Children's Home run by Kisimul Group Limited in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report for children's home: 1277726 1 Registered provider: Kisimul Group Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to six children with severe learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is registered and suitably experienced and qualified.

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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: 6 February 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1277726 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2023 Full Good 05/10/2021 Full Good 10/12/2019 Full Good 06/03/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1277726 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well and have trusting relationships with them. They use these relationships to encourage children to become more confident and to learn appropriate life skills. Staff recognise the progress that children make, and achievements are celebrated with the children. For example, one child no longer uses incontinence pads during the day after toileting support strategies were successfully used. Another child now eats a more varied diet. This has enabled the child to gain weight, which is good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff appreciate and value the children’s views and ideas. There are regular children’s meetings, where their opinions on the day-to-day running of the home are listened to, and their ideas are later implemented. For example, children have chosen paint colours for the home and provided ideas for flooring. They have been supported to personalise their rooms. Communication barriers have been overcome in these meetings to ensure each child’s voice is heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive appropriate healthcare support. This includes more specialist support and services when required. Staff recognise that children can be anxious about attending health appointments and have used illustrated short stories and role play to show children what will happen when they attend appointments. This provides reassurance for children and helps them to know what to expect. As a result, one child has been able to attend health appointments, which he had not done for several years.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are making excellent educational progress, despite some children having had long periods without education before moving to the home. Education packages are tailored to children’s individual needs and aspirations, supporting them to achieve and reach their potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy. They take part in a range of activities which enrich their lives. This includes trips to the seaside, going swimming and messy play sessions. The manager has recruited additional staff to specifically support children with after- school activities. This increases the frequency and variety of experiences for children and ensures greater community participation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Local authority plans for one child have not been received, despite the child living at the home for over two months. The manager has escalated his concerns over this delay to the placing local authority. However, the manager is not able to ensure the aims and objectives in the local authority plan inform the home’s documents for the child, which is hampering care planning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a warm and welcoming environment. It has a family feel, with lots of photos of the children on display. The children’s bedrooms are personalised, which gives them a sense of belonging. However, one child has had to move Inspection report for children's home: 1277726 4 bedrooms for required repair work to be carried out. The repairs have not been completed in a timely manner and have been ongoing for two months.

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

The manager and staff team have a good understanding of children’s risks and vulnerabilities. Comprehensive risk assessments are in place for each child, and risk management strategies are well understood by staff. Assessments provide guidance for staff and are regularly reviewed to ensure that they remain relevant.

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

Children have regular visits from a specialist independent advocacy service. These sessions are used to explore a range of topics with children around safety, relationships with staff and children’s feelings. This ensures children’s disabilities do not prevent their views and feelings from being heard.

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

There are a low number of incidents requiring the use of restraint. However, holds used are not always in line with the home’s preferred method of physical intervention. During one incident, a child’s hands were held and their nails cut to prevent them from scratching staff. Staff failed to follow physical intervention training guidelines, which left children vulnerable. This incident took place before the new manager was appointed. A robust review of the incident was completed by leaders and managers, and the lessons learned have been shared with staff.

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

The location risk assessment provides staff with sufficient information to safeguard children from risks in the community. However, the manager has not consulted relevant people about the appropriateness of the location of the home and any risks associated with the area.

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

The recruitment of new staff is considered carefully by managers and leaders. This ensures that children are cared for by staff who are safe to work with them. New staff receive a thorough induction, ensuring they understand children’s individual needs and risks and their specific communication systems. However, agency staff are not all confident in using children’s electronic communication systems with them. This prevents them from supporting children to improve their communication skills and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has now registered with Ofsted. He leads by example and has managed to provide stability which has benefited children and staff. The staff say that this change has been positive. However, because of staff shortages, the manager has had to work increased hours. This has reduced his ability to introduce and embed the improved monitoring and review systems he had started to implement. For example, two records of restraint contained factually inaccuracies. These records were drawn up before the appointment of the new manager. Inspection report for children's home: 1277726 5 There have been challenges in filling staff vacancies. However, staff retention has improved. Staff say they feel supported. One said they ‘love coming to work’. This results in a warm and inviting home environment where children flourish.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads by example and promotes a culture of calm and positive care practice. He is supportive to staff and caring towards the children. He has high aspirations for the children and the staff team and understands the home’s strengths and the areas that need further development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The senior management team benefits from high-quality reports produced by an independent visitor. The reports investigate practice and provide professional challenge when required. The monitoring and review systems are effective and help leaders and managers to drive improvements, and they ensure that children receive a good quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have ensured staff receive regular supervision. However, the quality of supervision is variable. Some supervision meetings do not provide opportunities for staff to reflect on their care practice and for staff performance to be monitored effectively. This hinders staff development. Inspection report for children's home: 1277726 6

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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

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that children’s care plans are accurate and up to date. 31 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child);

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Requirement Due date

serious damage to the property of any person (including the child).

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b) (2))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children only being held as a last resort, in line with regulation. 19 October 2023

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislation (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to Inspection report for children's home: 1277726 7 maintain a domestic rather than institutional impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The home should work in partnership with relevant people as appropriate to ensure that each child is provided with support (appropriate to their age and understanding) to communicate their views, wishes and feelings and participate as fully as possible in all aspects of their care planning and daily care. This may include the use of and support to use communication aids, equipment and/or any necessary

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Recommendations

language support. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.6)  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will

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Recommendations

be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person must consult and take into account the views of each relevant person, identify any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the Children’ s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: 1277726 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kisimul School, The Old Vicarage, High Street, Swinderby, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN6 9LU

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Inspectors

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Linda Mason, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1277726 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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