Children's Home run by A Wilderness Way Limited in Cumbria

Inspection report children's home: 1262935 1 Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Ltd

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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 is a private run children’s home that provides care and accommodation for up to five children and young people.

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Information about this children's home

The service provides a settled period of residential care, with a therapeutic emphasis, and multi-agency involvement. The aim is to help children and young people recover from experiences which have rendered them vulnerable and disrupted their primary relationships.

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Information about this children's home

The home changed its function and re-registered with Ofsted on 1 August 2017. The manager has been registered since August 2017.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

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

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 26 February 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1262935 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/02/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: 1262935 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All children and young people thrive, and they make progress while living at the home. Because of the services provided the children and young people experience an individualised, stable and consistent home life. Children and young people benefit from the integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to education and care. They each achieve their full potential and, in many cases, do so beyond previous expectations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A social worker said, ‘this service is brilliant, without this level of intervention this would be a child in and out of care.’ Another professional said, ‘this service is very welcoming and extremely helpful, the staff are very supportive of the children and young people.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people have excellent relationships with staff who know and understand them well. The children and young people experience continuity of care from staff whom they trust and respect. A young person told the inspector, ‘I think this home provides me with everything. The staff are great, I love it here and never want to leave.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people are respected and valued by the staff. The children and young people’s views are fully considered and included in their plans. The management team and staff promote the rights of the children and young people and advocate strongly on their behalf.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people receive an exceptional level of support educationally. The staff have high aspirations for the children and young people and encourage them to understand the importance and benefits of education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Meeting the children and young people’s physical, psychological and emotional health and social needs is a high priority. Childcare practice is clearly informed by research into developing confident children and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

There is access to on-site and off-site qualified professionals, for example mental health practitioners, psychologists and therapists. The registered manager regularly publicises her childcare practices through social media, during seminars and at conferences. She has a professional interest in attachment, trauma and loss. This benefits the children and young people, their families or carers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A vast number of outdoor activities including canoeing, kayaking, climbing, cycling and ghyll scrambling are available and enjoyed by the children and young people. Most of the staff are trained as instructors for outdoor activities. These skills are regulated by the adventure activities licensing authority. This ensures that the staff are competent in providing the children and young people with safe outdoor activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Transitions to and from this home are planned and managed to suit the needs of the children and young people who live here. Admissions to the home are carefully planned, monitored and reviewed. The management team and staff take account of each child, Inspection report children's home: 1262935 4 young person and their families to help plan a transition, including family history, identity and culture.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people are supported to develop social and practical skills in preparation for adulthood. The home’s individualised moving on transition plans are thorough and effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff work closely with the children and young people’s families to ensure that contact is organised and safe. Distance is not an issue as the staff provide transport and if needed they will facilitate contact arrangements. This means that the children and young people continue to enjoy relationships and attachments with those significant to them.

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

The rural location of the home and the services provided ensures that the children and young people are kept safe. The children and young people are encouraged to reflect on their previous chaotic lifestyles. This provides them with an opportunity to recognise and change their behaviours.

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

End of placement reports are provided to professionals and families, along with a child- friendly version for the children and young people. These reports clearly show a significant decrease in the children and young people’s behaviour. For example, drug use is ceased, missing from home incidents are rare and the need for physical intervention is diminished. These reports clearly show the success of the children and young people’s placement in this service.

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

Staff safeguarding training and practice is regular and is comprehensive. The staff have a well-developed and individualised specialist knowledge about the risks and issues related to child sexual exploitation, self-harm, gang culture, county lines, restorative practice, radicalisation, extremism, attachment, trauma and loss. This enables them to pre-empt, plan, review and, ultimately, reduce these risks for the children and young people.

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

The staff are sensitive and thoughtful in their approach to the specific cultural and identity needs of the children and young people’s families. They are vigilant and encourage families to be consistent in their responses to the children and young people’s behaviour including e-safety.

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

Staff ensure that there are comprehensive risk assessments and risk management plans in place. These are regularly reviewed and include individually tailored strategies that help to keep the children and young people safe. These records demonstrate that the staff have a clear understanding of the risks to the children and young people. The staff have implemented effective strategies to manage and reduce the risks that the children and young people face.

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

Key-working sessions are frequently carried out with the children and young people regarding their risk-taking behaviours. This is a strength of the home. This work is Inspection report children's home: 1262935 5 inventive and comprehensively addresses the children and young people’s vulnerabilities. For example, many of the children and young people’s plans have been devised by them, they are presented electronically, and they are easy for them to understand and they are interactive.

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

Children and young people are cared for by staff who have been subject to safer recruitment checks and vetting. The children and young people are very much involved in this recruitment process. They are trained in the younger recruitment programme and their views on potential applicants are taken into consideration.

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

Staff make sure that the home and the locations that the service used are free from potential hazards to the children and young people’s safety. Environmental safety checks are routinely undertaken to promote the safety of the children and young people, staff and visitors in the home.

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

Risk management and emergency evacuation plans clearly outline potential risks and strategies of how to manage these risks. These include agreements with the local emergency services to ensure that they know the locations of the children and young people, should they need to respond in the case of an emergency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leadership across the service is of a high calibre and is forward thinking. This is characterised by vision, openness, flexibility and optimism. The registered manager and assistant manager are experienced, qualified, open and approachable. Together, they ensure that there is an excellent level of communication between the children and young people, their families, the staff and professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team knows the children and young people and the staff team well. The management team role models expected levels of direct practice in their interactions with the children and young people and they have adopted a coaching approach to improving staff practices. These arrangements have led to achieving consistently improved outcomes for the children and young people using the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are well supported through regular supervision and appraisal of their practice. Staff are encouraged to review and reflect on their practice, and they complete end of shift de-briefs. All staff access a wide variety of training which is relevant to their role. Most staff have achieved the required qualification. Those staff who have recently joined the service will complete their induction and they will then be enrolled onto the required qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team and staff encourage a culture that ensures that every child or young person is listened to and respected as an individual. They deploy their responsibilities of care in a manner that treats all the children and young people with dignity, respect, sensitivity and fairness. By using research, in areas such as behaviour model, drug abuse, gangs and domestic violence staff have helped young people to reflect on their behaviour, understand their past and set personalised targets and Inspection report children's home: 1262935 6 achieve their goals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and responsible individual know the home’s strengths and areas for improvement and they work closely to continually develop the service. The registered manager regularly monitors the quality of care provided. Monitoring systems are effective. They allow the registered manager to review the staff’s practice and the children and young people’s experiences effectively. The registered manager and her staff team act on the children and young people’s views, wishes and feelings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team and the staff have developed excellent relationships with a variety of partner agencies. These include the children and young people’s family, their social workers, and the police and education services. The registered manager escalates concerns appropriately and she is an enthusiastic advocate for the children and young people. She holds partner agencies to account so that the children and young people receive the very best care.

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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: 1262935 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Manor House, Brisco, Carlisle CA4 0QS

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Inspector

Mark Kersh, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 1262935 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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