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

Inspection report children’s home: SC386003 1 SC386003 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

The children’s home is owned by a private organisation. It provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 12 to 13 September 2018

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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: SC386003 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/10/2017 Full Good 13/12/2016 Full Good 06/07/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC386003 3

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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

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8(1)(2)(b)) 01/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home. The registered person must— maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; ensure that the records are kept up to date; and retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)) This relates specifically to ensuring that the register of children contains accurate and up-to-date information. 01/11/2018

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Recommendations

 Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning, unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate. In such cases, the home should consider whether and how it can support the child to access a computer and the internet safely. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality care standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.19) Inspection report children’s home: SC386003 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children settle well at this home and generally make good progress. From their first visit to the home, they are made to feel comfortable and welcome. Because of this, they soon develop a sense of belonging and acceptance. A social worker commented, ‘He [the child] had the opportunity to visit before moving here, and the manager was great with him. He encouraged him to come out of the car and into the home. The manager supported him to spend time with the other children. He made him feel very welcome.’ Children live in a very homely environment with plenty of play opportunities. For example, in the home most enjoy playing board games and console games. Children also enjoy a wide variety of activities within the community that allow them time to socialise with other children and have fun. Children’s care is supported by detailed care planning. Plans deal with the full extent of children’s individual needs, including their heritage, culture, beliefs and religion. Children

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

are fully involved in this process to make sure their voice is heard. Because of this, children feel valued and develop a good sense of personal identity and positive self- esteem. Children’s physical health needs are routinely met by local practitioners. Staff, with the support of the company’s registered nurse, make sure that children are encouraged to make healthy choices that keep them feeling well and healthy. Children’s emotional well- being is well prioritised. Children benefit from regular sessions with qualified art, drama and music therapists. This helps them to deal with some difficult feelings and past traumas. Children share good relationships with staff who are nurturing and caring. Staff show considerable patience and interest in talking through and supporting children when they feel sad, angry or frustrated. Because of this, children trust staff and feel confident that they will always be listened to. In addition, this is accompanied by a significant reduction

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

in difficult and challenging behaviours. Children regularly attend the company’s local independent school that upholds the same nurturing ethos as they experience at the home. This provides children with helpful continuity and a positive environment where they feel able to learn and make good progress. Staff support young people’s learning with outings to places of interest, reading at home and age-appropriate tasks that will ultimately support their independence. However, during this inspection it was noted that children do not have access to a computer at the home. For one child particularly, this meant that staff were limited in how they could support her learning at home in mathematics and computer studies. Additionally, the home is missing a good opportunity to support young people explore and learn about safe internet use. Inspection report children’s home: SC386003 5

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

Children have developed a strong degree of trust in staff. They feel very safe and well protected in this home. Consequently, children find stability and feel certainty in their day-to-day lives. Staff are very familiar with children’s specific vulnerabilities and individual risks. Children’s individual risk assessments and positive behaviour plans are easy to read and understand. They provide staff with a range of strategies to be used to reduce and minimise risk. Children’s difficult and challenging behaviours are understood in the context of their past experiences. Staff know the strategies that are most effective in improving a child’s mood and de-escalating the likelihood of negative behaviours. Maintaining a calm demeanour and taking time to talk things through is a skill staff used effectively. Children’s positive behaviour is encouraged through praise and reward. Their achievements are recognised and celebrated. Physical intervention is only ever used as a

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

last resort and in accordance with safe approved practice. Monitoring activity typically identifies some increase in physical intervention at particularly stressful times, such as when children come to live at the home or when they are due to leave. There have been no incidents of children going missing from this home or school. However, staff are familiar with the local protocol to follow should this occur. Safer recruitment practice helps maintain the safety of children in the home. All staff are suitably checked and vetted to make sure that children are only cared for by staff who are deemed safe and unlikely to cause them harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the registered manager who was in post has left the home. A new manager has been appointed and has made application to Ofsted to become the home’s new registered manager. The manager is suitably qualified and experienced, having previously held the position of registered manager in one of the company’s other homes. He comes with a good track record of managing a children’s home and is committed to making a difference in this home. The children have known him in his previous role and are very pleased that he is now manager of their home. Staff feel very well supported in the role. Regular supervision, staff meetings and training events are key in helping their personal and professional development. The manager has implemented some early improvements to recording practice in the home. This has enhanced the quality of information available in children’s records to be sure that they will have a comprehensive account of their time at this home should they

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

choose to access their records as adults. However, despite these improvements, some essential information was found to be absent from the home’s register of children admitted to the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC386003 6 Internal and external monitoring arrangements are well established and working effectively. The deputy manager completed the home’s six-monthly quality of care review and reported on this to Ofsted prior to the new manager taking up post. This provided a good evaluation of the home’s performance and the progress children were making. This has successfully contributed to the home’s development planning. The independent visitor has recently changed, and Ofsted has seen some reduction in the quality of reports received. The inspector was confident that managers were already dealing with this at the time of this inspection.

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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: SC386003 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: SC386003 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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