Children's Home run by Compass Children‟s Homes Limited in Kirklees

Inspection report for children’s home: 2683690 1 Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider owns and operates this home. The home is registered to provide care for up to five children who may have social, emotional and learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The home has a suitably qualified manager, who registered with Ofsted in March 2023.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2683690 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children feel understood and valued by the staff caring for them. This stems from the manager’s emotional intelligence around learning about and understanding the children’s unique circumstances. This has enabled the children to feel at ease in their home. As a result, there is a loving and vibrant atmosphere in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have helped staff to make the best use of the home and grounds. There has been innovation in creating sensory spaces for the children to enjoy. The children have been the manager’s primary consideration when these additions have been made to the home environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are motivated to broaden the children’s experiences and knowledge. The children embrace cultural evenings in the home and look forward to these events. The staff adopt a fun but educative approach to these occasions. In doing so, the children learn through these interactive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are systems built into the home’s daily routine that encourage the children to share their views. The children value these forums, and they feel free to discuss a variety of issues that are important to them and the staff. This has created a supportive and understanding environment where the children learn the skill and value of good communication.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Access to education has been stifled for some children due to the complexities associated with the children’s circumstances. Although the manager knows what needs to be done, and there is good collaboration with education professionals, this has not improved the outcomes for these children. The manager has not fully used the resources available in the organisation to coordinate a more effective response to resolve these issues.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The therapist, who is allocated to the home, makes extensive efforts to build a rapport with the children. As a result, the children are supported to work alongside the therapist effectively. However, the children do not have access to information that explains how the therapist uses the information that the children choose to share.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s placement plans, which the staff write to coordinate the children’s care, are vague. The use of broad, sweeping statements means that the children’s specific support needs are not clearly written. In addition, the plans are not consistently aligned with the children’s statutory documents. Inspection report for children’s home: 2683690 3

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

Staff have a sound understanding of the children’s vulnerabilities. This knowledge is supported by the children’s clear risk assessments. These assessments are succinct, but they have context to direct staff to support the children to better manage specific situations that carry an element of increased risk.

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

Leading a healthy lifestyle is an important feature of the children’s care. Staff have established a healthy culture in the home around routines that involve food, an active lifestyle and enjoying healthy sleep routines. These important elements of the children’s care have improved the children’s overall well-being.

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

There is structure and education around the children’s use of their smartphones. Boundaries are not rigid, and are focused on the child’s age, their discipline and their awareness of how to manage social media platforms and the internet responsibly. The children respond positively to these boundaries as they understand why they are in place.

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

The staff are confident and hold sensitive conversations with the children around various teenage issues. This gives the children immediate access to support to help their understanding and better protect their emotional well-being. The manager accepts that the quality of written records capturing these conversations for the children to look back on requires improvement; this is an area of ongoing development.

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

When staff need to physically intervene to keep the children safer, this is done compassionately and proportionately. The manager ensures that the children and staff receive meaningful support following these incidents. This has contributed to a culture of talking and openness. As a result, the staff learn how to better support the children when they are in a state of distress.

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

The staff have a good understanding of their duty to protect the children. Staff spoke confidently about their role and the relevant safeguarding processes that they use. Professionals who gave feedback in the inspection process supported this view.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is analytical when she scrutinises information about children who move into the home. The manager meets the children as part of her evaluation, and seeks the views of the staff. As part of this process, the manager evaluates significant events that have occurred in the child’s life. This ensures that the context is known and understood. This enables the staff to have a broader understanding and appreciation of the child’s circumstances and support needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A child known to the organisation briefly stayed at the home for a period of a few days. This was in response to an emergency situation, and was agreed by the child’s Inspection report for children’s home: 2683690 4 social worker. However, the home has no record of the child being placed there. This reduces the transparency of the home and is a breach of the regulation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children’s guide is colourful and uses relatable language. This helps the children to better understand the care that they will receive in the home. However, the role of the therapist is not highlighted in the guide. In addition, there is no explanation of why the staff may need to physically intervene to keep the children safer. These are significant features of the children’s care that are not made clear to them in the children’s guide.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff feel valued and supported by their manager. The staff understand the value of ongoing personal development through the diploma programme, and said that the organisation provides access to good-quality training. These initiatives improve the quality of care for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2683690 5

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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, The 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

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 1 October 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide helps the children to understand what happens in the home, and what care they can expect to receive while living there. In particular, the registered person should ensure that information about the role of the therapist and about physical interventions is included in the guide. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)  The registered person should ensure that, for every child in their care, they know the level of decision-making that has been delegated to them in relation to the child’s education. These delegations should be recorded in the child’s placement plan and it is the joint responsibility of the registered person and the child’s placing local authority to agree this at the time of the child’s placement. The registered person needs to apply the resources highlighted in the home’s

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Recommendations

statement of purpose to achieve this aim. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 27, paragraph 5.9)  The registered person should ensure that the staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should support the children and their parents to understand the nature of records kept by the home and how to access them. In particular, the registered person should ensure that records include the role of the therapist working with the child and how information the child shares with the therapist will be used. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the

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Recommendations

quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5) Inspection report for children’s home: 2683690 6

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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: 2683690 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 Rayns Way, Syston, Leicester LE7 1PF

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jessica Middleton

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Inspector

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2683690 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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