Children's Home run by Appletree Treatment Centre Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 1 SC033268 Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children’s home that is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to 12 children who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

This company also runs a school that is registered with the Department for Education. It is within the same grounds as the children’s home. Currently, all the children attend the school.

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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: Improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager shows a very high level of commitment to the children at the home. He has good knowledge of each individual child and is a strong advocate for them.  Most children make good progress. Where children are not making good progress, this is understood and additional supports are put in place to enhance progression.  Children have highly positive relationships with staff, who show a very good level of care, nurture and patience. Staff are skilled in managing difficult behaviour in a way that is supportive and ensures that the child feels cared about.  Staff, guided by social workers, undertake life-story work with children. This helps them to understand their histories and why they are in care. Some examples are of exceptionally high quality.  Similarly, children’s culture and religion files are of a high quality. They are child friendly and meaningful, and are individualised for each child.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff show commitment and tenacity when faced with the extreme risk-taking behaviours of some children. They do not give up on children, but support children to work through some very difficult emotions.  Safety planning is robust and agreed with partner agencies. The home takes effective action when young people take extreme risks.  Children are helped to move on from this home in a planned way. Where placing authorities are ineffective in transition planning, the manager advocates on the child’s behalf.  Children feel that rules and boundaries are fair. They believe that staff listen to them and act on their wishes, where possible.  Children are healthy and engage in a wide variety of health-promoting outdoor activities. They are also enabled to play and ‘be children’.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff at the home should not use methods of restraint that are outside of the CALM (crisis and aggression limitation and management) procedures. Specifically, children should not be held in any ground holds other than those described within CALM guidance.  Records of restraint should be kept in line with regulations and should be completed in full within the required timescales.  Any incident listed under regulation 40(4) should be notified to the regulator. Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 30/08/2016 Full Good 05/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 4

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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, 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

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. (Regulation 19(1)) 19/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— (i) the name of the child; (ii) details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; (iii) the date, time and location of the use of the measure; (iv) a description of the measure and its duration; (v) details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; (vi) the name of the person who used the measure (‘the user’), and of any other person present when the measure was used; (vii) the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and (viii) a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; The registered person must ensure that within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by

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Requirement Due date

the registered person to do so (‘the authorised person’)— (i) has spoken to the user about the measure; and (ii) has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35(3)(3)(a)(b)) 19/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there and a child protection enquiry involving a child is instigated. (Regulation 40(4)(c)(d)) 19/09/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children at the home generally present as happy and playful. Observation of them evidences that they are given ample opportunities to express themselves through play and to participate in a wide range of activities which they enjoy. Children are treated as individuals and are able to make choices about how they spend their time on a day-to- day basis. This helps them to explore their likes and dislikes and to form relationships with those who enjoy similar activities. Children have close and trusting relationships with staff. These are apparent from their routine interactions, and show that care and warmth are offered on an unconditional basis.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are educated at the on-site school, which fully meets their educational needs. House tutors have monthly meetings with their key child’s teacher to discuss progress and what support they may need in education. Staff help children to complete homework. Children’s achievements are recognised on a regular basis and at a yearly awards ceremony. This ensures that their achievements and progression are celebrated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children attend external activities and clubs. For those who have a particular talent, for example in dance, football or gymnastics, this is nurtured and developed to ensure that children are given the opportunity to achieve their potential. Staff take huge pride in the children’s achievements, which fosters positive self-worth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The company employ a registered nurse to oversee children’s health needs. All children are supported to become increasingly healthy through attendance at medical appointments, a healthy diet, and regular outdoor activities and exercise. In particular, the children enjoy playing out at the home’s large grounds on scooters, bikes and skateboards. Children also access therapy which is sourced externally and can be of various different types. Staff at the home and therapists regularly communicate about children’s needs, developing a joined-up approach to ensuring progress. Children report positively about the therapy that they receive, which they enjoy attending, and they have developed trusting relationships with their therapists.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children make very good progress from their starting points. This is recognised by social workers and parents who speak highly of the care that children receive. Some children’s progress falters due to their individual circumstances. This is very well understood by staff, who work as part of a multi-agency team to help the child to manage any issues that they may be experiencing and ensure that the child is fully supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Many children are very young, and staff offer appropriate, highly nurturing care with plenty of physical contact in the form of cuddles and hugs. Children have bedtime stories and a ‘tuck in’ which is in line with their developmental stage. Children report that they feel cared about and feel that they make positive changes while they live at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have regular community meetings and also house tutor sessions. They report Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 6 that the manager is always available, should they wish to raise anything with him, and could provide detailed descriptions of how their requests had been responded to. Children feel that their views are taken into account, and that what they say is listened to and understood. One young person described at length how, if he wanted a new football, he would have to evidence that he could look after an inexpensive football before being bought a professional match ball, but felt that this was fair and that his wishes were being taken on board. Other children have independent visitors whom they enjoy spending time with, especially when they have limited family contact.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents speak highly of the service. The home develops positive links with parents around contact and general communication about how their child is progressing. Parents report that any issues that they raise are acted upon and also say that the home is very accommodating of their needs and makes them welcome when they visit their child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are prepared well for leaving the home when they are due to move on. They have detailed transition plans, and staff help them to prepare by visiting their new placements, celebrating their successes while at the home and having a final trip of their choice. They are also provided with a ‘My journey at (home’s name)’ book, which shows their activities and progression through their time at the home in the form of photographs with staff and other children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A particular strength of the home is undertaking work with children around their life story. This is guided by social workers, but the life-story work is often compiled by house tutors and is presented in a way that is informative, sensitive and age appropriate. This helps children to make sense of their past and understand why they are in care. Likewise, children’s culture is acknowledged through their culture files, which give child- centred information about both their own cultural heritage and the culture of the area that they now live in.

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

Some children present with periods of very high risk-taking behaviours. The home shows commitment to these children in times of crisis and works as part of a multi-agency team to ensure that a robust safeguarding plan is implemented. Staff go to great lengths to supervise, monitor and be vigilant with children who are at risk of causing themselves harm, and placing authorities recognise and commend this.

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

There are many incidents where restrictive physical intervention are used. The manager is aware of the frequency of physical intervention. He works hard to try to address issues that children are experiencing and therefore reduce their need to be held to keep themselves or others safe. Where children have frequent interventions, there is a narrative to explain this which is usually connected to issues outside of the home’s control, such as court cases and family contact issues. Other children have suffered trauma, abuse and neglect in their past and, in processing these experiences, they can demonstrate extreme behaviours which put them at risk and necessitate physical intervention. The manager works in partnership with the school to collate and analyse physical interventions to identify patterns and trends, with the aim of reducing the Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 7 frequency.

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

There has been one incident where a child was held in a hold which is not in line with the CALM guidance taught to the staff. The young person subsequently alleged that he had been hurt. Although this allegation was acted upon and investigated, the home did not evidence the learning outcomes from it. Neither was the incident recorded in the required timescale, nor to a good standard, and the home failed to notify the regulator of the allegation. This incident has resulted in three requirements being made at this inspection.

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

Risks for children are well understood and are documented in thorough risk assessments which are kept up to date with new information. Behaviour management plans are both detailed and highly individualised, clearly identifying strategies for managing children’s behaviour. Children also have input into these plans and explain what works well for them.

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

The home provides a safe environment for children, and any activities are risk assessed prior to children participating in them. When accidents occur, staff are proactive in ensuring children’s well-being by seeking medical attention. Children are supervised when playing outside and are supported to use the correct safety equipment when participating in activities such as scooter riding and skateboarding.

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

In respect of behaviour management, the home uses a target system where children can receive monetary rewards for achieving their target each day. Sanctions are not in use and the home has a process of behaviour reflection instead, which encourages children to express how they were feeling and what they could do differently. The reflection work also supports children to learn how their actions impact on others and to understand how others feel. Children understand the home’s rules, which are consistently implemented, and believe them to be fair.

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

Due to their ages, the rural location of the home and the levels of adult supervision, children are not at risk of drug and alcohol misuse, criminality, mixing with unsuitable people or child sexual exploitation. Children do not go missing from home. Children do not have any unsupervised access to the internet, and any access that they do have is restricted by parental controls.

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

Children are not exposed to any people or social media which would pose a risk of radicalisation and extremism. However, staff have started to undertake online training on the issue of extremism via the social care training hub, which also provides detailed literature to support their learning.

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

Some incidents of bullying have been recorded in the home’s bullying log. These are cross-referenced to incident sheets which evidence that when children are involved in incidents they are spoken to and are helped to understand that their behaviour is not acceptable.

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

The home has responded robustly to incidents of children accessing each other’s Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 8 bedrooms by ensuring that there are two night-awake staff on the landing at all times through the night, who are alerted by light sensors outside each individual bedroom to any child opening their bedroom door.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a qualified and experienced manager. He leads a large staff team with a high level of commitment and passion, and has high aspirations for young people. He has a detailed understanding of the home and of each individual child. He is heavily involved in the day-to-day care of the children and takes a lead role in planning admissions and discharges. The manager has a very good grasp of the home’s strengths and weaknesses, and has the desire to drive continuous improvement. He is a strong advocate for children and actively challenges placing authorities that are not progressing children’s care plans as agreed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is supported by a deputy, two team leaders and two shift leaders. He has identified some issues regarding consistency between the teams and is actively addressing this through discussion with team leaders. The home is fully staffed at present, and the staff rotas reviewed showed that staffing numbers were either in line with, or above, the home’s levels as stated in its statement of purpose. Some staff are doing additional shifts to cover sickness or annual leave, and managers are alert to this and understand that this places additional pressure on staff. The staff are mainly qualified to the required level and many have additionally gained the company’s own diploma, which is a research-based qualification. The diploma cover the pillars of parenting, including care and protection, emotional resilience, social responsibility, positive self-view and self-management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported by regular team meetings, professional supervision and annual appraisals. The induction process is detailed and staff report positively about how this prepares them for working at the home. When they identify areas which would benefit from change, these are acted upon.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been no formal complaints about the home, but where parents or social workers have raised any issues they report that this is acted upon and that change is effected as a result. For example, one parent commented that changes that she had made to contact were not always communicated to staff, and that since she has raised this as an issue there has been an improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has developed positive relationships with partner agencies and works in conjunction with parents and placing authorities to deliver each child’s care plan. The on-site school and school nurse ensure that children’s health and education needs are fully addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers promote tolerance, equality and diversity at the home in a number of ways. The cohort of children is ethnically diverse and they are encouraged to understand and respect each other. Children have culture sections within their care plans, and fact files about their own and local cultures. Children are taken on trips to museums and places of Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 9 interest, and are educated about cultural difference and diversity. They also take part in celebrations for festivals around the world and have ‘passports’ which inform them about different cultures, and this improves their understanding of diversity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children have regular input into the running of the home. For example, they are involved in interviewing applicant staff during the recruitment process. They also express their views in regular community meetings, the minutes of which give feedback to children about their requests. All children have the opportunity to have a lunch out with the responsible individual at which they are encouraged to share their views on their care, and this informs the planning and development of the home.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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 who it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

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 children’s home: SC033268 10

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meathop Park, Meathop, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6RF

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Inspector(s)

Charlie Bamber, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 11 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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

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