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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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

Date of last inspection: 12 September 2018

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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

12/09/2018 Full Good 04/10/2017 Full Good 13/12/2016 Full Good 06/07/2016 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 registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, all children’s relevant records must be kept up to date and stored securely in the children’s home. 31/08/2019

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and settled living at this home. They enjoy spending time with staff and with each other. Children are carefully matched to ensure their safety and compatibility. Overall, the home’s placement planning and review processes are thorough. Consequently, the success of planning helps children make good progress in all aspects of their development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have lived at the home for some time have developed good attachments to staff, particularly their house tutors, who spend more dedicated time with them. They have achieved very trusting and meaningful relationships. Because of this, children feel safe and have a real sense of belonging in this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have excellent school attendance. Most are making significant progress at the company’s local independent school. Some also attend the local primary school for some lessons to help with their education transition when moving on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are very nurturing. They work hard to ensure that life in the home is as peaceful and harmonious as it can be. Children are encouraged to be polite and helpful to each other. Staff encourage children to repair and restore their relationships when disagreements occur. Because of this, children develop resilience and confidence in their Inspection report children’s home: SC386003 4 relationships. One social worker commented, ‘All staff have gone over and beyond to make sure he feels accepted and has a sense of belonging.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from the shared understanding of their early childhood experiences and traumas, held by staff at the home and in school. This is coordinated and supported by local therapists who are contracted to advise staff and work directly with the children. Children appear to enjoy therapy sessions. One independent reviewing officer commented on a child, ‘He is enthusiastic about education and engages so well with therapy. He goes to every session.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are supportive of maintaining children’s relationships with those who are most important to them. For most children living a distance from their home authority, this includes regular telephone calls to family members, and staff facilitate meetings and visits with families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents, like placing authorities, spoke highly of the home, and they appreciate the progress children make. One parent said, ‘It’s a very homely house. I’ve eaten tea with them and can see that the children get a good balanced diet. I feel staff are very helpful. They understand his needs. They work as a group and try different strategies. He is really accepting the rules and boundaries. I have nothing negative to say about staff.’

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

Children are well protected and cared for in this home. Staff regularly talk to children about the importance of their safety and the different ways in which they can keep themselves safe. One child said, ‘They really do care for us. They look after me very well.’

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

Children’s personal vulnerabilities are well understood by staff. Individual risk assessments guide their understanding and provide direction and guidance to minimise those risks and ensure that they are well protected.

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

Staff follow a therapeutic approach to managing and supporting children’s behaviour. Internal staff training focuses heavily on helping staff to understand the product of early childhood trauma and how this affects their attachments. Staff understand that the consistency of their positive relationships with children is the key to helping them achieve good outcomes.

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

While at this home, children become less vulnerable, and their risk-taking behaviours significantly reduce. For example, some children benefit from learning about stranger danger and, for others, learning strategies to cope with their frustrations reduces the harm they may cause to themselves and others.

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

Children are highly supervised. They rarely leave the home without permission. On the one recent occasion when this did happen, the child was followed by staff and returned home safely. Inspection report children’s home: SC386003 5 Staff focus on calmly talking through issues with children. Physical restraint is only ever used when it is necessary to safeguard children or others. Records reflect that when this does happen restraints are proportionate and reasonable. One independent reviewing officer commented, ‘He has no need now for restraint. He is safe and happy. They have done wonders with him.’

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

Arrangements for the storage, handling and administration of medication are good. Staff adhere to arrangements in accordance with the home’s policy. Regular auditing confirms that safe practice is being maintained at the home.

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

Recruitment practice is robust. It ensures that children are only cared for by people who have been appropriately checked and vetted and deemed to be suitable to work with children. This reduces the likelihood of their safety being compromised by unsuitable adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is effectively led by an experienced manager with a good track record of providing children with a high standard of care. He was the registered manager for another home within the group for several years before being appointed as manager of this home in June 2018.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager was registered with Ofsted in April 2019, after some delay with the application process. This delay has not affected the quality of care children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff team aim for children to enjoy a high quality of care and support. They have a strong knowledge of the children they care for. They understand their needs and can clearly identify the progress they are making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home operates in accordance with its statement of purpose. Staff provide children with a structured therapeutic environment that helps them to form positive relationships. Because of this, they can develop the skills they need to succeed at home and in school.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, he clearly identifies strength in the home’s working relationships with local therapists. He identifies this as crucial in helping staff understand how they can best help and support the children who have suffered significant childhood trauma. One social worker commented, ‘I could tell that staff spend a lot of time trying to see the world through the child’s eyes.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they are well supported in their roles and identified regular supervision, staff meetings and training events as helpful in supporting their professional development. Staff also benefit from an annual appraisal that considers staff knowledge, skills and competencies and identifies future training needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, children’s records are well maintained and provide a good account of their day- to-day activities, progress and achievements. However, some relevant documents, such Inspection report children’s home: SC386003 6 as review minutes, were missing from children’s files. Although these were later located in another home belonging to the group, these need to be in the child’s home to inform staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s development planning is supported by good external and internal monitoring processes and takes account of the children’s views and wishes. For example, a recent redesign of the home’s front garden has provided additional space for ball games, as requested by the children during one of their house meetings.

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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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