Children's Home run by Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 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 operates this home, which offers medium- to long-term care for up to four children. The children may have social and emotional difficulties. The home and manager registered with Ofsted in October 2022. This is the first inspection of the home.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected. Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s individuality is celebrated and encouraged. Staff do this through supporting children in trying a variety of new activities and experiences, to find out which they enjoy. Staff also help children to arrange and decorate their rooms in a way that reflects their different personalities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children have been unable to attend full-time education in the past, and staff understand the negative affect that this can have on children. This insight has helped staff to work closely with schools to make sure that the children now receive the type of education that is best suited to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff pride themselves on building close relationships with the children, and this helps the children to feel a sense of belonging and stability. The children express this clearly, with one child saying, ‘Since I was four, I have never felt this settled or loved anywhere before.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Sometimes, the children fall out with each other. Staff support children to resolve their disputes or make complaints. Managers record and evaluate children’s relationships to understand why they fall out, and staff have meaningful conversations with each child to help them to improve their behaviour towards each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The combination of strong, effective relationships and clear, consistent boundaries result in children making good progress. They learn to manage emotions better, gain confidence and feel more settled. Children’s views are sought through planned discussions, regular house meetings, and care reviews. Their views are important and taken into account. This is seen in both big decisions, such as where they will attend school, to small day-to-day decisions about how they spend their time and with whom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have lots of new experiences, including holidays, going to youth clubs in the community, and various other events. Children say how much they enjoy these activities and want to do more of them. The children enjoy some activities with staff, which highlights the good-quality relationships between them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children become young adults, they are prepared and helped to move to independent accommodation. Staff teach children the appropriate skills to live with a lower level of support. Children keep in touch with staff after they move out, which shows how beneficial the trusted relationships are.

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

Children’s plans and assessments clearly detail their individual risks and vulnerabilities. The children’s views on their risks are also recorded in the written Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 4 plans. This means that there is a shared understanding of worries and concerns. When risks increase, action is taken at an early point. This includes involving workers who specialise in advising about drug misuse, sexual health, and mental well-being. This may not remove risk, but acting quickly can reduce it. Staff use multiple opportunities to reinforce messages about what is and what is not appropriate behaviour.

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

There have been few instances of children going missing. On most of these occasions, children who have been absent have been found at known family addresses or have returned after curfew. During these times, staff have been consistent in following plans, actively looking for children and alerting police if they have concerns. This has promoted the swift and safe return of children.

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

If children commit a crime, staff work alongside youth justice to establish an effective relationship between the youth justice worker and the child. This groundwork helps to promote a foundation where the worker can help the child to understand the consequences of their behaviour.

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

There has been only one occasion when a child was held for their own safety. On this occasion, the child was held by a manager, and there was no recorded oversight from another manager to ensure that the use of the hold was necessary and proportionate. There was no indication of any inappropriate use of physical intervention, but it would be good practice to have independent oversight on such occasions. This protects both staff and children. The very low number of physical interventions reflects staff’s skill in de-escalating situations when children are upset and show unwanted behaviours.

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

There are systems in place to ensure the safety of the premises. The records of fire drills do not contain sufficient detail to know which staff and children have been involved in them. There is no information about what action is taken if children refuse to participate in the drills. This does not provide reassurance that everyone using the building has had the opportunity to practise what to do in the event of a fire.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has worked consistently to embed a positive culture in this new home. She wants to create a home where the children feel safe and settled, and which feels like a family home. She has been successful in this, and the children speak highly of the care that they receive. This is fundamental to children’s well- being, especially for children who may have experienced multiple placement moves.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are many examples of effective multi-agency working, and regular use is made of the expertise of psychologists who are linked to the home. This specialist input from other professionals has promoted the staff to work with the children in a consistent and informed way. This results in the children making positive progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 5 Training, reflective supervisions, and well-attended and recorded team meetings help staff to have a shared approach to caring for the children. The innovation of ‘toolbox’ training means that bespoke sessions are provided for staff that are relevant to children’s vulnerabilities. This contributes to a skilled team of staff, who are able to work effectively with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Independent visits started when the home opened. With one exception, all visits have been arranged in advance. The registered manager has identified that this reduces opportunities for the visitor to see the home in an unprepared state and make recommendations for improvements based on what they observe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is held in high regard by the staff and by professionals. They also comment positively on the staff team as a whole, citing staff’s commitment to the children, and their success in creating a nurturing environment. Working relationships with other agencies are collaborative, but the registered manager challenges other agencies when she feels that their practice falls short of expectations. Education provisions and the police have been challenged by the manager, and this provides reassurance that the manager is acting as an effective advocate for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The period since the home opened has seen the formation of a close, consistent, conscientious staff team, who express genuine care about the children. This has resulted in children making good progress, and they say that they are happy in their new home. One child said, ‘I feel so close to the staff. I know I always feel safe talking to them. I feel like this is my birth family, I don’t see this as a care home.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the principles as set out in 9.35 are respected. This includes appropriate independent scrutiny and recording when the registered person is involved in the incident of restraint. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should ensure that children feel safe and are safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected, and be protected from significant harm. This includes ensuring that children know what to do in the event of a fire through participation in fire drills. Records of these

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Recommendations

drills should make it clear who has and who has not participated (both staff and children) to ensure that everyone knows what to do in the event of a fire. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. This includes requesting changes to the way that independent visits are arranged, and the focus of visits, if this would be beneficial to improving the quality of care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: 2665502 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kingston upon Hull City Council

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Rachel Ruth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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