Children's Home run by North Lincolnshire Council in North Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2799552 1 Registered provider: North Lincolnshire 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 managed and run by the local authority. It provides care for up to three children who may have physical or learning disabilities and provides short breaks for up to six children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2024 as part of a full registration as a new children’s home.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were seen as part of 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 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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2799552 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to build trusted relationships with staff. Before coming to live or stay at the home, staff take the time to get to know the children and their families. This includes visits and staff meeting with family members, so that staff understand the child’s individual needs. Where there are knowledge gaps in providing care, transitions and processes are slowed down to ensure that the standard of care for the child is present.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported in accessing activities. Some activities provide children with new opportunities. These opportunities may include experiencing new tastes, new feelings, sensory experiences, or trips out in the community. Children are supported to access and engage in activities that may not be available to them at home. This means that, irrespective of disability or need, children can participate and engage in a wide range of daily activities and wider opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to engage in their decision-making. Children with varying communication methods are supported to share their views. Staff understand the preferred communication methods of each child and the need to write plans from the child’s perspective. Children’s views are included to inform the plans. This means staff are informed on how to provide care from the child’s perspective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The arrangements for managing complex health needs, including the administration of medication, are effective. Medication is a daily experience for children living or staying at the home. Staff are knowledgeable about medication processes and procedures. Children benefit from having a specialist nurse available to staff providing training and support. This supports children with complex needs to stay healthy and well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live at the home attend school and are making progress. Staff have built positive relationships with schools and support children to achieve. One child who was out of school for a year due to health issues has returned to school full-time. When starting school, the child had gaps in learning and is now making considerable progress. One professional said children make significant progress due to the support they receive by staff at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated to a good standard. However, the home struggles to ensure a homely feel. Children can personalise their personal spaces and their photos and artwork are visible throughout the home. However long corridors, locked doors and staff wearing identity badges detract from the homely feel.

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

Individual risk assessments are updated regularly, and they are reflective of children’s changing needs. Staff benefit from multi-agency input through a child’s wider care team. Inspection report children’s home: 2799552 3 This means that children’s needs are fully considered, and they are helped to make progress. The staff follow routines for each child based on their needs. Care and attention are given to the feeding routines and administration of medication.

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

Children do not go missing. Staffing ratios are carefully considered for children given their complex needs. When staff go out with children, they take the missing-from-home protocol with them to ensure that they have the relevant information required as a safeguard.

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

Staff communicate well with children. Staff use a variety of communication methods to capture the voices and views of children. Staff write to children in any written documents using language that cares. This means that any documents will be pleasant for the child to read in the future.

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

Staff are skilled in strategies to support children. Physical interventions are rare and used as a last resort to ensure safety. All incidents are recorded with detailed narrative and reviewed by managers. Managers offer reflection and understanding in their oversight of the physical interventions and debriefs with staff. This promotes understanding to identify points of learning for developing practice.

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

Children are welcomed to the home with a planned transition. The interactions and impact between children are not formally documented or assessed to ensure that staff can safely meet the needs of all the children. There is no documented consideration of the interactions between children and how this will be managed.

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

Investigations into incidents of harm are instigated urgently to promote safety. Concerns raised are thoroughly explored to ensure that the safety of children is the priority. The managers have developed positive links with partner agencies to ensure open and honest discussions while investigations are completed and to promote the safety of the child. Actions identified are completed and lessons learned are implemented to ensure the safety and the quality of care being provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has high expectations regarding the standards of care for children. The registered manager knows the children well and is passionate about their care and progress. The manager sources external training and delivers in-house workshops for staff to ensure that children are well cared for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has good relationships with the teams around the children and the staff in the home. Professionals feel that there is collaborative working and effective communication to meet the needs of children. Professionals are invited into the home, where they are made to feel welcome and can work with the children. Managers listen to staff and are approachable, particularly if staff have a concern. Inspection report children’s home: 2799552 4 Supervision is completed regularly and is child focused. Staff are not supported to use reflective discussions in their supervision. There is a missed opportunity to have exploratory discussions and develop understanding within the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a structured induction process. They receive training and learning opportunities. This ensures that staff can provide individualised care to children with specific needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a significant increase in the staff team. Staff working in the home are subject to safer recruitment checks. This ensures that staff providing care in the home are safe. The registered manager needs to be assured that all staff have been through the rigorous safer recruitment process successfully and are safe to be providing care for children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The monitoring and review process within the home requires strengthening. There is oversight in some documents and policies that do not reflect the current practices in the home and require updating. The information gathered in the current processes does not support the manager in monitoring and reviewing all elements of the care provided. Inspection report children’s home: 2799552 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

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)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager needs to develop a robust monitoring and review tool to ensure oversight over all aspects of care being provided in the home, including accuracy in policies. 11 September 2025

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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)) 11 September 2025 Inspection report children’s home: 2799552 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home complies with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should 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)  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and

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Recommendations

experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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 children’s home: 2799552 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North Lincolnshire Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Church Square House, 30-40 High Street, Scunthorpe DN15 6NL

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Inspectors

Kate Jackson, Social Care Inspector Ali Owens, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2799552 8 inspects to 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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