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

Interim inspection report children’s home: 1247560 1 Registered provider: Witherslack Group Ltd Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is owned and operated by a large provider. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people, irrespective of gender, who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Judgement at last inspection: good

Date of last inspection: 19 September 2017

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Judgement at last inspection: good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has improved effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

There have been no changes to the group of young people residing in the home since the last full inspection, which has provided good stability for them. It has also enabled them to build on their relationships with staff, each other, the therapist and staff at school. While there have been some changes to the staff team, the young people report that this has had little impact on them. They also report that they have highly positive relationships with staff in whom they have developed trust and warmth.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

There is a wealth of evidence to show that staff understand each young person’s individual and unique needs and respond to them in line with their differing requirements. Young people are well engaged in talking about what works for them and how staff can best help and support them. This is evidenced through a high level of recorded individual work sessions. Interim inspection report children’s home: 1247560 2 Progression for young people remains steady, with notable progression in developing relationships and family contact. Young people who previously engaged with staff minimally are now confident in expressing their views and actively seek to spend time with staff. A staff member has been nominated by a young person for a ‘choice award’ (from a placing authority). The young person describes the staff member as ‘kind, caring, shows an interest in what I like, loves her job and always goes the extra mile’.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

One young person has progressed from having no contact with his birth mother for several years to establishing contact, initially by letter, then by phone and finally face-to- face. This has been a great success. Staff were involved in ensuring that this was managed in line with the young person’s capacity to process each stage.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people are helped to lead active and healthy lives. Where there are issues around diet and eating patterns, young people are supported to seek medical help to identify the cause while at the same time being educated about exercise, healthy diet and portion control.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people are encouraged to identify areas of interest outside the home, and are supported to engage in external activities to help them develop social links outside the care system. One young person has developed an interest in fishing and fell running, one is being supported to try a local rugby club, another attends a local football club and another is involved in community activities such as a charitable cake stall at a local farmers’ market. Staff show great pride in young people’s achievements and participation in community activities, which has a positive impact on self-esteem.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people report that they feel safe in the home. Records show there are low numbers of safeguarding incidents. For example, there have been no incidents of missing from home reported, there is no drug or alcohol misuse and no anti-social or criminal behaviour. Physical intervention levels have shown some peaks. One peak was around Christmas time and could have been expected due to this being the first year the young people had spent Christmas in the home (and for some, this was their first Christmas in a children’s home). Another peak was attributed to one young person building up to a disclosure, which also linked with some heightened behaviours around settling time for this young person. Managers were able to explain what steps had been implemented to minimize these incidents, including the young person having male staff to support him at bedtime. Records of physical interventions are very detailed and

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

clearly show that both staff and young people are debriefed following any incident. Additionally, young people do individual sessions to reflect on each incident, and try to voice how they can be helped by staff to prevent holds taking place.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has made a really positive response to the recommendation made at the previous inspection relating to young people’s online safety. As the young people have progressed some of them now have their own smartphones. Young people sign up to mobile phone contracts and hand their phones in at night. Internet safety work has been undertaken with all young people, both directly in individual sessions and through an ‘internet and phone safety multiple choice quiz’ game. All young people have access to the home’s computer, which uses Smoothwall (web content and control security) to Interim inspection report children’s home: 1247560 3 block certain sites and notify managers by email should any young person try to access unsuitable content.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home’s records are well organised. A new handover book is in use which allows staff to record how the previous shift has gone and what could have been improved. This encourages staff to reflect on and learn from any incidents. There are good systems in place for monitoring and reviewing incidents and progress so that managers have a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. Managers analyse data to identify trends, and use an electronic recording system to produce graphs and tables which help to identify any emerging patterns. Independent visits have taken place every month since the last inspection, and managers find these visits helpful due to the visitor affirming their good practice and identifying some areas for development.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has made progress towards ensuring that a higher proportion of staff are qualified to Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England). Six out of 13 staff are now qualified to this level, and every remaining member of staff is enrolled on the course.

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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 differences 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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 Interim inspection report children’s home: 1247560 4 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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Witherslack Group Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lupton Tower, Lupton, Carnforth LA6 2PR

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Inspector

Charlie Bamber, social care inspector Interim inspection report children’s home: 1247560 5 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

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