Children's home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Outstanding

The children's home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 Staff have an excellent understanding of young people’s needs. Their knowledge and training enables them to support young people very effectively. As a result, young people make exceptional progress.  Staff work in close harmony with the on-site school. Together with the ready availability of psychological and psychiatric support, this enables a wraparound approach to each young person’s care. This maximises the impact on young people’s outcomes.  Young people greatly enjoy living here. They are able to experience a range of different activities, which provide stimulation and promote physical and emotional well-being. They grow in confidence and develop emotional resilience.  Relationships within the home are excellent. Young people generally act with consideration for others and respect the boundaries of acceptable behaviour. The home has worked very hard to significantly reduce the number of times that

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

young people have to be restrained. This promotes young people’s dignity as well as their safety.  Young people feel very safe. Going missing is an extremely rare occurrence. Staff are alert to any threats to young people’s safety and work in partnership with other agencies to manage them. The constant review of safeguarding practice has led to improvements in risk management.  The leadership and management of the home are outstanding. The registered manager and senior staff drive improvement through robust monitoring and evaluation. Staff are very well supported in helping young people overcome their difficulties and achieve success.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Staff should encourage children to share any concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. Children must be able to take up issues or make a complaint with support and without any fear that this will result in any adverse consequences. Regulation 39 sets out the requirements on the registered person to have a complaints procedure. Children must be aware of this procedure and be reminded of it as necessary. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 24, paragraph 4.13)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the home provides a domestic and homely environment. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 15 paragraph 3.9) Specifically, that young people are not required to sign documents such as sanction records and key worker sessions.

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Information about this children's home

The home accommodates up to seven children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

6/08/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

p.5

Outstanding

The home’s location in open countryside provides great opportunities for activities on-site, such as racing remote control cars, or just taking time out in the grounds. The home has two rabbits that young people look after, which is an important part of the therapy for some. Nevertheless, the home’s relatively remote situation does not impede access to activities within the community. Staffing levels and the provision of two vehicles mean that young people are able to engage in a range of recreational, leisure and cultural pursuits. Some young people enjoy sports, such as rugby and swimming. They can go to the cinema, or bowling. Others are active members of community groups, such as drama clubs. All these activities not only give young people enjoyment but help them to develop confidence, self-reliance and a sense of achievement.

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Outstanding

Additionally, young people acquire consideration for the needs of others. For example, they have taken part in charity fund-raising events, such as a sponsored silence, and a walk for Children in Need. One young person volunteers at a dog charity, another does voluntary work at a local railway station assisting people with disabilities.

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Outstanding

Detailed care plans set out each young person’s needs and how they will be met in day-to-day living. More specific targets for them to work towards are then agreed with the young person. Staff monitor and review their progress closely. Because of the quality of this work, young people make exceptionally meaningful and positive changes in their lives. All have 100% attendance at the on-site school and make substantial progress, mostly from very low starting points. For example, the great majority of young people have met or exceeded their academic targets over the past year. A school report on one young person is typical of many, saying that they have done some fantastic work this year, and are enthusiastic and always complete their work with an excellent attitude. A social worker said, ‘When you compare the young person now [to] when they were admitted, the progress they have made is massive.’ A young person acknowledged the journey they had made, saying, ‘I’ve

p.6

Outstanding

come on a long way since I came here. I was scared when I heard the word GCSEs but now I’m ready for them.’ The home is proactive in supporting young people to do their homework and creates a culture in which aspiration is the norm. One young person even insisted on doing their school work in the car on the journey to a week’s holiday.

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Outstanding

The impact of the home’s work is similarly impressive in other outcome areas. Staff promote healthy lifestyles and work on specific needs as necessary. For example, one young person has lost over two stones in weight as a result of a planned programme of healthy eating and a full schedule of physical activity. No young person smokes or misuses substances. The emotional well-being of young people is addressed through meticulous planning between the home, school and therapeutic services. Strategies to manage young people’s difficulties are planned in regular multi-disciplinary meetings and consistently applied across the campus. The home has recently worked with teaching staff to improve the transition in the morning and at the end of the school day. This has proved highly effective, reducing stress for young people at these critical times.

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Outstanding

Young people like the staff and enjoy their company. The quality of these relationships enhances the effectiveness of the work that staff do. One young person said, ‘If, say, you were upset, staff would come and talk to you. They help you deal with situations.’ Another commented, ‘Staff always listen to you, I’ve had a number of things I’ve needed to talk to staff about, and they always give me time to do that.’

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Outstanding

Staff respect the views and opinions of young people and give them as much say as possible over decision making, both in the running of the home and in their own care planning. Young people know how to make a complaint. Complaints are rare, but addressed thoroughly and the outcome fed back to the young person. However, the home’s complaint policy is not clear about when it may not be appropriate to give this feedback in writing.

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Outstanding

No young person has yet reached the age when formal planning for independence is required. However, staff encourage young people to do things for themselves and learn the skills they will need in adulthood. For example, staff help young people to learn about cooking and prepare meals. One young person said, ‘I know I want to live on my own when I leave. Staff have been helping me, like showing me how to cook and stuff.’

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Outstanding

The home continually assesses its safeguarding practice and modifies it where necessary. For example, the registered manager has recently introduced a different risk assessment model. This is more reflective of young people’s individual vulnerabilities and easier for staff to follow, making strategies for dealing with risk more effective. A colour-coded ‘chronology of concerns’ highlights any incidents that impact on each young person’s safety, improving communication within the staff team and across the campus. All staff have received training in safeguarding, senior staff undertaking advanced training in this area. The registered manager shares current issues of interest, including research findings, through the regular staff team meetings. For example, recent NSPCC guidance on the use of augmented reality games, and the outcomes of serious case reviews.

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Outstanding

This commitment to safeguarding results in an environment where young people feel secure. All young people who spoke to the inspector confirmed this, with comments such as, ‘… I feel safe here, very… I definitely have no worries about being safe…’ There have been isolated incidents of bullying but young people said that staff deal well with these. Staff have addressed recent racist behaviour effectively by involving the local police hate crime officer in working with the young people. There is a detailed policy for managing incidents of young people going missing. However, there has only been one such incident since the previous inspection, and even then the young person did not leave the campus and was away for no more than a few hours. Staff are alert to any threats of sexual exploitation, and supported by extremely robust systems of e-safety management.

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Outstanding

In general, young people behave well, and with due regard for other people. Staff are watchful in promoting sociable and considerate behaviour, discreetly reminding young people when necessary of the home’s expectations and boundaries. A recently introduced scheme of incentives is proving effective in motivating young people to achieve agreed targets and modify antisocial behaviour. These incentives are individualised to each young person’s circumstances and ability. One young person is working towards his life’s ambition of travelling by air. Staff have planned a weekend in London for him. He proudly showed the inspector the calendar on his bedroom wall, with the date of his flight marked with a cut out picture of an airplane.

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Outstanding

Rather than use sanctions, staff have adopted an approach which requires young people to make reparation. For example, when a young person has damaged their bedroom wall, they can pay for the filler and paint and help to make the repair. Alongside the loss of incentives, poor behaviour is addressed through counselling. For example, staff had a formal work session with one young person who behaved dangerously in the car. By understanding the potential consequences for themselves, staff and other road users, the young person learned from the experience and is less likely to repeat the behaviour.

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Outstanding

Many young people come here with extremely complex needs, arising from their troubled backgrounds and history of traumatic experiences. Many have moved on from other placements due to the level of concerning and unsafe behaviour. The home has demonstrated outstanding success in reducing young people’s distress and its resultant expression in challenging behaviour. In collaboration with teaching staff and therapists, and with additional input from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), staff identify what troubles each young person. They then construct plans for addressing these needs in their daily work. This enables staff to understand what might trigger upset or distress and what works in reducing it. For example, one young person responds well to music to calm them. For another, an assessment by an occupational therapist revealed that they find the application of physical pressure reassuring. The home is therefore exploring

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Outstanding

ways of providing this, such as the use of a weighted blanket.

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Outstanding

The home’s inventiveness in finding positive strategies to manage behaviour has borne fruit in terms of reducing the number of physical restraints. In the last quarter, there have been fewer than one third of the number than in the final quarter of 2015. One young person said, ‘I’ve not been held for a while. This is a very big improvement for me, and it’s because I’m getting more self-control. I’ve never been hurt when I’ve been held. Staff are really careful.’ More impressively, the use of the most potentially risky, and undignified, restraint technique has reduced even more dramatically. Comparing the same time frames as above, this technique has been used twice, as opposed to 21 times. This has come about because of the home’s stated commitment to reducing the need for this particular technique entirely.

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Outstanding

The registered manager is experienced and suitably qualified, and ably supported by senior staff. He leads a staff team which is sufficient in numbers and experience to provide a high degree of skilled, individualised care to young people. The home is extremely well resourced. It is equipped and furnished to a high level, providing an environment which conveys to young people that they matter. Each bedroom has an en suite bathroom, contributing to young people’s comfort and safety as well as enhancing their privacy.

p.9

Outstanding

The registered manager has demonstrated his ambition for continuous improvement. All requirements and recommendations from the previous inspection have been addressed. This has resulted in improvements to some record keeping and the quality of the independent visitor’s reports. Most significantly, the drive to reduce the use of physical restraints and the consequent risk of harm to young people has been successful. The registered manager uses feedback from staff to identify where practice could be sharpened. For example, it was felt that communication between the home and the school was not always effective. One of the staff has now been identified as ‘education champion’. They attend weekly meetings with teaching staff and are an effective conduit for relaying any issues to and from the care staff. The fortnightly school newsletter, individual to each young person, keeps staff up to date with how the young people are doing academically.

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Outstanding

Staff are fully committed to partnership working with other professionals. The benefits of this approach are acknowledged by others. A young person’s relative said, ‘This place is the best that [name] has been in, they’ve made such good progress. This is because it takes a holistic view, the psychology and education being on-site means that everything is in one place. [name] just picks up the phone to call me, I have confidence that they would tell me if something was wrong. Their behaviour has settled right down, there were daily incidents, but not now. They have improved their confidence so much.’

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Outstanding

There are extremely robust systems in place to monitor the progress that young people make and where shortfalls need to be addressed. The registered manager’s own monitoring of the overall performance of the home is also comprehensive. In addition, the provider commissions external, independent audits carried out by highly experienced professionals with a background in inspection. These help to identify areas of practice which could be improved, and which the registered manager addresses promptly. Records are very well organised, with regular audits to ensure that information on young people is complete and up to date. Young people are required to sign a large number of documents, for example reparation records and key worker sessions. This is an unnecessary and institutional practice and detracts from the otherwise homely atmosphere.

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Outstanding

Staff receive regular supervision of their work in addition to annual performance reviews. Induction of new staff is very thorough, ensuring that they have the basic skills and knowledge that they need as quickly as possible. The staff training programme is comprehensive. It includes a range of training experiences delivered by CAMHS, including on topics such as low mood and depression, self-harm, and attachment. This is very effective in broadening staff’s knowledge and has a direct impact in improving their ability to support young people more effectively. One member of staff said, ‘The attachment training was really helpful for me. With one young person, when they first came to us, they were trying to push us away, the training helped us to understand that they were frightened of becoming too attached to us, so we were able to modify our approach to them accordingly.’

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against ‘Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection’.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of children looked after is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place. However, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or that result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference that adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, 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,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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