Children's Home run by Hopscotch Care Limited in Cumberland

Inspection report for children’s home: 2741833 1 Registered provider: Hopscotch Care Limited

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home and manager were registered with Ofsted in August 2023. This is the first inspection after registration.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of inspection, two children were living in the home. One child spoke with the inspector about their experiences living in the home.

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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2741833 2

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive consistent and nurturing care from a stable staff team. They are treated with dignity and respect and know that staff care about them. Staff speak about the children with warmth and enthusiasm. This enables children to feel valued and has helped them to settle into the home.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children with their education. The manager worked promptly and creatively to secure alternative education for the children when they could not go to school. This has enabled both children to receive education that meets their individual needs.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children have access to a wide range of activities. They encourage the children to be active and enrol them in clubs that they enjoy. Children’s choices are acted on, for example attending the gym, going go-karting, and participating in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff commit to facilitating regular contact with people who are important to the children. Staff transport the children to and from visits to family members. One family member is collected from their home once a week to enable the child to see them. This supports children to maintain trusted relationships and to understand their family identity.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children move into the home in a well-planned way. Staff visited one child several times prior to them moving in. This helped the child to feel welcome and to settle in. The child’s social worker said the transition was brilliant and was highly complementary about the joined-up working, commitment and consistency displayed by the staff.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live a spacious home that is welcoming and well-furnished throughout. There is ample space for the children to relax and spend time together or apart. Children’s bedrooms are comfortable and personalised. This helps children to develop a sense of belonging.

p.2

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

Children feel safe and secure living in the home. They are helped to develop trusting relationships with staff and are able to talk about issues that are affecting them. Consequently, risks for children have reduced.

p.2

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

Children have not been missing from the home despite this previously being a known risk for them. Staff know how to respond should and incident arise. Staff have positive and effective relationships with key safeguarding agencies. They strongly advocate for children and appropriately challenge other professionals when necessary for the benefit of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2741833 3 Children’s risk management plans are individualised and child centred. Staff use assessment tools to identify the children’s needs, risks and to demonstrate the progress they are making. Staff are supported by a therapeutic team, whose members work directly with them and with the children. This enables staff to provide individualised trauma-informed care to each child.

p.2

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

Staff are trained in a therapeutic model that is embedded in practice to the benefit of both children. Staff are enthusiastic about using therapeutic parenting techniques. Positive behaviour is encouraged and rewarded, to which the children respond well. Routines and boundaries are clear and as such there has been no need to use physical interventions to help keep the children safe.

p.3

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

Direct work completed with children to support and educate them about the risks in respect of smoking and vaping is not always clearly planned or recorded and expectations around children reducing their use of vapes are not consistent with the organisation’s no-smoking policy. This does not ensure that children receive clear and consistent messages around smoking cessation or how to make safer choices.

p.3

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

Safer recruitment practices are in place to ensure that only adults who are safe to work with children are employed in the home.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively by an experienced and child-centred manager. She is accessible to staff and fully involved in the children’s lives. She has high expectations of the staff and is committed to improving outcomes for children.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported and speak positively about the manager. They are happy and satisfied in their roles and feel valued. The manager knows her team well and uses creative ways to identify strengths and skills for the benefit of the children.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is experienced, suitably qualified and stable. This provides the children with high-quality and consistent care, and stability.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervision and monthly team meetings. This provides them with opportunities to reflect on their practice and to improve their knowledge and skills. Staff regularly complete training relevant to the needs of the children living in the home.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has robust oversight of the quality of care provided to the children. She uses internal and external monitoring systems effectively in order to review practice in the home. This enables her to identify and address any shortfalls and to ensure that children’s needs are being met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2741833 4

p.3

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff are actively supporting children with smoking and vaping cessation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)  The registered person should ensure that direct work completed with children to help them to make safer choices is reflected in their plans and is consistent with the organisation’s policies. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

p.4

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: 2741833 5

p.4

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hopscotch Care Limited

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 19 Lancaster Road, Carnforth, Lancashire LA5 9LD

p.5

Inspector

Zillah Brooks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2741833 6 regulates and inspects 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.5

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.6

Inspector

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

p.6

Inspector

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

p.6