Children's home run by Hull City Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2569527 1 Registered provider: Hull 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

The home is owned and run by a local authority. It provides care for one child who may have learning disabilities and/or experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in December 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children have lived at the home since the last inspection. There is currently one child living at the home. The inspector spoke with the child during the 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 outstanding

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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: 28 November 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: 2569527 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/11/2023 Full Good 06/12/2022 Full Good 02/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2569527 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff understand the complex needs of the children. They communicate transparently and respectfully with children regarding routines and boundaries. This has helped children to develop trusting relationships with staff and make good progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions to and from the home are sensitively managed. Staff work hard to understand the children’s likes and dislikes before they move to the home. This helps them to have positive moves and have a warm, welcoming experience in their new home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is considered an important part of life in the home. Staff work effectively with education colleagues to promote positive experiences in school. This helps children to maintain attendance and make good progress with their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the children to explore a broad range of activities that provide opportunities to develop new hobbies and interests. The activities help children to stay healthy while building confidence and self-esteem. Staff collate photos of these enjoyable experiences and keep them in lovely albums. This provides children with positive memories that help them to look back on their time living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff listen to the children’s views and advocate for their wishes. However, the manager’s recent change to staff members working at the home for other staff from one of the provider’s other homes impacted on the child’s relationships. The manager did not consult with the child before making these changes. This prevents the child from feeling their views are valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home requires some maintenance and redecoration. In addition, there are areas that affect the nurturing environment of the home, such as large padlocks used to secure a loft hatch. While necessary for health and safety reasons, these impact on the homely environment.

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

Staff respond consistently and proportionately to any concerning incidents. This helps children to feel safe in knowing that staff are there for them. For the child currently living at the home, there has been a significant reduction in unwanted behaviour, and safeguarding restrictive measures have been removed for the child. This has helped to accelerate their progress and broaden the opportunities open to them. For the other child, highly supportive routines, boundaries and nurturing care helped them to develop healthy coping strategies. This enabled their wish of moving to a home with other children to be achieved. Inspection report for children’s home: 2569527 4 The manager and staff have an excellent understanding of the children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities. They adapt their approach to each child they work with. As a result, risks reduce. One professional said, ‘[Name of child] was one of the most worried about

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

children in the local authority. The progress made is attributed to the support from staff.’

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

Missing-from-home incidents have been reduced significantly for the child living at the home. The child no longer goes missing from home on a regular basis. When children do go missing, staff are proactive and tenacious in their efforts to locate and return them safely to the home. When children return to the home, they are welcomed warmly and helped to quickly return to routines.

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

The manager and staff involve a wide range of professionals in care planning. This informs their understanding of risks related to children. They work alongside a clinician to regularly review their care strategies and strengthen their practice to help the children’s progress. Reflective discussion with the clinician helps the manager to identify approaches to risk management that align with the home’s therapeutic ethos.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and knowledgeable. He has a good understanding of the strengths of the home. He is supported by a consistent team of staff who hold him in high regard, most of whom have worked with the manager for a long time. This gives children stability and, in turn, helps them to make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly. They are well attended by staff and focus on the needs and well-being of the children. Staff value the meetings and the opportunity they provide to share and agree on consistent approaches to practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has improved the frequency of staff supervision and further strengthened this by implementing additional group supervision sessions. This allows staff to have important discussions and reflect on the work they do with children. Appraisals help staff to develop their knowledge and set training targets. The manager ensures that staff have access to appropriate training to continually develop their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight of key documents does not consistently identify areas for improvement. The care plan and risk assessment for the child living in the home are lengthy and contain some conflicting information. This prevents staff from having the right guidance to care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professional feedback is generally positive regarding the management of the home and the approach of staff. However, one professional said that communication needed to improve. This was due to staff not informing them of a significant incident relating to a child. This prevents professionals having access to important information and the opportunity to ask safeguarding questions. Inspection report for children’s home: 2569527 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 home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their full 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the manager has systems in place to review documents and has thorough oversight of the service.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 12 May 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s individual plans and risk assessments include steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day- to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should seek to involve the local authority and other relevant persons whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.4)  The registered person should ensure that, where positive relationships exist between children and staff, this should be respected and maintained as far as possible when making any decisions to alter staffing arrangements. The registered person should respond to children’s views about changes to staff and be aware of the potential impact this may have on the child’s stability and emotional well-being. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children’s home: 2569527 6 Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.12)  The registered person should ensure that the home offers a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. They should ensure that while complying with relevant health and safety legislations, they seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘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: 2569527 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kingston upon Hull City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Guildhall, Alfred Gelder Street, Hull HU1 2AA

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Inspector

Mark Cryer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2569527 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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