Children's Home run by Hopscotch Care Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 1 Registered provider: Hopscotch Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in August 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living at the home at the time of this inspection and spoke with the inspector.

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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 outstanding

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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: not previously inspected

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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: 2742263 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has lived in the home since it opened. The child is making good progress in all aspects of their life. The child has formed extremely positive relationships with the management and staff team. This is due to the therapeutic environment that has been created. The child said, ‘It’s been amazing. The managers and staff are fantastic; I’ve got everything I need.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child received a well-managed and thought-out move into the home. This consisted of a number of visits to the home, and staff meeting with the child and having days out together. Ultimately, this led to the child settling into the home very well. The child received a children’s guide with helpful information. However, the guide does not include details of the Children’s Commissioner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The managers and staff provide care that supports and meets the child’s individual needs. They provide the child with a good range of informal learning opportunities, such as around life skills. They encourage the child to celebrate culture, diversity and inclusion, such as around LGBTQ+ and learning about the Jewish faith. The child enjoys decorating the home for different celebrations such as Christmas and Valentine’s Day. This promotes the child’s understanding of equality and diversity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is not currently in full-time education. However, the child does receive one- to-one tutoring from a local education provider. This is good progress from the child’s starting point, as they had been out of education for a prolonged period of time.. The manager has a good relationship with education professionals and the local authority. This supports the manager in actively advocating on behalf of the child to increase the child’s daily education hours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to attend any health appointments. The manager and staff work closely with a clinical psychologist to develop the child’s individual plans. This supports the child’s emotional health and well-being and ensures that the child receives consistent care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to see their family and friends. Staff have good relationships with family members, which helps the child to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. One family member said, ‘Communication is good; they [the staff] let me know what is going on. I’m very happy with the care they [their child] are receiving.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is suitably designed and consideration has been given to research on colour schemes and the views of the child. The home is comfortable, and furnished and maintained to a high standard. The child likes their home and takes pride in it. As a result, they feel happy, relaxed and safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 3

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

The managers and staff implement a therapeutic approach to the care they provide and regularly speak to the child about the child’s emotions and risk-taking behaviours. This helps the child to manage and regulate their emotions. This has significantly reduced the number of incidents that the child is involved in.

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

The child benefits from clear and consistent routines, boundaries and expectations. The child’s risks and vulnerabilities are understood and adequate plans and strategies are in place to manage these. This has resulted in a significant decrease in risk-taking behaviours, such as incidents of going missing from home, violence and aggression and fire-setting, and an improvement in mobile phone safety.

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

Staff are trained in de-escalation techniques and use these to help the child to manage their feelings and emotions. This reduces the need for physical intervention, and staff have not had to hold the child to keep them safe. This helps staff to maintain positive and healthy relationships with the child.

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

The management team is proactive and forward-thinking in terms of how it can address and reduce the child’s risk-taking behaviours. For example, the child has developed their own first-aid kit and delivered training to staff on how best to manage the child’s self-injurious behaviours. As a result, the number of such incidents has decreased.

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

A social worker said, ’[Name of child] has made tremendous progress. It’s a really nurturing, warm environment. Risks have decreased; they are maturing. I am very impressed with the level of care.’

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

The manager has risk-assessed the location of the home to ensure that the child remains living in a safe area. Safer recruitment procedures are followed when employing new staff. This means that the child is cared for by individuals who are safe to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is inspirational and has high aspirations for the child in her care. The management team is further strengthened by an equally passionate, dedicated and enthusiastic deputy manager. The management team is child-centred and confident and strongly advocates on behalf of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There is a strong managerial presence in the home. The child and staff benefit from this supportive day-to-day management oversight. The management team leads by example, takes on tasks and works directly with the child. Due to this proactive approach, staff feel highly supported and valued and have confidence in the management team. One member of staff said, ‘I feel totally supported here. I feel I can approach them if there is any problems. Staff are positive, welcoming, bubbly; they seem happy at work.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 4 A strong emphasis is placed on staff well-being and ensuring that staff are equipped for their role. For example, the management team has analysed staff’s learning styles and has developed aids such as cue cards to support staff with record- keeping. Ultimately, staff feel reassured, respected, listened to and valued. This supports the staff to meet the child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive regular supervision sessions, team meetings and training in a variety of topics, including training around self-harm, online safety, fire safety and child exploitation. This provides the manager with confidence in the abilities of the staff team to meet the child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The responsible individual has carried out an annual appraisal of the manager and deputy manager’s progress. Although reflective of their practice, feedback from professionals working alongside the managers and from the child living in the home has not been adequately included or evaluated. This is a missed opportunity for further reflection and discussion on the management team’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Exceptional focus is placed on creative and innovative practice. As such, the management team has developed a number of resources to develop and support the child with their emotions and to enhance their reading skills. This has had a positive impact on the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team has an excellent understanding of the strengths and areas for development of the home. Managers make effective use of internal and external monitoring by analysing the information to make sure that high standards of care practice are maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Feedback from the child, professionals, staff and a family member indicate that the manager consistently has the child’s needs and safety at the forefront of her decision-making and practice. The management team, staff and child can clearly demonstrate the positive impact that living in the home has had on enhancing the child’s life. Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide explains how to contact the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)  The registered person should ensure that staff appraisals include the views of other professionals who have worked with staff over the year, and the views of children who have been cared for at the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: 2742263 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hopscotch Care Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Julie Elder, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2742263 7 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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