Children's Home run by St Hill Establishments Ltd in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 1 SC385633 Registered provider: St Hill Establishments Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to five children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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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: 5 December 2023

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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: SC385633 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/12/2023 Full Good 06/09/2022 Full Good 15/07/2021 Full Good 16/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a warm welcome when they come to live in the home. The manager follows an assessment of their needs to try to ensure that all children can live together safely. The home is a supportive environment where staff support the older children through personal independence plans. This enables children to move on to their next homes with confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote and celebrate the children’s culture and diversity. The manager reviews the home’s care plans regularly to ensure that they remain current. Furthermore, staff attend children’s statutory meetings, and they encourage children to participate in the review of their care arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is a priority for staff. They encourage children to learn all the time through activities in the home, and they attend schools and college. Children have access to training opportunities. Staff support children in line with their personal education plans. When children’s health and education plans are not available, the manager tracks the progress of these plans and escalates this with the appropriate agency. This ensures that staff understand the up-to-date needs of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are physically healthy. Staff are proactive to ensure that children’s physical and emotional health needs are known and supported. The manager escalates requests for children to receive emotional well-being support from the relevant agency. This ensures that external professionals can accurately assess the children, so that there is a shared understanding of children’s needs and how best to support them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have established good relationships with the children. This has resulted in children living in the home for long periods of time. Staff work therapeutically to understand the children’s histories of trauma and how children develop relationships today. This approach has helped children to know that staff care about them and that they can talk to staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time is important for the children. Staff support them to see their families and other people who are important to them. Family members are very complimentary about the care their children receive. They say staff are committed, and they are good at communicating with them about the children’s progress. This ensures that family time is meaningful and enjoyable for the children.

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

Staff understand the children’s vulnerabilities and risks. The manager reviews information she receives when a child moves into the home, and she completes a comprehensive risk assessment with individual crisis management plans. This makes Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 4 sure that staff are clear about the worries for each child and the strategies to use. Safety plans provide additional oversight to keep children safer.

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

Staff will sometimes hold and guide children for their safety. One child sustained a graze during a hold when staff were trying to keep them safe. The manager did not complete appropriate discussions and enquiries with the child and the staff involved to understand the circumstances surrounding this incident. This does not ensure that the manager can be satisfied that staff are holding children correctly and ensure that any physical interventions used are safe and proportionate.

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

Children know how to make a complaint. The manager has several ways in which children can share their views. The manager has provided a communication box located in the dining room. Furthermore, children have a guide with contact numbers, and the manager spends time alone with each child every month to hear their views. However, on one occasion, a child made an allegation against a member of staff, but the manager did not follow the reporting policy.

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

One child experienced unpleasant, hurtful and offensive name-calling by a peer. Staff were not constantly alert to quickly respond to such incidents. This led the child to complain about being unsafe in the home. The child said that they now feel safe in the home after the manager rectified this, and the child responsible for the verbal abuse has since moved out. Peer relationships in the home are improving.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff take steps to find them. Staff talk to the children when they return home to ensure that they are safe. However, the records do not always highlight the efforts staff have made to find the children when they are missing. Handwritten records are not always easy to read.

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

Children receive consequences such as an internet ban, an activity ban and reparations imposed in the form of a third of their pocket money deducted. Staff explain to children the reasons for these consequences so that children understand the effect of unwanted and negative behaviours. The manager provides strict oversight to ensure that these are appropriate and proportionate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is keen that children receive high-quality care. She has a good grasp of the needs of the children and the support that they need. The manager understands the skills and abilities of the staff team, and she considers this carefully when recruiting to the home. Staff do not always understand and implement the home’s model of care to support how they parent children. The manager shares a vision for the home where she would like this to improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are effective monitoring tools in place. The manager is proactive, and she has implemented audit tools to support the referral process for children who come to live in the home. This helps the manager to work closely with other professionals to ensure that Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 5 every agency involved delivers the high-quality support needed. She has various tools that help her to keep track of the progress that children and staff make. This results in strong management oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recruits safely to the home. There are sufficient permanent staff, and in the absence of staff, the manager actively makes appropriate arrangements to ensure that there is continuity of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they are happy to work in the home. They say that it feels like a family home. Staff speak highly of the support their leaders and manager give them. The safeguarding and learning culture of the home helps staff to strengthen the skills that they brought to their role. The manager rigorously tracks staff training, and this is currently all up to date. The manager is aspirational for staff who want to progress in their roles, and a newly appointed deputy manager currently supports her.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals speak highly about the partnership working they have with staff. They say that children make good progress because of the dedication and commitment shown by the staff for children to achieve good outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive supervision every two months, and they have an option to have an individual discussion with the manager once a week. Supervision meetings are reflective, and discussions about children are a strong focus. However, the health and well-being of staff are not routinely discussed to ensure that the manager is aware of personal issues that could impact on the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend team meetings, which the manager holds regularly. These have a set agenda that includes feedback from children’s get-together meetings. Records highlight the good work and efforts made by all staff to promote positive activities for the children. The manager has reflected on the changes that staff could make for the benefit of the children. For example, staff ensuring that case records are consistently written in a language that is kind, caring and helpful for the child if they should read their records. Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; and

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff take appropriate steps to protect a children from the act of discrimination and bullying.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, the registered person must ensure that staff listen to children, and allegations of harm and abuse must be addressed in line with the home’s policy. 30 December 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 28/04/2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective recording with handwritten notes being clear and legible. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way. In particular, children’s records must be written in a language that is kind and caring. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. In particular, when a child is missing- from-care, records must include a description of actions taken to find the child. When a child is held or guided for their safety, records must include a full and accurate description of actions taken. In addition, when a child makes an allegation, the case

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Recommendations

record must include a description of the action taken and outcome of any resulting investigation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.14)

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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: SC385633 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: St Hill Establishments Ltd

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Inspector

Tenji Wesa, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 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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