Children's Home run by Kirklees Council in Kirklees

Inspection report for children’s home: 2788278 1 Registered provider: Kirklees Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a local authority. It provides care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living at the home, and all 3 children were spoken with.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2025.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2788278 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/06/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/02/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2788278 3

p.2

Summary of findings

The children’s care lacks coordination and consistency. This results in some staff approaching risks for children in a structured way and other staff responding differently. Staff do not receive regular communication through handovers, supervision sessions and team meetings to address the children’s needs. This affects every aspect of the children’s care.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s support plans are not directive and lack clarity. This poses challenges for staff to co-ordinate and review the children’s care effectively. Some staff are proactive and act on their own initiative, but there is not a consistent approach. Furthermore, there is disorganised planning around supporting children to prepare to move on to supported living arrangements.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff do not support children effectively with their self-care, particularly around maintaining reasonable bedroom cleanliness. Additionally, one child’s bedroom has a broken drawer and damage that has not been repaired for months, despite the child repeatedly raising this issue. Another child’s bedroom has a broken ensuite toilet and blocked shower containing stagnant water. This has not been repaired as an urgent matter and poses a health risk.

p.3

improvement to be good

Education plans are in place for all children. However, there is a lack of focus and planning educational progression and engagement for children. One professional highlighted that there is a level of acceptance of non-attendance with education for one child.

p.3

improvement to be good

There is good communication with professionals. However, there is a lack of joined-up working and challenging professionals when required. An example of this relates to the arrangements around one child staying away from the home overnight. The agreed plan failed to respect a child’s legal status and the child’s sleeping arrangements were ambiguous. This has resulted in an unnecessary level of anxiety and frustration from the child’s parent.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s diversity and inclusion is being championed by staff. Children are accepted and feel empowered to explore their identity and gender representation in the home. While this is positive, one significant professional was not aware of one child’s gender identity and their preferred name before meeting them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2788278 4 Staff have good and secure relationships with children. The children have fun with adults and participate in a range of activities. There is a focus on the children coming together, particularly around enjoying mealtimes as a group.

p.3

improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not done enough to form an independent view around the risks associated with the children’s established networks in the community. Consequently, staff say that they do not get the direction that they feel they need. This results in uncoordinated and inconsistent responses to children.

p.4

improvement to be good

Inconsistent decision-making and reactive responses from the manager have created division in the home. Therefore, children and staff question the merit and rationale behind several decisions made around the children’s care. Furthermore, staff nor children are given a reasonable narrative to better understand why certain staff are absent from the home. Cumulatively, these issues are unsettling for the children to process.

p.4

improvement to be good

Although children’s risk assessments are frequently reviewed, some staff say they are unclear on how to apply them in real time. As a result, there is no meaningful planning to address worrying events such as children taking illicit substances, alcohol, vaping or having tattoos.

p.4

improvement to be good

There is good information-sharing with social care, police and safeguarding agencies. This enables multi-agency solution-seeking around concerns associated with the children’s lives. However, this does not result in staff feeling confident and being consistent around managing concerns in the community.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Senior leaders are aware of the ongoing challenges associated with the management and leadership of the home. However, the current plans to address this are failing to yield much-needed change. This is unsettling for children and staff alike.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff are not responsive to the systems that are in place to plan the children’s day-to-day care effectively, such as daily staff handovers. Therefore, staff continue to function in a disorganised manner, which continues to affect the children’s experience of care.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not receive consistent, planned or meaningful supervision sessions. Additionally, staff do not receive sufficient feedback when they apply for developmental opportunities or annual performance appraisals. This impacts on staff morale and undermines the organisation’s ability to retain staff.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Team meetings are poorly attended. This undermines the team’s ability to create space to seek solutions to certain aspects of the children’s care. As a result, there continue to Inspection report for children’s home: 2788278 5 be several areas of drift in respect of the children’s lives. This has resulted in some children and staff becoming apathetic.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There remain a high number of staff absence and regular patterns of sickness. Staff describe a working culture that is disjointed. Positively, the organisation has an ongoing recruitment strategy and is in the midst of introducing several more staff to the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2788278 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.6

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

p.6

Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

p.6

Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

p.6

Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

p.6

Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice;

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— 15 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2788278 7 meet the needs of each child; and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(iv)(vi)(vii)(ix)(c)(i)(ii))

p.6

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.7

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

p.7

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

p.7

Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

p.7

Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 15 September 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2788278 8 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

p.7

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

p.8

Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

p.8

Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 15 September 2026

p.8

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.8

Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

p.8

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

p.8

Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 15 September 2026

p.8

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: 2788278 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic 3, Market Street, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire HD1 2EY

p.9

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Anna Westeman Gledhill

p.9

Inspectors

Chrissie Edmonds, Social Care Inspector (lead) Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2788278 10 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.

p.9

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10