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

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company, and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to 12 children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. This company also runs a school, registered with the Department for Education, within the same grounds as the children’s home. Currently all the children from the home 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/08/2017 Full Good 22/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 30/08/2016 Full Good 05/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 3

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Recommendations

 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 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 9.5)  The registered person should decide what each six-monthly review should focus on based on the specific circumstances of the home and any areas of high risk to children. The review does not need to address every part of the Quality Standards but should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6 months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living at this home appear happy and settled. Most have suffered early childhood trauma and have attachment issues. Staff are nurturing and sensitive in providing support to meet children’s complex and diverse needs. Accordingly, children become more resilient, learning to express their feelings as well as gaining trust and confidence in the adults who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views and wishes are central to their planning and the support they receive. Children benefit from regular and frequent discussions with staff, and from house and community meetings. Children’s influence in the day-to-day running of the home is clearly evidenced in the way they have personalised their bedrooms, and provide input regarding menu decisions, activities and outings. These are many and varied, and include attending clubs, choir singing, biking, skating, and swimming.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to make choices and guide the adults in planning meetings, outings and visits to family. Placing authorities commend the home for being proactive and ensuring that contact is a positive experience for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to follow healthy lifestyles. Their healthcare needs are overseen and coordinated by a qualified healthcare professional employed by the Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 4 company. Staff also work collaboratively with the play-and-art therapist contracted by the company to ensure that children’s needs are supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are educated at the company’s school, which is based on the same site as the children’s home. All are reported to be making good progress. The home has also forged a strong link with a local mainstream school. This means that children can have some experience of mainstream schooling prior to moving on from this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff successfully support children when it is their time to move on from the home, to a more permanent placement or back home to their family. Children often express mixed feelings at this time. However, staff manage this with considerable sensitivity, making sure that children have plenty of tangible memories of their activities and progress during their time at the home. All children have memory boxes and photograph albums. One young person commented, ‘I’ll be sad to leave as I like spending time with staff. I have made good friends here and I will miss them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents are provided with the opportunity to attend a parenting course provided by the home. This aims to help and support parents with the transition of their child returning home. It has been welcomed by placing authorities and parents, and is seen as a supportive activity. One parent commented, ‘I go to a session once every two weeks. They are teaching me how to stay in the green. This means to not get frustrated or angry. It will help when he comes home next year. It was the best decision for him to come here. It’s brilliant here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children become increasingly independent, as is appropriate for their age and understanding. One parent commented, ‘When he first came here he was behind in meeting his targets. Now he is reaching all his targets. Staff have made him very self-sufficient, well-mannered and polite. I’m very proud of the progress he has made. He can use the self-checkouts at the supermarket and is budget aware.’

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

Children generally receive a high level of supervision due to their presenting behaviours and complex needs. However, the home has experienced some difficulties in recent months in supervising children at night.

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

Initial action taken to improve night-time supervision arrangements proved ineffective. These arrangements have since been revised twice and now include two waking night staff and an electronic monitoring system to alert staff should children come out of their rooms at night.

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

Staff have a good knowledge and understanding of children’s risk-taking behaviours. Risk assessments successfully inform staff how to reduce and eliminate those risks. Some detail about a recent incident was found to be Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 5 missing in one young person’s risk assessment. Although this did not immediately compromise the young person’s safety, it meant that the record had not been accurately updated.

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

This home has a good track record in keeping children safe in their community. There have not been any incidents of children going missing from this home in the last three-year period. Staff have received training and understand the risks posed by those in the community who may try to radicalise or sexually exploit children.

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

Staff and management have a clear understanding of child protection issues and good safeguarding practice. Managers respond decisively when concerns arise. They communicate effectively and work in good cooperation with partner agencies and other professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced, having worked at this home for many years prior to being appointed as the home’s registered manager in 2013. He is committed to ensuring that children receive a high standard of care and support. He is a good advocate for children, and is confident in challenging other professionals when the need exists to ensure that children’s needs are appropriately met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported in their role. In addition to their own regular professional supervision and staff meetings, staff benefit from having good consultation opportunities with the children’s external therapist. These sessions enable staff to gain a deeper understanding of the children they are caring for, and how they can best support them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff are enrolled immediately to complete their level 3 diploma if they do not possess this qualification when appointed. Following this, staff are encouraged to complete the company’s own research-based qualification. This diploma aims to widen their knowledge and understanding, focusing more specifically on children’s care and protection, including emotional resilience, social responsibility, positive self-view and self-management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective internal and external monitoring arrangements exist. The manager makes good use of his own monitoring activity and recommendations made by the home’s independent person to inform the home’s development planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s individual progress is well understood by the manager and his staff team. Systems are established to monitor and track children’s progress and identify when additional support may be required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Ofsted received the manager’s six-monthly quality of care review report which provided an evaluative summary of the home’s recent activity and performance. Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 6 However, it did not include the views of children nor other professionals. Additionally, it did not conclude with a plan for the next six-month period, therefore it was unclear how this report would influence improvements and the continuous developments 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 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

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 7

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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

Gillian Walters, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 8 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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