Children's Home run by Netheredge Care Limited in Kirklees

Inspection report for children’s home: SC489226 1 SC489226 Registered provider: Netheredge Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company and is registered to provide care for up to five children.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager post is currently vacant. This inspection was led by the deputy manager with the support of the operations manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 27 September 2023

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

At the full inspection on 27 and 28 September 2023, compliance notices were issued under Regulations 10 and 13. Inspection report for children’s home: SC489226 2 A monitoring visit was carried out on 5 December 2023. During that visit, Ofsted found that Regulation 10 was met. A further compliance notice was issued under Regulation 13.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

During this inspection, the inspectors identified that progress has been made, and the compliance notice under Regulation 13 had been met. Inspection report for children’s home: SC489226 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/09/2023 Full Inadequate 17/10/2022 Full Outstanding 17/05/2021 Full Outstanding 05/02/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC489226 4

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improvement to be good

The deputy manager was open, honest and transparent throughout this inspection. They, along with the provider, have made some progress on meeting the requirements made at the last inspection. An action plan is in place to support the leaders and the provider to address the outstanding shortfalls.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always prioritise children’s identities. A child’s name is unique and important to all children; however, the staff do not take the time to ensure that the children’s names are spelled correctly in all their documents. This does not help to give children the sense that their identity and key information are important to the adults who take care of them.

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improvement to be good

The children do not feel that they can knock on the staff bedroom door during the night unless there is an emergency. This prevents the children from seeking out support from the staff at any time of the day or night.

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improvement to be good

All children living in this home are helped to achieve their full educational potential. Children’s education attendance increases because of the support they receive from the staff. When children face struggles in education, the staff sit with them to discuss how they can start each new school day in a positive way. Education professionals speak positively about the staff and the way in which they advocate for the children.

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improvement to be good

While risk assessments in relation to children’s risks are clear, concise and easy for staff to follow, there are still generic risk assessments in place that are not relevant to the children. This is not helpful to the children, especially if they come back to review their documents in later life. Despite this being raised at the last inspection, this practice has continued. The deputy manager updated these assessments during this inspection.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported well in the key-work sessions that they have with the staff, as they have meaningful conversations. These sessions help the children to understand important issues, such as the risks of vaping and the importance of exercise and healthy eating. Nevertheless, the staff have missed an opportunity to help all the children to understand how to take safe risks. This has slowed the progress of children in relation to key skills, such as increasing their independence skills and how to keep themselves as safe as possible.

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improvement to be good

The children say that the staff listen to them and ensure their voices are heard. However, the children have not been helped to live together as well as they can. The Inspection report for children’s home: SC489226 5 staff have not taken all the appropriate action to support the children living in the home to understand each other’s identity. This has resulted in one child feeling upset and sad.

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improvement to be good

Positive behaviour is promoted in this home. The children’s positive behaviours are recognised and celebrated. The children say that they are happy living in this home. Two children said that if they cannot live with their family, then they would choose to live in this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There were significant shortfalls identified in the leadership and management of this home. Several key messages from the last inspection have not been shared, and this has resulted in a requirement being reissued. The deputy manager was open, honest and acknowledged that they are at the starting point in terms of making progress in addressing these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leaders and managers have failed to identify that the staff are not receiving supervision sessions. When these do occur, the sessions are not consistently reflective, and the records are inaccurate, of poor quality and very short. They do not support the progression of staff, and at times, staff practice and performance are not discussed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff are not adequately trained for their role. Induction of new staff is ineffective, and staff who are promoted internally do not receive any induction training. This means that staff are not adequately trained for their role to ensure that the children consistently receive good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all staff consistently attend team meetings. When actions are identified, they are not assigned to specific staff. Leaders and managers have failed to identify this, and as a result, actions are not consistently reviewed or progressed. This practice does not promote continued progress for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The provider has recognised the weaknesses in the management team, and they have improved them. A second deputy manager has now been recruited, and a new manager is due to start at the home. A new online management, monitoring and reviewing system has been purchased. There are plans for this system to be put in place. However, this is not yet in use, and the management oversight is not currently effective. Inspection report for children’s home: SC489226 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 with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are provided with support and care at all times, including during the night. 27 February 2024

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe; 27 February 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC489226 7 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; and

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are supported to understand how to keep themself as safe as possible. The registered person must also ensure that all children are supported to have the best possible relationships with one another.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 27 February 2024

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Requirement Due date

A responsible individual must have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 27 February 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the staff record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that is clear, objective and factual. Information about children must always be recorded in a way that is helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4). Inspection report for children’s home: SC489226 8

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference it made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of the help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

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: SC489226 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Netheredge Care Limited

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Inspectors

Jo Birtwhistle, Social Care Inspector Joanna Beal, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC489226 10 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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