Children's home run by Sheffield City Council in Sheffield

Inspection report children's home: SC036023 1 SC036023 Registered provider: Sheffield City Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A local authority runs this children’s home. It is registered with Ofsted to provide short breaks for up to eight children with learning and/or physical disabilities. However, there is a variation of the registration to allow two children to live at the home until suitable placements are found. This means that, currently, short breaks are not operating.

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Information about this children’s home

One child lives at the home and another child stays at the home for several nights per week on a shared-care basis.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2024.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC036023 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/06/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 31/01/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/10/2022 Full Inadequate 28/01/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC036023 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living at the home. The home is well maintained and is decorated in vibrant child friendly colours. The space is being used creatively to meet the needs of the children. There are plans to refurbish the ground floor of the home and to repair some damage to the paintwork in one of the bathrooms. Staff are energetic, fun, and very responsive to children’s individual needs and communication. They celebrate children’s successes and achievements. This approach helps children built trusted relationships and to feel happy and calm.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand what is important to children. They support children to build and maintain their family relationships. This includes helping children to visit and stay connected with their family and to enjoy experiences with their families such as celebrating Eid and family birthdays. Children experience a range of activities in and out of the home. A recent summer garden party brought together children, their families, and staff for an afternoon of fun and games.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff communicate well and collaborate closely with professionals from other organisations to benefit children. This makes sure children have support with their health, mental health, and education. For both children, their access to and experiences of education have improved. Staff advocate on the behalf of children and are open and honest with professionals about any concerns. Staff try new things to make progress and improvements for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff capture children’s memories of their time living at the home in visual and brightly coloured calendars that contain pictures. One of the children has a written family story which shows how their relationships have grown and the progress they have made since moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children are living at the home until suitable places for them to live are identified. Staff and managers are highly invested into making sure these plans have the best interests of the children at the centre.

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

Children are comfortable and relaxed. They feel safe and staff are reducing the risks to children’s safety well. The staff understand the risks to children’s safety and how to balance protecting and enabling children to experience and learn new things. Children can access most areas of the home freely. The restrictions applied in relation to a child’s self-harming have been reviewed and lifted in some of the living areas. These are kept under review to ensure the child remains safe. Children’s care records have detailed assessments and plans which demonstrate the actions taken by staff. Inspection report children's home: SC036023 4 Staff help children to manage their feelings and behaviours. When incidents happen, they are mostly unpredictable and happen very quickly. Staff only hold children when this is necessary for children’s safety. This is for the shortest time possible and proportionate to the level of risk. For one of the children, the use of physical intervention

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

has reduced significantly since moving into the home. Staff talk to children and listen to their views after there has been an incident of them being held. This helps staff to support children emotionally and to find ways to reduce future incidents. There is a low use of consequences.

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

Children are learning about new things and how to stay safe. An example of this is, learning how to use the internet safely. This helps children to recognise online dangers better. For one of the children who has a tablet, staff complete regular checks which give oversight of any risks and an understanding of the child’s world and any support they need. Staff regularly practice with children how to leave the home in an emergency. They are completing more work with one of the children on fire safety to help them understand how important it is.

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

Managers complete appropriate checks to make sure the risk of unsuitable people working in the home is reduced. Staff understand their role and responsibilities in safeguarding children and feel confident in raising concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The relatively new management team provide a clear vision, supportive and positive environment for staff and children. They are visible and approachable. Staff, including agency and casual staff, receive regular and effective supervision, have access to appropriate training and attend team meetings regularly. Staff feel very well supported and respected. All staff feel a good sense of team working, high morale and high motivation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers set clear expectations and implement clear systems and processes. They involve staff in ensuring these systems are effective and beneficial for the children and the running of the home. This helps staff to feel confident and have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. External professionals provided positive feedback about the knowledge and skills of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are clear and effective oversight systems and processes. These enable managers to maintain a good overview of the quality of care for children. The managers ensure regular audits are completed. When any actions or weaknesses are identified, the manager takes action to address any issues. To strengthen independent oversight, a new independent visitor is being appointed. The manager makes sure that the regulator is informed of all serious events.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers have created and foster a team culture of learning and improvement. When practice issues occur, the manager takes appropriate action immediately and works with the staff team to look at how the staff can reduce the risk of similar incidents Inspection report children's home: SC036023 5 occurring again. This leads to changes being made and is improving staff practice. For example, the creation of a dedicated medication room ensures staff are free from disturbances when administering medicine. This is reducing the number of medication errors. Staff are challenged and supported to be more professionally curious about what children say and to reflect on the use of holds and consequences. This is leading to holds only being used as a last resort. Fire drills are well planned and are improving safety. Inspection report children's home: SC036023 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 children's home: SC036023 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield S1 2HH

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Inspector

Honor Hamshaw, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC036023 8 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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