Children's home run by Cruckton Hall Limited in North Kesteven

Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: SC401364 1 SC401364

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Cruckton Hall Limited

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home is also a residential special school and offers an integrated residential education and care package for a maximum of 10 boys, aged between eight and 19 years, who have autistic spectrum disorders. The registered manager left her post on 31 January 2019. A new manager was appointed on 20 February 2019.

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This monitoring visit

A restriction of accommodation notice and three compliance notices were issued in December 2018. These notices were issued following concerns that were identified at an interim inspection conducted on 29 November 2018. This included concerns relating to the safeguarding of young people and weaknesses in the leadership and management of the residential service.

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This monitoring visit

At a monitoring inspection in January 2019, inspectors found the responsible individual had not met the three compliance notices issued in December 2018. Inspectors found significant shortfalls that meant young people were not safe. As a result of this visit, Ofsted made the decision to suspend the registration of the children‟s home from 10 January 2019 to 4 April 2019.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit was conducted to ensure that the provider had complied with the suspension of registration notice issued on 10 January 2019. The visit also included the inspectors assessing the level of progress made in addressing 15 requirements.

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This monitoring visit

This visit found that the provider had complied with the suspension of registration notice. As a result, no children are currently being accommodated.

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This monitoring visit

The responsible individual has begun to make progress in meeting some of the requirements but not all of them. Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: SC401364 2 Since the last inspection, staff have attended several training courses. This has included receiving training in safeguarding, carrying out risk assessments, understanding roles and responsibilities and increasing staff awareness training in understanding the home‟s own policies and procedures.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have also reviewed the home‟s child protection policies, including learning lessons from serious incidents.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have improved the recruitment process. This improvement means that full checks are now being carried out for prospective staff. Furthermore, all staff are now receiving regular supervision from an appropriate supervisor.

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This monitoring visit

The responsible individual is continuing to review the home‟s internal investigations processes. The information collated is helping the leadership to have a more in- depth understanding of why things go wrong and how to learn from this to improve practice.

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This monitoring visit

The independent visitor is now being provided with additional information so that their visits are more focused on incidents, complaints and events relating to children‟s safety and welfare.

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This monitoring visit

Since the last inspection, work has been completed to make three of the residential houses a safe environment for children to live. All other houses have ongoing maintenance work being completed before they will be ready to accommodate children. This is because some houses are still not free from hazards. At the point of this inspection the school‟s residential environmental risk assessment documentation was still not sufficiently detailed to evidence the control measures that help to keep children safe. This was subsequently rectified. Similarly, the progress in developing children‟s risk assessment formats remains slow.

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This monitoring visit

Improvement plans, have still not included children‟s feedback about their experience or any learning from complaints. Given that there are no children currently being accommodated, the inspectors have not been able to evaluate:  relationships between children and staff  if staff take effective action when there is risk of harm  if children‟s day-to-day care is safe  if the staff provide continuity of care  that new admission processes ensure that there is enough information recorded about children to meet their needs  that management scrutiny ensures that staff use physical restraint safely  if staff rotas contain accurate information and are kept up to date. Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: SC401364 3 The restriction of accommodation notice, and the suspension of registration notice have both been lifted. The responsible individual has agreed to have temporary conditions placed on the children‟s homes registration. This limits the number of

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This monitoring visit

children who the service can accommodate. This means that the service can only accommodate up to 10 children and only in three named houses.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 29/11/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 25/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/05/2017 Full Good 23/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: SC401364 4

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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 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—

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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. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(vi)) 31/03/2019

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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 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child‟s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

that the home‟s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; and 31/03/2019 Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: SC401364 5 that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child‟s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(vi)(b)(d)) 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

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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

ensure that the home‟s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(e)(g)(ii)(h)) 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children‟s home. (Regulation 14 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that when new children are admitted to the home, the registered person has sufficient information in order to meet their needs effectively. 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children‟s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This is with respect to management scrutiny to ensure that staff can, and do, practice restraint safely and in line with the behaviour management policy. 31/03/2019 Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: SC401364 6 Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children‟s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

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))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the staff rosters and children‟s register contain accurate information and are up to date. 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review, the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c)(5))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to evidencing outcomes of consultation in the report of the review of the quality of care. 31/03/2019

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure the following elements of the workforce plan are included in the Statement of Purpose: (in accordance with Schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20)) the staffing structure; experience and qualifications of staff; and arrangements for supervision of staff practice. („Guide to the children‟s home regulations including the quality standards, page 53, paragraph 10.10) In particular, keep this information up to date in relation to the current workforce. Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: SC401364 7

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children‟s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cruckton Hall Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Old Vicarage, 61 High Street, Swinderby, Lincoln LN6 9LU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Donna Varley-Turner

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Inspectors

Christy Wannop, social care inspector Sue Young, social care inspector Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: SC401364 8 to 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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