Children's home run by The Open Care Group

Inspection report for children’s home: 2605108 1 Registered provider: The Open Care Group Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home was registered with Ofsted in January 2021. It is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides medium- to long-term care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home. Both children were spoken with.

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Information about this children’s home

The suitably qualified manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2605108 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/10/2023 Full Good 03/08/2022 Full Good 15/12/2021 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/07/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2605108 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use a positive parenting approach to create a welcoming family atmosphere in the home. As a result, children develop trusting and positive relationships and enjoy living in the home. These relationships help children to make progress in different areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are doing well in education. Staff encourage children to attend school daily, stressing the importance of continual learning. When there are barriers to learning, staff work closely with the virtual head and children’s teachers to support the children to overcome these barriers. This ensures that children have the opportunity to improve their educational outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and developmental needs are well understood by staff. They support children to attend routine medical appointments and staff support the children’s emotional health and well-being. There is good support for the children to eat well and exercise regularly. This ensures that children’s health is maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities linked to their interests, including playing football, cricket and swimming. These activities allow children to have age-appropriate experiences and develop their self-esteem. Children are supported to celebrate their differences, for example, they take part in events such as Ramadan, Halloween and Christmas. This helps children to appreciate and accept different cultures and traditions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop life skills as a result of living in this home. Staff encourage them to cook, budget and clean. These essential skills help children to develop their independent living skills to prepare them for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy spending quality time with their families. Staff support children to maintain and strengthen these relationships, and they ensure that family visits are safe. This helps children to see people who are important to them and promotes their identity.

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

Children feel increasingly safe and protected as a result of living in this home. Risks associated with going missing and self-harming have reduced. Relevant policies and procedures are in place, and the manager and staff regularly update children’s risk assessments. Incidents are reported and appropriately recorded. This approach helps staff to protect children from harm.

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

Children are supported to understand boundaries and acceptable behaviour. Staff only use physical intervention as a last resort to stop children from hurting themselves or others. Individual focused work with children around their vulnerabilities and risks help them to learn self-protection strategies. Inspection report for children’s home: 2605108 4 The manager follows safer recruitment checks in respect of verifying references, disclosure and barring service checks and confirming identity. This provides assurance that staff are suitably vetted to before they provide care for children.

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

Staff complete regular health and safety checks, and the children participate in regular fire drills. This means staff are confident that children are able to exit the home safely in the event of a fire.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high aspirations for the children and focuses on providing good-quality care and support. He is supported by the responsible individual, deputy manager and a team of staff who are committed to helping children and improving their life chances and opportunities. This means that children are supported by staff who are committed to helping them achieve their potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular team meetings and good-quality supervision sessions. A reflective approach is used which offers staff space to discuss the needs of the children and their own well-being. This means that staff have the right support to enable them to improve their practice which in turn helps them to promote the well-being of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to care for children effectively. Staff benefit from on-going training which helps then gain a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities. The manager includes areas for improvement in the home’s development plan to ensure there is a focus on progress. This helps to continually improve the standard of practice and helps to drive positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy manager use monitoring tools to track the children’s progress and development. He welcomes external scrutiny from the independent person. Where there are areas of improvement identified, the manager responds promptly to any recommendations made. Despite these monitoring systems, there are some important documents which do not have management oversight. The management team are aware of this shortfall and are in the process of addressing it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have good working relationship with other professionals and with children’s families. This supports partnership working and means that children are better protected from harm. Inspection report for children’s home: 2605108 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h) 11 October 2024

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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: 2605108 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Open Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 62 Lambert Street, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire HU5 2SH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Marlie-Rae Willerton

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Inspector

Evelyn Chafota, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2605108 7 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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