Children's Home run by Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 1 Registered provider: Kingston upon 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

This home is run by the local authority. It provides care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living in the home. One child was spoken to during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2022.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/08/2024 Full Good 01/08/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed into the home sensitively when they first arrive. Staff cook the children their favourite food and help them settle in. Staff build positive and nurturing relationships with the children and understand how to care for them effectively. They have created a warm and comfortable home for children to live in, and children identify this place as their home and say that they do not want to leave.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children attend school and further education, that they are in the right provision and that they get the right support to meet their individual needs. Staff support children to share their views on their education, so their wishes and feelings are considered when planning occurs. Staff work collaboratively with the virtual school and the headteacher of the virtual school, who often visits the home to meet with children and staff. Where children show interest or talent, staff, and colleagues from the virtual school support children to pursue this. Furthermore, staff and the children enjoy lively debates about politics and current affairs. This enriches the children’s learning experience, and children are doing well with their attendance and attainment in school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager ensures that children have clear, well-thought-out plans for developing independence tailored to their individual needs. Staff seek advice from a clinical psychologist on these plans when children struggle with the prospect of moving on from the home. The manager promotes good relationships in the local area, and the children feel accepted by their community. Additionally, staff work with the ‘staying close’ team to further develop the children’s independence skills and to find volunteering opportunities and work experience. One child has started their own dog-walking business.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to make decisions about the support they will need as an adult. They helped one child to address their worries about independent travel by arranging for them to start to learn how to drive. The manager and staff ensure that endings at the home for children are positive and that children continue to feel cared for and welcome. Furthermore, children have memory books that capture their happy times and fun experiences. These are annotated so that children can recall these happy memories later in life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to spend positive time with family members and cope with the impact that some relationships can have. Staff respect the children’s wishes if they need a break from family time arrangements. They model to parents positive engagement with the children during activities, which is helping to develop relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to engage in routine health appointments and their annual health assessments. When children need care from specialist medical practitioners, the staff support and encourage their attendance, working through their worries with them before the appointment. Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 4

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

Children receive the help and support they need to learn how to manage their feelings and behaviour safely. The home has access to a clinical psychologist who supports the team to develop detailed behaviour support plans for the children. Professionals report that they see real change in the way the children manage their emotions and how this has helped children to engage with education, safeguarding interventions, and positive activities, including skateboarding and rock climbing.

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

Staff understand the push-and-pull factors that can influence children to go missing from home and be drawn into exploitative relationships. Staff know the risks for individual children and what procedures to follow to keep them safe. When children are involved in high-risk behaviours, the manager and staff escalate their concerns appropriately and collaborate with multi-agency partners to reduce risks. Detailed chronologies of incidents aid decision-making to safeguard children. Staff talk to children when they return to the home from any missing-from-home incident to explore concerns that children might have and help them understand why adults are worried.

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

Staff rarely use physical interventions. However, when needed, they are used proportionately to keep children safe. Incidents are clearly recorded, and managerial oversight is visible. When staff have taken the exceptional decision to prevent a child from leaving the home to keep the child safe, the manager has carefully scrutinised this to ensure that it was necessary and did not impact on the other children. After any incident, the manager reflects with the staff and child to help resolve matters restoratively. This is helping children learn how to repair their relationships when upset occurs.

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

The staff search children’s rooms only when this is necessary to safeguard a child. The reasons for the search are clearly recorded and enable management oversight. Where possible, staff will seek the child’s consent so that they understand the reason for such action and minimise the impact that a room search can have on trusting relationships.

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

The manager takes sufficient precautions, so children are safe online. Safeguarding applications are installed on the various devices that the children use. Restrictions for the children are dependent on age and their level of risk. Staff share general information about online safety with children through theme boards and children’s meetings. Staff have constructive conversations with one child to increase their time away from the computer and promote other, more sociable pastimes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced manager oversees the management of the home. They are well supported by a committed staff team. The children, staff and professionals recognise that the staff’s togetherness is the biggest strength of the team, and this provides consistency for children. Furthermore, staff report that they feel well supported by their managers. Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 5 The manager has an effective suite of audits ensuring that every aspect of the functioning of the home is monitored on a regular basis. The manager seeks feedback from professionals, families, and the children regularly to complement the feedback received from the independent person through the external monitoring process. The manager uses these reviews to inform supervision sessions, team meetings and development plans for the home. This means that the manager learns from practice and continually strives to improve the support provided to staff and the care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff facilitate regular well-attended children’s meetings that cover a broad range of topics. Children have access to independent visitors and advocates should they need one. Children feel confident that they are listened to and their feedback is taken seriously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff consistently complete children’s records in clear and precise language that children can understand. The children’s voices are clear in the recording, and the manager ensures that their wishes and feelings are responded to. The quality of detail in recordings will help children look back on their time living at the home with more clarity and the decisions that were made about them should they view their records in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The team has regular reflective meetings about the children with a clinical psychologist. This is in addition to regular well-planned team meetings that include updates about the children alongside operational matters. This helps staff understand their roles and responsibilities and reflect about the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most staff receive frequent well-planned supervision that allows them to reflect on the work that they undertake with the children and on their own well-being and development. However, the manager’s supervision, while of good quality, is infrequent. This leaves gaps in the quality of the manager’s support and may result in important conversations not occurring. Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive regular practice-related supervision that 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 for children’s home: 2665502 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

Kirstie Sutherland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2665502 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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