Children's home run by Wakefield Council

Inspection report for children's home: 2823733 1 Registered provider: Wakefield 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 operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the first inspection of the home. The home and manager have been registered with Ofsted since March 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children living at the home at the time of the inspection and one child was spoken with.

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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 for children's home: 2823733 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and well cared for in their new home. When children join the home, they are appropriately supported. The move is planned at each child’s pace. Staff work well with other agencies and the children, to ensure a smooth move into the home. Children receive a warm welcome and a gift on their arrival. This helps to reduce anxiety in the child that might have arisen as a result of their move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop trusting relationships with staff. This is because they make significant efforts to get to know all children and to learn about what matters to them most. Staff encourage children to enjoy meals together. This helps to create a family atmosphere.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a broad range of stimulating activities and recreational opportunities. They are provided with opportunities to make friends outside of the home by joining local clubs such as football club. Equally, staff recognise the importance of maintaining good health. Staff support children to attend all their health appointments. As a result, the children’s health needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is a priority. Staff encourage them to attend school daily. Staff work well with schools to promote the educational needs of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop and maintain their identities. They facilitate arrangements so that children can spend regular time with their families. They support children to develop and establish relationships with those who are important to them.

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

Staff know the children well. They have a thorough understanding of children’s risks and vulnerabilities. When children leave the home without permission, staff follow relevant protocols, including going out to search for children. Knowing that staff make efforts to find them, tells children how much staff care about them.

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

When children have been physically held by the staff, this has been to prevent injury to themselves or others. The manager has oversight of all incidents and opportunities are provided to staff and children to reflect and learn from these. This helps staff and children to think about ways to prevent such events happening again.

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

Positive behaviour is promoted through clear and consistent routines and boundaries in the home. Staff have discussions with children to help them take responsibility for their behaviour. The use of a restorative approach supports children to develop an understanding of socially acceptable behaviour. Inspection report for children's home: 2823733 3 The recruitment of staff is thorough and ensures that all necessary background checks have been carried out. This means that only adults with appropriate employment histories can work with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A dedicated manager leads this home. She is supported by a deputy manager and a committed staff team. Together they strive to provide good-quality care to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s model is to provide children, foster carers and residential staff with support to move children into a fostering household. The staff have successfully supported a child to reunite with their family. The staff are enthusiastic about the future of this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they are happy and feel valued. They appreciate receiving ‘recognition certificates’ from the manager. Staff benefit from attending regular team meetings, and from receiving training and reflective supervision sessions. Supervision sessions explore the progress of children and reflect on how to deliver better care. This means that children are being looked after by staff who are constantly being helped to develop in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team have a good understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement in the home. This is because they have a range of monitoring tools that assist them to review the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager maintains positive relationships with all professionals involved in the children’s care. This communication ensures that children receive the help they need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most of the children’s records are well documented. However, there are some entries that use language that is not child friendly. Inspection report for children's home: 2823733 4

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that 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 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)

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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: 2823733 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Bond Street, Wakefield WF1 2QW

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Inspector

Evelyn Chafota, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2823733 6 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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