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 Ltd

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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 run by a private company. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to 5 children who may experience emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, 4 children were living in the home. All 4 children's views were gathered.

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Information about this children's home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since June 2022. The responsible individual has been in post since February 2021.

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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: SC385633 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/10/2025 Full Good 29/10/2024 Full Good 05/12/2023 Full Good 06/09/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC385633 3

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Summary of findings

Children receive individualised care from staff who know them well. Most children have positive relationships with staff and feel listened to. Children's views about the staff and the home are mixed but, overall, they receive care and support from staff that helps them to make progress.

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Summary of findings

Staff support children's education, health, family relationships and emotional wellbeing. Professionals are positive about the communication from staff, responsiveness and commitment to children.

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Summary of findings

Staff identify and respond to safeguarding concerns. Staff identify risks, use safety plans to complete welfare checks and escalate concerns when risks increase. Staff and managers recognise the risks linked to the relationship between 2 children and work with professionals to manage this. The relationship continues to affect children's routines, emotional wellbeing and safety planning.

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Summary of findings

Staff talk to children about the use of vapes, but boundaries and challenge are not yet consistently clear. Records do not clearly show the rationale or any consultation with children regarding the use of door alarms.

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Summary of findings

The manager and staff know the children well and work hard to manage their complex risks. Records do not clearly show the safeguarding plans in place or how these reduce risk for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care from staff who know them well. Staff understand the children's interests, routines and day-to-day needs. One child is settled, feels cared for and is making progress with their independence skills. Another child has made progress following a period of instability at their last home and has developed positive relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's views are mixed. One child said the home 'feels like a home' and they can speak to the manager if they are worried. Another child was observed to have a positive relationship with staff. One child gave more mixed views and said they do not feel settled. This reflects the child's current uncertainty about their placement and routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children's education, health and emotional wellbeing. Children are helped to attend appointments, engage with specialist services and encouraged to maintain routines. Staff advocate for children to professionals when education or family arrangements are not meeting their needs. Inspection report for children's home: SC385633 4 Children make progress and benefit from warm and consistent relationships with staff. The relationship between 2 children continues to affect their routines, engagement in education, activities and emotional wellbeing. Staff continue to support children to manage these difficulties and maintain positive daily experiences.

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

Staff know the children well and understand their main risks. Staff have a good understanding of the children and their individual vulnerabilities. They use a range of measures to promote children's safety and wellbeing. Risks associated with emotional distress are clearly identified and monitored by staff. Staff liaise with professionals and update records. This means that children are not left without a response when they are worried, upset or unsafe.

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

Staff and managers recognise the risks linked to the relationship between 2 children. Safety planning has been reviewed, and additional staffing and professional meetings have taken place. Records do not always clearly show how these plans reduce risk in practice or how children are helped to maintain safer boundaries.

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

Staff speak with children about vaping and the risks. However, boundaries set by staff around the use of vapes in the home are not yet consistently clear. Records do not show that direct work is consistently helping children to understand the risks or change in behaviour.

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

The use of door alarms is not clearly recorded in children's plans. Records do not set out the individual rationale for the alarms or whether children have been consulted or how the measure is reviewed. As a result, the records do not demonstrate that this restriction is necessary or proportionate and kept under review.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children well and understands the staff's strengths and weaknesses. The manager is experienced and promotes a child-centred culture. Staff and professionals describe the manager as available, supportive and responsive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates for children when plans are not meeting their needs. Staff work with the placing authorities and professionals around education, family time, emotional wellbeing and risks linked to children's relationships. Professionals describe communication from the staff at the home as positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight is evident through audits, supervision sessions, team meetings and reflective tools. Managers review children's records and seek additional support when risks increase. This includes additional staffing, increasing regular professional meetings and seeking advice from all multi-agency professionals involved. Staff say that they feel supported after difficult incidents with children. Inspection report for children's home: SC385633 5 The manager has introduced reflective tools and uses reflective and therapeutically informed practice to help staff understand children's behaviour and respond more consistently. This is positive and is beginning to support staff reflection. However, the approach is still developing, and records do not yet show that this is consistently embedded in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff are working hard to manage complex risks and are realistic about what needs to improve. Oversight of safety planning, children's debriefs and some recording systems are not yet consistent. This means that staff do not always have clear information about how risks are being reduced or what support children need following incidents. This can affect the consistency of children's support when risks increase. Inspection report for children's home: SC385633 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) 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(s) 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi)(b)) 12 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child's privacy or access to any area of the home's premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)) 12 August 2026 Inspection report for children's home: SC385633 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home's policies for responding to incidents and that they understand the importance of children and staff being offered timely debriefs. Consideration should also be given to what learning has been identified and what action has been taken to strengthen practice. (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. This specifically relates to ensuring that all areas of the home are maintained to a good standard and that any repairs or damage are addressed promptly. (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a

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Recommendations

child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 42, paragraph 9.54)

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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 Ltd

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Inspectors

Saira Rafiq, Social Care Inspector Carol Jagger, 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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