Children's home run by Nottingham City Council in Nottingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC427165 1 SC427165 Registered provider: Nottingham City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an experienced manager in post, who registered with Ofsted in 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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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: 27 September 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC427165 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/09/2022 Full Good 01/03/2022 Full Good 14/01/2020 Full Outstanding 27/02/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC427165 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children have moved to the home since the last inspection. They are receiving good care from staff who know them well. The manager considers children’s needs in detail before they move in. The children’s families are involved in transitions, which enables children to settle in quickly. Staff build strong relationships with children by showing them warmth and accepting them for who they are. Because of this, the children feel relaxed and can express their individual personalities. They are all making good progress. Children have individualised care plans, which are devised with them and their families. They regularly spend time with family and friends, who are welcome at the home. The manager prioritises family involvement as she knows from research how important this is for children’s ongoing stability. Children develop interests and hobbies. They learn age-appropriate independence skills, such as self-care, cooking

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

and budgeting, in an incremental way. The manager and staff have supported three children to move on to independent living. These were carefully planned moves and the children received very good support to manage this significant change in their lives. Children stay in touch with the staff when they leave and come to visit. This is testament to the strength of relationships they have with staff. Children are generally in good health. They receive particularly good support with their emotional needs from specialist services when this is required. This has helped children to manage difficult feelings and develop healthier coping strategies. One child is struggling to attend health appointments and there is not yet an effective plan to help him make progress in this area. This is particularly important as he has some health issues that have not been fully assessed. As such, the child and staff do not have a full understanding of his needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff support children with their education. All children attend school or college. One child is undertaking A levels and has plans to go to university. When children struggle to attend education, they are encouraged through incentives to improve attendance. The manager and staff work closely with schools to help children overcome barriers that affect their motivation to engage in education and this is beginning to have a positive impact. The home has a relaxed atmosphere and the shared living areas are comfortably furnished. Children’s rooms are personalised to reflect their individual personalities; however, one child’s room is not yet decorated and furnished to meet his needs. The manager has plans to address this and to redecorate areas of the home requiring attention through general wear and tear. Inspection report children’s home: SC427165 4

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

The manager and staff have a good understanding of the risks posed to and from children. There are strategies in place to help children stay safe in a range of situations. The staff work closely with external agencies and families to reduce risks, and this is helping children to stay safe. There is one issue related to a child’s health where the risks have not been fully considered. This has been partially rectified but there are still issues that require further exploration. Although the child has not come to harm, there is the potential for this. Staff respond well when children go missing from the home. Staff keep in contact with children as far as possible, gathering information so that they can understand the context when children go missing. Children are returned home as soon as possible. Overall, the number of occasions when children have gone missing from the home has reduced. Where required, strategy meetings are held to share

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

information with other external partner agencies. This enables the risk of exploitation to be monitored. Where exploitation has been a concern, the home ensures that information is shared at multi-agency meetings and children have safety plans to protect them from harm. The manager and staff help children to get along with each other and there is a calm atmosphere in the home. Children have learned to understand each other’s personalities and differences. Conflict is rare and, when it does occur, it is dealt with quickly so that situations do not escalate. Physical interventions are seldom required to support children to stay safe. Children receive the support they need when they cause harm to themselves. Staff have received good training, enabling them to respond sensitively to this issue. They work with children to develop safety plans that are effective in helping children to manage their distress in safer ways.

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

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. They recruit staff safely and ensure that they are supported into their role. When concerns are raised about staff, these are investigated, and appropriate actions are taken to ensure that children and staff are safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced manager who is committed to the children. She has worked hard to make the home a welcoming and safe place for children. The manager enjoys spending time with children and they have trust in her. She is ambitious for children and advocates well on their behalf. Professionals speak highly of her work and respect her views about children’s needs. This helps to ensure that children get the services they need to help them make progress. The manager has had to manage changes in staffing and absence due to unforeseen circumstances. She has worked hard to ensure that children have consistency of care. Staff absence is covered by staff working on a casual basis who are familiar to the children. The manager has shown considerable resilience in Inspection report children’s home: SC427165 5 managing the challenges in recent months, with support from her manager. She has kept the impact of changes on children to a minimum.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision from the manager. They reflect on their practice, and receive support with personal issues and professional development. Overall, staff spoke positively about the manager and the support she provides to them. There is resilience and diversity in the team, which provides richness and depth to children’s care. The manager keeps good oversight of the care delivered to children. She has developed systems to help her understand how children’s needs are changing as they grow and develop and how the home can continue to meet these needs. There is a development plan for the home, which is focused on developing trauma- informed practice for staff. Staff are already receiving training in this area and there is a plan for this to continue, to strengthen and improve care practice further. This will help staff to increase their understanding of the complexity of children’s life experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are facing some ongoing challenges. They are responding to a range of different circumstances affecting the team using internal processes where necessary. These issues have not impacted on children’s progress. However, there is a residual impact on some staff. This is affecting team dynamics. The manager has begun to address this in development days, but this has not yet resolved all the issues. The managers recognise the importance of helping the team to move forward. Inspection report children’s home: SC427165 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purposes of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children attend medical appointments to review their health needs and receive the necessary assessment and treatment. 26 March 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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to having clear and up-to-date risk assessments to keep children safe, and ensuring that children understand their risk-management plans. 26 March 2024 Inspection report children’s home: SC427165 7 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

ensure the staff work as a team where appropriate. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the team functions effectively and there is constructive communication between members of staff. 14 May 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children living there, and that it is a homely, domestic environment. The home must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, the home should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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 children’s home: SC427165 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nottingham City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG2 3NG

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Inspector

Laura Walker, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC427165 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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Inspector

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