Children's home run by Time-Out Children’s Homes Limited in Calderdale

Inspection report for children’s home: SC378407 1 SC378407 Registered provider: Time-Out Children’s Homes Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 19 July 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

Date of last inspection: 14 February 2024

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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: SC378407 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2024 Full Good 30/11/2022 Full Good 05/01/2022 Full Outstanding 28/08/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC378407 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they are happy and like living at the home. They are supported to develop positive relationships with staff, who care about them. Staff implement clear boundaries and use a consistent therapeutic approach that helps children to feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff place a strong emphasis on education. They work closely with education professionals to explore alternative options when the children are struggling to access formal education. As a result, both children engage in education in a way that is interactive and meets their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s voices are at the heart of staff practice. When methods of gathering the wishes and views of children decline in effectiveness, managers and staff think of different ways to support children to share this information. As a result, children feel heard and are involved in decisions about their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to explore and embrace their heritage. Staff are enthusiastic about understanding new ways of introducing a child’s culture into their everyday experience of living in the home. For example, the staff collaborate with one child’s grandparent to ensure that the child has traditional home-cooked meals from their home country. This helps children feel proud and confident about their identities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is personalised to the children, reflecting their different interests. It is generally well maintained, and children take pride in their bedrooms. However, the curtains in one child’s bedroom were damaged, which compromised their privacy, and several fixtures in the home were in need of repair. Also, the use of alarms fitted to children’s bedroom doors has not been regularly reviewed to assess their need. The alarms unnecessarily impact on children’s privacy. Managers took action to address these issues during the inspection.

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

Children say that they feel safe living in the home. Staff build trust with the children and know how to communicate with them effectively. This means that staff can have important conversations with the children to help them stay safe.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been several changes in staff. Leaders and managers have ensured that all new staff have been recruited in line with safer recruitment practices. New staff have undertaken safeguarding training relevant to the children’s individual risks. This ensures that staff have the skills to keep the children in their care safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC378407 4 Staff know how to respond when children go missing. They alert the relevant external professionals and are proactive in going to look for the children. As a result, children return home safely.

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

Managers and staff have strong communication links with external professionals. When the exploitation risks increased for one child, staff ensured that they shared any information with the multi-agency team around the child. As a result, the exploitation risks have significantly reduced for the child.

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

Staff record information in a way that is child-centred. This ensures that the children are the focus of everything they do. However, some incidents are not recorded with a level of detail that provides a clear picture of what happened and the action taken. This limits the manager’s evaluation of staff practice.

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

Managers ensure that staff have the skills to de-escalate situations effectively. As a result, restraint is rarely used with children. However, managers have not recognised and recorded when a physical intervention was used by a staff member. Although this did not impact negatively on the child, it was a missed opportunity to evaluate staff practice in line with the provider’s preferred method of safe restraint. A requirement in relation to this was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they feel supported by managers and enjoy working in the home. The registered manager has a positive outlook and models positive relationships with children to the staff. External professionals say the manager has a strong commitment to the children and their needs. This means that the children are cared for by staff who are committed to delivering high-quality care and have high expectations of themselves and others.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager recognises the value of supporting positive relationships between staff members. The manager holds regular team meetings and team-building days. This ensures that there are positive lines of communication between staff, which brings consistency to the children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that staff have opportunities to reflect on their practice. Clinical professionals hold consultations with the staff to help them understand the needs of the children and to develop effective strategies. Managers hold regular individual supervisions with staff to ensure that they have the opportunity to identify their individual areas for development. This ensures that staff develop their skills and knowledge for the benefit of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC378407 5

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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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(vii)

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that descriptions of any form of restraint or guide used by a member of staff with a child are clearly recorded and that any use of restraint is evaluated as to its effectiveness.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 3 February 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and 3 February 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC378407 6 the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the use of door alarms is thoroughly assessed in respect of each child, and only used as a safeguarding measure. Any use of monitors must also be kept under regular review, with a clear rationale for their use.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that the home is decorated and furnished to a high standard throughout and that repairs to fixtures such as bedroom curtains are carried out quickly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC378407 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Time-Out Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 2, Ripponden Mill, Mill Fold, Ripponden, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire HX6 4DH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Dominic Macauley

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Inspector

Sarah Gilbert, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC378407 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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