Children's Home run by K & G Care Ltd in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1270767 1 Registered provider: K & G 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 privately owned and provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by an experienced registered manager.

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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: 26 September 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1270767 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/09/2023 Full Outstanding 04/01/2023 Full Good 13/04/2021 Full Good 05/02/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1270767 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a good standard of care. They work hard to form relationships with children, who value their support. Children feel able to approach staff and ask for help. Staff are nurturing and patient in their approach and ensure that children understand what is being asked of them. Children are happy living in the home and respond well to staff, who use banter and playfulness to engage with them. When describing the support and care given to the children, a member of staff said that it is in the hope that they become ‘the best version of themselves’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children continue to make progress in all aspects of their lives. For example, one child was reluctant to go to school as they struggled to cope with the large class sizes. Staff advocated for the child and sought to find him an education provision that suited his needs and where he would engage in learning. The child now attends this provision every week. Over a short length of time, another child has gone from struggling to manage their emotions to being able to reflect on their emotions and the impact of them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are healthy and are supported to have their health needs met through various health agencies. At times, the children can be reluctant to engage in appointments or begin a new medication regime. Staff acknowledge the children’s worries and offer reassurance. Furthermore, staff work alongside the child to find solutions to any barriers impacting on child for their needs to be met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff enjoy taking children to access different activities. They are keen to provide children with as many opportunities to experience life outside of the home. This is because they appreciate this will enhance the children’s overall development and understanding of the community and world in general.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s meetings allow children to share their wishes and feelings. The meetings would benefit from having a fixed agenda for staff to follow so that all aspects are covered at each meeting. Equally, the children would likely appreciate some feedback from the manager after the meeting, as this would reinforce to them that their views and opinions matter.

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

Children have individualised risk assessments. These assessments are carried out in detail and capture the specific needs and vulnerabilities of each child. The assessments also set out the approach that children could benefit from. These are continually reviewed and updated. Staff are proactive in reading any updates, so they are always equipped with the best knowledge regarding each child. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270767 4 The children have their own way of showing that they trust staff. They relax when they are with staff and will seek physical comfort from them. Staff offer this willingly and are attentive to the children’s needs. The caring responses from staff help to continually build the relationships with the children, which adds to children’s feelings of being safe.

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

The home has had a turbulent period over the last few months and incidents have increased. When these occur, staff are responsive and ensure that children are safe. Staff and children are spoken to after each incident. Managers have good oversight of every incident, and, at times, further actions are identified. However, the manager does not have a system in place to track when actions are complete. This means that essential tasks may not be carried out and children may not be as safe as they can be.

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

There is a safer recruitment process to ensure that the staff are safe to work with the children. However, some essential checks have not been carried out with recently recruited staff, which could mean that children are at risk of harm.

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

Children have access to the internet. Managers and staff have a system that monitors the children’s activity while they are online or enjoying social media. The staff review this to ensure that children remain safe. Staff carry out individual work with children about keeping themselves safe online. However, over time, there has become a reliance on the monitoring system rather than staff helping the children to fully understand the possible risks they may face online.

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

Sometimes, children’s behaviour results in a consequence being given. As part of the manager’s oversight of consequences, it should be determined if this matches the behaviour of the child and some form of reparation should be offered where possible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The members of the leadership team have been working together for several months. They are all experienced, caring and committed individuals who work well as a team. They have led the staff through a very difficult period. They have been successful in maintaining morale throughout. All are clear in their expectations of staff to deliver high- quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a robust induction. Time is spent equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills for their role. When talking about their induction training, a member of staff said that it has been ‘the most in-depth training’ they have ever received for a new role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular training. At times, the managers have identified and provided child- specific training to ensure that the children receive a good level of support and that staff have the necessary skills and knowledge meet the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have well-established working relationships with a wide range of professionals and partner agencies. They continue to develop new networks to ensure that the children get the right support at the right time and remain as safe as possible. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270767 5 The manager is a strong advocate for the children and has escalated outstanding issues to the local authority.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the home. They evaluate all incidents and set further actions for staff if required. The manager does not have a system in place to assure themselves that staff are carrying out assigned tasks. The concern is that essential tasks could be missed, which may negatively impact on the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular, good-quality supervision with a set agenda. Reflection is embedded into many aspects of work, and it is positive that staff have opportunities for group supervision. This helps the team of staff to reflect and learn from each other and supports morale. Staff feel very supported in their role and are complimentary of the support they receive. It was said that the members of leadership team show ‘genuine care’ towards the staff and children and that they have been ‘amazing’ since starting in their roles. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270767 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 registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d)) 13 September 2024

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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)) 7 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1270767 7 This specifically relates to ensuring that robust quality assurance and monitoring systems are in place, used regularly, and kept up to date.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children feel safe and are safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety inside and outside of the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. Regular work should be carried out with children that focuses on them being safe while online. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases, it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour, and the staff in the home should be

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Recommendations

skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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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: 1270767 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Knightsbridge House, Rooley Lane, Bradford BD4 7SQ

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Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1270767 9 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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