Children's home run by Bradford Children and Families Trust

Inspection report for children’s home: 2729264 1 Registered provider: Bradford Children and Families Trust Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by Bradford Children and Families Trust. It provides care for up to five children with a range of social and/or emotional difficulties. There are three children living at the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home was re-registered on 1 April 2023, when the local authority arrangements were taken over by the trust. The manager is suitably qualified and is registered with Ofsted.

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

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2729264 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2729264 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and settled living at this home. They have good relationships with the staff, who they trust. These relationships are at the heart of the progress that children make. One child said, ‘I get on with everyone here, I like it. If I was rating this home, I would give it 9 out of 10.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The relationships forged between the children and staff are a key strength. Staff act as positive role models and do what good parents would do. Fun, laughter and appropriate affection form the ethos that underpins the home. This helps children to feel relaxed and safe in the knowledge that they can be themselves.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff highly value education. In doing so, they have helped children to overcome barriers to learning. Children have been supported in attending structured education and have achieved good attendance and attainment. All of the staff have high aspirations for the children, and, as a result, the children are thriving.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported and encouraged to lead a healthy and active lifestyle and attend all their health appointments. Staff also skilfully promote the children’s overall emotional health and well-being. The manager and the staff work closely with health professionals, such as specialist nurses and clinicians. This helps to ensure that children’s physical and emotional health needs are addressed.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children live full and active lives. Children have excellent access to a wide range of activities and interests, including cheerleading, football coaching and horse riding. These activities help to build confidence and resilience. Staff notice children’s talents, and children are encouraged and enabled to develop them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make very good progress in developing independence skills. They are given daily tasks, roles and responsibilities around the home that provide them with useful skills. These tasks can be as simple as learning how to boil an egg, to learning how to budget and travel independently. As children progress, they learn to take on more responsibility for managing themselves. These opportunities are designed to improve self-esteem as children move towards living a more independent lifestyle.

p.3

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

Staff are familiar with and understand the safeguarding procedures in place. They understand their own roles and responsibilities in keeping children protected from harm.

p.3

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

Children enjoy strong relationships with staff and feel genuinely cared about and listened to. Children are confident that any concerns that they have will be Inspection report for children’s home: 2729264 4 addressed. One child said, ‘I don’t have any worries, but if I did, I know it would get sorted.’

p.3

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

Staff set clear, reasonable and appropriate rules and boundaries for children. They provide good examples for children on how to interact with each other. Staff promote openness, honesty and being kind to each other. This approach produces an environment in which children feel safe and respected.

p.4

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

Risk assessments are tailored to each child’s needs and take account of their different abilities, maturity and stages of development. This helps to ensure that staff fully understand how to respond to each child’s individual needs.

p.4

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

It is relatively rare for children to go missing from the home. When they do, staff manage these incidents very well, following protocols that are bespoke to each child. When children are away from the home, staff are proactive in looking for them and liaising with other agencies to ensure that children return home as quickly as possible.

p.4

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

The staff manage difficult incidents without the need for physical intervention, and they encourage positive behaviour through a variety of creative means. They celebrate children’s achievements through reward and recognition. Consequently, the children are settled and are making good progress.

p.4

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

Good-quality direct work is undertaken with children. Children have regular key-work sessions on how to keep themselves safe. This helps children to understand risk and develop a concept of situations that could make them unsafe. The quality of this work is good. However, it is not always clear who has undertaken this piece of work with the child. This makes it difficult for the manager to evaluate staff practice. Furthermore, records made in this way do not aid children’s understanding of their time at the home should they want to review their records later in life.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is ambitious for the well-being of children and the development of the home. Staff say that the manager has a ‘hands-on’ approach and knows the children in her care very well. She is child-focused and committed to delivering and maintaining good standards of care. The manager promotes a clear ethos that is caring, supportive and safe.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children, staff and professionals speak warmly about the quality of the manager’s leadership. Previous improvements are being built on and enhanced through the stability she brings to the team. Evidence gathered at this inspection highlights that the children are at the forefront of the manager’s thinking. This helps to ensure that the home operates in the best interests of children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with regular supervision of their practice. They are encouraged to reflect on their own skills and areas for development, as well as children’s progress. Supervision sessions and team meetings include a check on the children’s Inspection report for children’s home: 2729264 5 development and staff members’ emotional well-being. This helps to ensure that staff feel valued by leaders, which helps them to perform well.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a range of training. This includes core training, such as safeguarding and first aid, alongside more-specialist courses when needed.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In the main, monitoring of the home is effective and the manager has a good oversight of the home’s strengths and areas for development. However, difficulties with the current electronic case-recording system mean that the manager does not have full oversight of some key records, such as incidents that have occurred at the home. This limits the manager’s ability to fully analyse, evaluate and track for emerging patterns and trends.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working is effective. Staff work well with other agencies and professionals, including social workers, health workers and the police. This collaborative working assists them in improving the outcomes for the children who live at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2729264 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that records are kept detailing all individual incidents that occur at the home. These records must be easily accessible in order for the manager to assess and analyse the actions taken by staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.31)  The registered person must ensure that case records are up to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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: 2729264 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bradford Children and Families Trust

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sir Henry Mitchell House (5th Floor), 4 Manchester Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD5 0QL

p.7

Inspector

Ceri Evans, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2729264 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.

p.7

Inspector

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

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8