Children's home run by Castle Homes Limited in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC413106 1 SC413106 Registered provider: Castle Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private provider. It offers care and accommodation for up to six children who have emotional and/or behavioural needs. The home has been without a registered manager since October 2017.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 31 January 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC413106 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/11/2017 Full Inadequate 24/01/2017 Full Requires improvement 15/11/2016 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC413106 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 provider must ensure that the person who manages the home is registered, as any person who carries on or manages an establishment or agency of any description without being registered under this Part in respect of it (as an establishment or, as the case may be, agency of that description) shall be guilty of an offence. (S11, of the Care Standards Act 2000) 09/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that the approach, ethos and purpose are reflected in the plans for the care, safety and progress of the children. 09/02/2019

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— 09/02/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC413106 4 meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; and

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that plans for developing positive relationships are attuned to the distinctive needs of each child.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the 09/02/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC413106 5 registered person to ensure— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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improvement to be good

When children move in they start to develop trust in their carers; feelings of security increase and they become more able to express and explore their feelings. A resilient and committed staff team consistently responds to the tests and challenges of the children in a controlled and firm manner, and this adds to those feelings of security.

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improvement to be good

Staff are determined to ensure that children receive the education to which they are entitled and strongly support their learning, including when proper provision is not yet in place. This helps to stop children falling behind and helps to build their aspirations to achieve. Alternative ways are sought to continue their social development and to maintain a sense of purpose. For example, this has been achieved through supporting one child who has engaged enthusiastically in the army cadet programme.

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improvement to be good

An imaginative and motivated staff team supports the children to expand and enrich their experiences of the world by encouraging them to explore and to develop their interests and abilities, both inside and outside the home.

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improvement to be good

Although staff are skilled and knowledgeable in their approach to the needs of the children, this expertise is not currently being supported by good-quality plans of care. Current plans lack detail and connection with the most prominent areas of need.

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improvement to be good

Staff engage constructively with parents and placing authorities and they are proactive in achieving best arrangements for the children to maintain family ties.

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improvement to be good

The failure by the provider to ensure that permanent and accountable management of the home is in place undermines the current good standards of care being provided by risking the overall stability of the home.

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

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improvement to be good

The children are well protected from the general risks normally associated with the vulnerabilities of children in residential care by a staff team whose members are alert and knowledgeable. Areas of expertise include their insight into child exploitation, online safety and radicalisation.

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improvement to be good

Children who lack confidence in adults and question their intentions become more trusting and able to accept their support. Children feel more secure and able to accept consistently enforced boundaries aimed at keeping them safe and making best progress. Plans to guide staff in protecting the children and helping them to become safer sometimes overlook key areas of risk and there is insufficient focus on how risks can be systematically reduced.

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improvement to be good

When suggestions are made that staff may have acted in a neglectful or potentially harmful manner towards children, these are taken seriously and immediate action is taken to protect parties and to investigate possible misconduct, with rigour and appropriate outcomes.

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improvement to be good

The children are supported to take risks appropriate to their abilities and understanding and become more able to keep themselves safe and feel more competent and confident. Good standards of maintenance and health and safety checks, including those relating to fire safety, help to keep the children safe from avoidable hazards and risks in and around the home.

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improvement to be good

The continued stability and further development of the practices in the home that help the children and keep them safe are undermined by the absence of permanent and fully accountable leadership.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The period that the home has been without a registered manager exceeds all provisions that allow for reasonable delay. This means that the home has been without the cornerstone of statutorily accountable leadership for an extended period, undermining the stability and normal development of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been an appointed manager for the home since April 2018 and although her future in this role was uncertain for a period, she has failed to apply to register with Ofsted in the expected timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has demonstrated a commitment to improving the service and leading the staff team in this process. The staff team members are supported in their roles through regular supervision, team meetings and personalised plans for their practice development and improvement. The staff team displays a focus on the children and a commitment to providing the best possible standard of their care. Inspection report children’s home: SC413106 7 However, the positive practices of staff in their care and support of the children are insufficiently supported by prescribed systems of documentation and recording that are not satisfactorily attuned to the needs of children in residential care. This persistent failure by the wider organisation to provide staff with suitable recording and planning tools impedes the necessary improvement and development of the service.

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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: SC413106 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Castle Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Fifth Floor, 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

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Inspector:

John Pledger: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC413106 9 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:

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

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