Children's Home run by St Hill Establishments Ltd in Kingston upon Hull

Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 1 SC385633 Registered provider: St Hill Establishments Limited

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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 managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to five children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. The inspector spoke to two of the children.

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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 outstanding

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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: 29 October 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: SC385633 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/10/2024 Full Good 05/12/2023 Full Good 06/09/2022 Full Good 15/07/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children are settled in the home and have trusting relationships with staff. Some of the children have lived at the home for several years. Children say that they enjoy living there. They have made progress relative to their individual starting points. Progress includes attending mainstream school, being less anxious and becoming more independent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to have a sense of belonging and feel that this is their home. Children have personalised bedrooms. They feel listened to through forums, such as children’s meetings and one-to-one conversations with managers, where they get to have a say about and plan their experiences. Their views are recorded and actioned if possible. A metal tree in the staff office has leaves with the initials of every child who has lived in the home engraved on them, symbolising how managers and staff take pride in children and hold them central in their thoughts.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are involved in activities outside of the home, such as football, rugby and singing. Children are also encouraged to support charities and are currently preparing gift boxes for their chosen charities for Christmas. This helps children to feel that they are part of the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals and family members speak highly of staff. One family member said, ‘Management and staff are really good. I would give them more than 100 out of 100.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are in education and making progress. One teacher said, ‘The team at [name of home] is highly responsive to [name of child’s] needs. They are quick to support us in managing difficult situations and are equally quick to reinforce [name of child’s] positive choices and celebrate their achievements. This consistent reinforcement has been instrumental in their recent successes at school.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health needs of children are well managed, and healthy lifestyles are promoted. Children receive timely support for their emotional wellbeing needs, such as when experiencing anxiety or when they have experienced traumatic events prior to living at this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported during their transition out of the home. One child left and experienced a wide range of emotions but was continually supported by staff throughout. Staff keep in touch with this child and continue to offer support. Another child is preparing to leave and is anxious about their first steps into adulthood. Staff have prepared an individual independence plan that is specific to the needs of this child. It is helping them to develop independence skills that will serve them well when they leave. Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 4 Generally, children’s records have caring language, but there are isolated incidents where stigmatising language has been used by staff. This may have a negative impact on children if they read their records.

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

Risk assessments are well written and provide staff with clear guidance on how to keep children safe. The children’s individual risks are contained in one document, which is reviewed and updated regularly. Staff have a clear understanding of the guidance and are confident about how to manage risks. Children are safeguarded effectively as a result.

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

Children are involved in completing a document called ‘support us to support you’. Children describe how they feel when they are struggling, why they might feel like that and what they need from staff in such circumstances. Together with staff, they agree a plan of how staff will help them if they are struggling. Because of this, children feel heard and they receive the help they need when struggling with difficult emotions. There have been no incidents of physical intervention since the last inspection.

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

There has been one incident of a child going missing from home since the last inspection. This was dealt with well. Staff are clear about expectations if a child does go missing, and each child has a personalised missing procedure to guide their practice.

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

One child raised concerns about a staff member’s practice. This was investigated thoroughly and properly to reach an appropriate outcome. Both the child and the staff member were supported throughout the investigation and made aware of the outcome. Subsequent work was undertaken with both the child and the staff member to repair their relationship and move on from the incident.

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

During an incident when a child harmed themself, staff did not follow the agreed plan to complete a room search in a timely manner to remove any objects to prevent further harm. This could have led to further injury.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is experienced and has worked at the home for several years. She is highly motivated and provides strong and aspirational leadership to the team. The manager is well respected by staff and professionals. Children have told their social workers that they like the manager and the staff team. One professional said, ‘The manager leads with kindness, and children pick up on it.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager knows the children exceptionally well and understands their needs. She developed a system whereby she has an individual meeting with each child every month. This gives the child an opportunity to talk about their wishes and feelings and any ideas they may have about the home. Children feel listened to and can voice any concerns they may have. Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 5 The manager advocates on behalf of the children and challenges others where necessary. For example, she challenged a plan for reducing time between a child and their family because she recognised that this was important to the child. She has challenged the long-term plan for another child as it does not meet their current needs. This shows how well the manager knows the children and her commitment to ensuring that their plans meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is very well supported by the responsible individual. He shares her ambition for the children to have the best care possible and every opportunity to help them achieve. They have regular meetings where they discuss improvements that can be made for the children and how these can be implemented, and this is leading to continuous positive change in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has created new independence plans for the children that are aspirational and push the children to excel toward independence. Children have engaged well with the new plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Practice-related supervision sessions for staff are reflective, supportive and promote continuous development. Staff are encouraged to develop their skills by taking on new responsibilities that inspire confidence and ambition. New staff receive monthly support from the manager in relation to working towards their qualifications. The manager is proactive in ensuring that all staff are qualified within timescales, that training is up to date and that new training is sourced to meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are happy working at this home. One staff member said, ‘We always work towards improving’. Another said, ‘This home is a one of a kind. I have never been part of a workplace that cares so much. The team works tirelessly to provide a real home for the children in our care.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There is a very stable staff team. The stability and consistency of the staff team underpin the children building trusting relationships with staff and having a strong sense of belonging. Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 6

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff take appropriate steps to protect children when there has been an incident or risk of self-injurious behaviour. 30 December 2025

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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 recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way. Children’s records should be written in a language that is kind and caring. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 7

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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: SC385633 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: St Hill Establishments Limited

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Inspector

Karen Karlsson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC385633 9 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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