after the incident to support them and to try and understand what happened and how to avoid a repeat of the incident. This helps staff support the children with other ways of managing emotions and behaviours in the future. Inspection report for children’s home: 2550526 5 Risks within the home are well managed. The registered manager has a positive approach to children taking age-appropriate risks. For one child, this means that they are able to visit an area which previously was seen as too high risk for them. Staff have been proactive in meeting this child’s friends and their parents so that a

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outstanding

network can be established. They have then stayed with the child so they could visit that area safely instead of assessing the risks as too high to manage. Risk assessments are thorough and are regularly reviewed. They include the voice of the child, how they want to be supported, and what strategies work for them. Staff spend a great deal of time speaking with children about risks, and children learn to keep themselves safe.

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outstanding

The registered manager ensures that reflective learning can take place following any incidents. They utilise the home clinician in order to have reflective, research- informed discussions. These discussions can help the staff understand the responses and behaviours that children may display. This helps them to have a good level of knowledge and they can identify strategies to avoid incidents happening again.

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outstanding

There was a minor deficit in one recording system the registered manager has in place. Once this was highlighted, the registered manager was able to make plans to rectify this to ensure that it does not happen again. There was no identified impact of this shortfall on the safety or well-being of the children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is managed by a permanent, long standing, experienced and qualified registered manager. She is supported by experienced senior care officers and a stable, well-established team, whose members work well together and are committed to their roles. The staff work alongside the staff of the sister home, which means that no agency staff need to be used and the children have consistency of care from people with whom they are familiar.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is highly motivated and leads by example. She is nurturing, therapeutic and reflective in nature. She has high expectations of herself, the staff and the children. She is very much involved in the care of the children and this was observed throughout the inspection. She is highly motivated to ensure that the physical and emotional needs of the children are met. This has included her staying late into the evening to settle them into bed following a distressing incident, and using calming meditation techniques, to which the child has responded positively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has an ambitious vision for the home. She strongly believes that all children should know their story and their identity. She feels that this is the foundation for the children achieving their potential, and this ethos resonates through her to the other staff. Together, they have come up with creative ways of enabling the children to safely see people who are pivotal in their lives, when historically this has been seen as a risk too difficult to manage.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Feedback from staff and professionals has been exceptionally positive. Staff feel supported, listened to, and valued by the registered manager and senior leaders. Inspection report for children’s home: 2550526 6 The registered manager includes the staff when making decisions about the home. She promotes them to take the lead in areas they feel confident in, and she is developing a ‘champions’ role, which allows staff to have their own areas of responsibility. One professional said, ‘The registered manager is exceptionally supportive of us. The communication and the way we have worked together has meant that [name of child] has been able to achieve really well in school.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff receive regular supervision, which they value and which is beneficial to them. Supervision is reflective in nature and, alongside the case reflections they have with the clinician, enhances staff practice. The registered manager has organised workshops with the clinician so that research can be explained, understood, and then born out in staff practice. The registered manager works closely with the clinician so that the clinician’s knowledge and skills are used to enhance the knowledge and skills of the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has systems in place to ensure that notifications are sent to relevant parties, and to ensure that documents include all of the relevant information. However, a number of notifications have been sent late to Ofsted, which prevents the regulator from reviewing incidents in a timely way. Appropriate actions are always taken by the registered manager to safeguard the children in the home. The registered manager updated these systems immediately once the shortfalls were identified. Inspection report for children’s home: 2550526 7

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of physical intervention are accurate and reflect the holds that have been used. She should also ensure that the holds permitted to be used are all detailed in the risk assessment of the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that all regulation 40 notifications are sent to the regulator within 24 hours. In addition, the registered person should ensure that all case records are kept up to date. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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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: 2550526 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kingston upon Hull City Council, The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

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Inspector

Gail McGann, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2550526 9 regulates and inspects 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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