Children's home run by Calderdale Council in Calderdale

Inspection report for children’s home: SC034953 1 SC034953 Registered provider: Calderdale 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 is registered to provide care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living in the home, and the inspectors spoke with one of them.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2024.

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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: 3 February 2025

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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: SC034953 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/02/2025 Full Good 22/11/2022 Full Good 14/12/2021 Full Outstanding 09/10/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC034953 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build positive and trusting relationships with staff and are provided with nurturing care. Staff have a good understanding of children’s individual needs and ensure that they are provided with a range of positive experiences. This is supporting children to make progress in different areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Moves to and from the home are well planned, and staff provide children with good levels of support. Children are helped to learn independence skills before they move on from the home. Staff also provide them with outreach support after their move, helping them to maintain the positive relationships they build. When children move to the home, there are comprehensive plans in place, and managers work closely with external professionals to support these moves. The needs of the children already living in the home are also carefully considered when new children are moving in to ensure that staff are able to meet the needs of all children effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped and encouraged to spend time with people who are important to them. Staff understand complex family dynamics and help the children navigate difficult feelings. Managers and staff build positive relationships with family members. This helps to ensure that time with their families is positive for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s education. They have supported one child’s move into a new school, and they are now making good progress. Staff provide consistent and stable routines to support children to access full-time education. When issues arise with education and attendance, the manager works closely with education professionals to help children overcome these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are provided with monthly consultations with a therapist to explore the children’s emotional health and wellbeing. This supports staff in addressing the children’s individual and sometimes complex needs and helps give staff a different perspective when considering how these can be met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities and have travelled abroad with staff for holidays. This supports them to develop their confidence and have fun.

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

Children’s emotional health and wellbeing are well supported by staff. Children are helped to understand their feelings, and this has contributed to a reduction in incidents of self-harm. When such incidents have taken place, children are open with staff and seek support.

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

Allegations made by children are responded to appropriately by managers. Children’s voices are paramount and information is shared across multi-agency teams as Inspection report for children’s home: SC034953 4 needed. Managers conduct internal investigations to ensure that children are safe and identify any necessary actions. Children are provided with good levels of support, including being helped to access further support agencies when necessary.

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

Children have detailed positive behaviour management plans in place, and staff know how children present when in crisis. They support children to calm effectively, which means that physical interventions are only used rarely by the staff team and only when needed to keep children or others safe.

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

There have not been any incidents of children being missing from home. Despite this, there are clear action plans in place to support staff in locating children if their whereabouts were unknown. The plans are detailed and contain important information that would be paramount in ensuring children’s safety.

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

Door alarms are used on children’s bedrooms overnight. These are not routinely reviewed to consider whether their use remains necessary, and for one child, it is not clear that the use is needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is suitably experienced and has high expectations for the quality of care that children receive. She is supported by a knowledgeable deputy, and together, they provide highly effective leadership to staff. Staff say that managers are approachable and supportive. Managers have a clear presence in the home and know the children exceptionally well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has excellent knowledge of theory-informed and child-centred practice. This is used to help inform care planning for children, including those moving into the home. It helps the manager ensure that staff have the skills to meet the children’s needs effectively and that children are provided with excellent support at times of change.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has highly effective systems in place to monitor the progress that children are making. This helps them have a good awareness of areas for development and celebrate good practice. She has effective oversight of children’s plans, which are trauma informed and include detailed information about children’s needs and how staff meet these. When there are any discrepancies in these, the manager takes prompt action to rectify this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are provided with regular, reflective and purposeful supervision sessions. Informal supervisions also take place when shortfalls in practice are identified. This means that any issues identified in staff practice are identified promptly and clearly addressed. This support helps to ensure that staff are equipped to provide nurturing care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are provided with a wide range of training that has a direct and positive impact on their practice. The manager provides opportunities for staff to have specific Inspection report for children’s home: SC034953 5 training tailored to the needs of the children. Core staff are supported to gain the relevant qualification; however, casual staff are not put forward for this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Team meetings are well attended and are reflective. Staff are encouraged to share any reflections on children’s care to identify positive practice or areas for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager builds excellent relationships with external professionals. Highly effective communication and multi-agency working contribute to positive outcomes for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034953 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff in a care role, including external agency or bank staff, have the qualification in regulation 32(4) within the relevant timescale listed in regulation 32(5). The registered person may extend the time period if the member of staff has not worked in the role for a prolonged period, such as when on sick leave or maternity leave, or if it is not reasonable to expect the member of staff to complete the qualification in this timescale due to the nature of the hours they work. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.12)  The registered person should ensure that children can access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child’s access to

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Recommendations

any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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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: SC034953 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Princess Buildings, Princess Street, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX1 1TS

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Inspectors

Amy Sims, Social Care Inspector Mel Turner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC034953 8 and 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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