Children's Home run by Castle Homes Care Limited in Barnsley

Inspection report children’s home: SC363630 1 SC363630 Registered provider: Priory Group

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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. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for three children and young people, irrespective of gender, aged from eight to 18 years old. The home provides care and accommodation for children and young people, on a medium- to long-term basis, whose plan is for them to live in a residential setting. The experienced registered manager has been in post since January 2016.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 February 2019

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC363630 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/05/2017 Full Outstanding 02/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 28/09/2016 Full Outstanding 09/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC363630 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people are making exceptional and sustained progress in all areas of their development because they are experiencing a stable home environment where they feel extremely safe. The high ratios of staffing allow the children and young people to benefit from high-quality care which is completely dedicated to their specific needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people thrive in a home where their relationships with staff are based on mutual trust and respect. Bonds between the children, young people and staff are very strong. For some children and young people, it has taken several years to build these bonds and it is the first time they have been able to enjoy positive relationships with adults after years of severe childhood trauma. This is excellent progress. One young person said: ‘One of the biggest accomplishments I have made is forming a relationship with staff, because I find it hard to trust people.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people know that the staff place their faith in them unconditionally. The staff provide the children and young people with high levels of praise and encouragement. As a result, the children and young people feel a sense of personal pride, which is helping their self-confidence to flourish. As the children’s and young people’s confidence grows, they are investing in themselves and their future. One independent reviewing officer said: ‘[Name of young person] has made unbelievable progress there. Her relationship with the staff is superb.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people have positive aspirations for later life. When the children and young people first came to live at this home, they had very poor or no attendance at school. Both of the children and young people now go to school every day. This is exceptional progress for both of them. This has been achieved because the staff have impressed on them the importance that education plays in their lives. It is preparing the children and young people well with the skills they need to gain employment in later life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff educate and empower the children and young people to make healthy and safe lifestyle choices. These choices are resulting in the children and young people enjoying improved physical and emotional health. The staff provide the children and young people with a safe and secure base. This security means that the children and young people are now emotionally strong enough to start to address past life trauma with specialist services. It is promoting the children’s and young people’s emotional well-being and resilience, and it is enhancing their coping strategies for later life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people maintain a strong sense of identity. The staff dedicate themselves to facilitating family contact to make sure that, where possible, the children and young people rebuild damaged relationships. The children and young people enjoy completing memory work to help them remember all their happy times in this home. The children and young people show a sense of pride when reflecting on their achievements here. Because of the emotional stability they achieve, some of the children and young Inspection report children’s home: SC363630 4 people are now able to engage in specialist life-story work which is helping them to piece their childhood together.

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outstanding

The children and young people feel safe and secure. The children and young people trust the staff and they feel able to share their worries and talk to the staff at any time. This is providing an extra layer of protection for the children and young people. One young person said: ‘Thank you to staff for taking me in and supporting me through my tough times and never giving up on me.’

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outstanding

The staff use their in-depth knowledge of each of the children and young people to reduce any risks the children and young people may face. The high ratio of staffing ensures that there is always at least one member of staff available for each of the children and young people. The staff use bespoke risk management strategies to address risky behaviours. For one young person, this has resulted in a significant reduction in risks of self-harm. The registered manager used research to find specific techniques, such as aromatherapy activities, as a way of helping the young person to relax as an alternative to self-harming.

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outstanding

Children and young people with a history of going missing now adhere to boundaries and they no longer go missing from home. The children and young people are now managing their free time positively. This is a big achievement from their starting points. When missing from home incidents have occurred, the staff effectively follow missing from home procedures. One police officer said: ‘Their management of missing episodes are a credit to them. The staff exhaust all possible lines of enquiry prior to involving the police. The management of the children in care here is exemplary.’

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outstanding

The staff highly prioritise the safety of the children and young people. The staff receive regular safeguarding training and they are confident to follow safeguarding procedures. The staff receive additional training around potential risks to the children and young people, such as radicalisation and child sexual exploitation.

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outstanding

Through extensive individual work with the children and young people, the staff help the children and young people to learn how to keep themselves safe. This has proven to be very effective in reducing the children and young people’s risk-taking behaviours. The registered manager researches a range of different resources, for example DVDs, to help educate the children and young people about dangers, such as sexual exploitation.

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outstanding

The staff use their strong relationships with the children and young people to manage incidents of challenging behaviour. Consequently, physical intervention is rare. When staff use physical intervention, it is a last resort to keep the child or young person and staff safe. Inspection report children’s home: SC363630 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager knows the children and young people extremely well. The registered manager is highly ambitious for the children and young people to succeed and successfully builds the children’s and young people’s self-confidence and motivates them to try their hardest. One young person said: ‘The manager, she’s the best.’ The registered manager excels at balancing management duties with working closely with the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff feel valued and they are extremely motivated in their work. The manager uses research around team building and creates new ideas to keep staff motivation high. An example of this is a praise and rewards system for staff that the registered manager created. The praise and rewards system involves the registered manager celebrating any exceptional work by putting a recommendation forward to senior managers. The staff then receive a formal commendation from senior managers for their work. This praise and rewards system is so successful in this home that it has been rolled out company wide. Due to the high level of dedication from the staff team, the staff team was a finalist in the company’s PRIDE awards for outstanding site of the year, out of 400 homes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff all feel extremely well supported by the registered manager and they receive regular reflective supervision. When new staff are employed, they quickly settle into the team. The new staff rapidly grow in confidence because of the excellent support they receive during their induction from the registered manager and from their colleagues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The children and young people receive all the services they need because the registered manager maintains excellent relationships with other professionals, such as specialist exploitation workers, police and social workers. The registered manager is a passionate advocate for the children and young people and she challenges other professionals when they are not fulfilling their duties.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager’s monitoring systems provide her with statistical and evaluative evidence which allows her to effectively track the children’s and young people’s progress. The monitoring systems help her to quickly identify any issues. When issues arise, the registered manager is passionate for the children and young people to achieve and she takes immediate action to support the young person to make sure that they continue to progress. The registered manager knows the strengths of the service. The registered manager uses research effectively to support the individual young people’s bespoke needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

This home is fully meeting its statement of purpose. The children and young people consistently receive high standards of care. The children and young people make outstanding progress in all areas of their development, which will significantly improve their life chances. Inspection report children’s home: SC363630 6 Inspection report children’s home: SC363630 7

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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 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: SC363630 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Castle Homes Care Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Anthony Armstrong

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Inspector

Jamie Richardson: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC363630 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 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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