Children's Home run by Hillcrest Children‟s Services (2) Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC398482 1 SC398482 Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for up to four children. It is part of a large social care company. The home provides therapeutic care and education for children who may have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home registered with Ofsted in May 2018.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC398482 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/03/2023 Full Outstanding 18/08/2021 Full Outstanding 22/01/2020 Full Good 29/08/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC398482 3

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outstanding

Children are at the heart of this home. The manager and staff provide children with an extremely warm and nurturing home environment. The home is furnished and decorated with children in mind. Staff speak about children with warmth, they understand their individual personalities and interests, and demonstrate unwavering commitment. This enables children to flourish and make excellent progress.

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outstanding

Children’s care plans are individualised, comprehensive, and detailed. Care planning starts before admission because the manager understands the gravity of such life changing moves. She works diligently to gather all necessary information to inform her assessment and considers risks effectively. As a result, staff know how to provide excellent care and protection from when children first move in. A range of additional, creatively designed documents, including monthly newsletters and photo albums capture the highlights and excellent progress the children make while living in the home.

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outstanding

The registered manager is a strong advocate for children’s education and recognises how this can increase opportunities and life chances for children. She and the staff are committed to ensuring that the children can access the curriculum and can reach their full learning potential. One child who was struggling to cope in an educational environment, now has a bespoke educational plan that meets his individual needs. As a result, he has a range of learning and social opportunities to support his progress.

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outstanding

Children’s physical and emotional wellbeing is very well supported. Staff use therapeutic and creative learning materials with children to help them to understand their emotional health and difficult concepts. Research is embedded in the work carried out and this is something that occurs naturally. There is a signifcant focus on trauma-informed practice. As a result, children can now deal with situations that previously overwhelmed them and they feel safe to explore their past experiences and consider their futures.

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outstanding

Children are involved in care planning and decision making about their lives, which means they feel listened to and valued. Children embrace the support of the adults caring for them and actively seek out their company and advice. One child said, the home is ‘outstanding because staff are always there to help you’.

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outstanding

Children feel safe to explore their identities and experience a culture of unconditional acceptance. One staff member went above and beyond to teach herself how to braid one of the children’s hair. This supported the child to express his cultural heritage. Inspection report for children’s home: SC398482 4 Children have some fantastic experiences and enjoy a range of social engagements that help them develop confidence, stay fit and build on their social skills. Examples include boxing, business projects, a course to become a football referee, mixed martial arts and fishing.

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outstanding

Staff ensure that children’s families remain central to their lives. This includes children spending time with their family members at the home or their family home. Staff go above and beyond to ensure that children maintain contact with people who are important to them.

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outstanding

The manager and staff maintain relationships with children and continue to support them after they have moved out of the home. When children move out of the home, this is exceptionally well planned, and children know that they can contact staff at the home for support in the future. As a result, children can, and do, maintain relationships with adults who have cared for them for a long time.

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outstanding

Children’s safety is integral to all elements of life at this home. When there are difficult times, adults respond with care and use their knowledge of the children to guide their practice.

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outstanding

Partnership working is excellent. For example, two local Police Community Support Officers said that the manager is open and welcomes the support they can offer. This support helps children to understand risk and become safer.

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outstanding

Children indicated that they feel safe in their home and were observed to have positive relationships with staff. These relationships are central to helping children build trust and be able to explore their worries and concerns, and reduce unsafe behaviour. Staff are knowledgeable about how to protect and safeguard children. This means that when risks do arise, children are promptly supported.

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outstanding

The manager is forward thinking in terms of anticipating risk. The whole team demonstrate a strong level of professional curiosity, which is helping to keep all children safe. Risk management is well informed by research and input from the home’s clinical psychologist. This has ensured a robust approach to managing self- harm and suicidal ideation. In addition, this joined up approach contributes further to staff’s understanding of children’s individual behaviour and the best way to support each child.

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outstanding

Restraint has not been used since the home’s last inspection. This is because staff find alternative ways to help children cope and emotionally regulate. The children have incentives in place that help them make positive choices. Natural consequences are used and children are supported to learn from their behaviour, which promotes their long-term growth. Inspection report for children’s home: SC398482 5 The manager and staff ensure that children are well protected online. Their activity is monitored, and children are kept safe from exploitation. Children accept the boundaries around the use of their phones, and other online devices. Staff help children to understand why these boundaries need to be in place, and how they can keep themselves safe online.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

An inspirational manager leads the home with support from her team. One professional said, ‘It [the home] is run so smoothly from top to bottom’ The manager is described as meticulous and an excellent advocate for children. The children view her as a mother figure and refer to other members of the team as family members such as ‘auntie’ and grandad’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager knows all the children exceptionally well. The children love being around the manager and frequently seek her out to spend time with her. The manager takes appropriate action when she identifies that children need additional support or guidance. She also ensures that children are provided with activities and experiences that enrich their lives, for example supporting them to attend courses and gaining part-time employment in line with their interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has successfully created a culture where all children and staff feel valued and accepted. Staff work in a highly collaborative way, which provides the children with the consistency that they need to feel safe and secure. Staff express high levels of job satisfaction which has contributed to a strong and stable staff team. They speak with genuine pride about how they are making a difference to children’s lives. It is clear that staff spend time with children and enjoy getting to know them. One staff member said, ‘I feel like there is love, everywhere you look’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager strives to support the development of the staff team, while maintaining a strong focus on staff wellbeing. She does this because she knows that this helps to ensure that children receive nurturing care form a highly skilled, knowledgeable and reflective staff team. Staff say they find support, training and reflective sessions helpful and are able to identify how they use this in their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager uses a range of quality assurance tools and monitoring systems effectively. This includes daily, weekly and monthly checks of the home, as well as monthly audits and regular monitoring of children’s progress and outcomes. In addition, she regularly reviews any changes in the dynamic between children and creates a risk reduction plan to ensure that children continue to live together in a positive environment. This gives the manager and responsible individual comprehensive oversight of the care the children receive and assurances that children continue to receive excellent standards of care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC398482 6

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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: SC398482 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Inspector

Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC398482 8 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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