Children's home run by Witherslack Group Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2483720 1 Registered provider: Witherslack Group 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 privately owned home offers care for up to seven children. These children may have faced adverse childhood experiences resulting in trauma. The registered manager holds a level five qualification.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable as this is the home’s first inspection.

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2483720 2

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— 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. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) In particular, ensure that children’s plans contain clear guidance for staff when ground holds are required. 26/08/19

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20(2)) 26/08/19 Inspection report children’s home: 2483720 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop warm and trusting relationships with children. They know them well and invest in them. This helps children to settle and develop a sense of belonging in their home. The child-focused and nurturing environment supports children to make good progress from their starting points. Children play a key role in the day-to-day decisions about their care. Enjoyable and imaginative weekly meetings support children to make suggestions on a range of issues. These include menus, activities and purchasing new equipment for the home. Children also choose the décor of their bedrooms and other areas of the home. The quality of children’s internal placement plans is exceptional. They contain detailed and clear information written in a child-friendly manner. Plans are updated regularly and capture children’s progress well. The innovative ethos of the home inspires staff to provide children with excellent key-work support. For example, staff use animation-style

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

designs to record a child’s key-work sessions. This helps children to engage in their plans and take ownership of them. Some children have not engaged in education for several months prior to living in the home. However, aspirational and dedicated staff support them to attend and engage in school. Children’s attendance rates are excellent. Staff work closely with teachers to provide children with seamless and consistent care. As a result, children make strong progress from their starting points. A teacher told the inspector, ‘We’ve [school staff] seen huge progress in him [child]. He had daily incidents but now they are few. Staff are resilient, despite the challenges, and they keep offering him calm and consistent care’. Staff work closely with the therapist employed by the organisation to ensure that children receive specialist support. Children receive an initial therapeutic assessment that outlines the key focus of their support. Staff work alongside the therapist to track

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

children’s progress and ensure that their care is effective. Some children are engaging in direct therapy, while others benefit from the home’s therapeutic environment. Children make strong progress in managing their emotions and behaviour and responding to boundaries and routines. Children enjoy a range of enjoyable activities and experiences. These include trips to local parks, roller skating and movie nights. Staff also support children to maintain and develop interests and hobbies. For example, one child has a passion for car mechanics. He enjoys visiting a local scrap yard with staff and used car badges to build a decorative feature which takes pride of place in his bedroom. Other children are members of local groups and enjoy trips to the gym. This helps children to feel part of their local community and increases their self-esteem. Children receive support to improve and maintain their health. They benefit from a home

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

environment that promotes an active lifestyle. Staff provide children with nutritious meals and encourage them to take part in exercise. This support has helped one child to lose a significant amount of weight. The proactive registered manager ensures that children benefit from specialist help and assessment. Inspection report children’s home: 2483720 4

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

The registered manager closely scrutinises children’s behaviour patterns and support plans. She uses additional oversight from in-house behaviour support specialists to develop staff practice and improve the quality of care that children receive. For example, the registered manager identified specific times of the day when challenging incidents took place. In response, she changed children’s routines to involve them in alternative activities at these times. As a result, incidents of challenging behaviour have significantly reduced. Staff support children to develop new strategies to manage when they are anxious or distressed. For example, children learn to spend time in their bedroom and enjoy this. The registered manager uses research and innovative approaches to help children regulate their own emotions. For example, a child uses a small tent in his bedroom to seek comfort during times of stress. Staff use imaginative systems to reward children for positive behaviour. For example, a

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

gold, silver and bronze reward chart encourages children to meet their behaviour targets. Children enjoy receiving rewards for positive behaviour. This positive ethos has helped to reduce incidents of challenging behaviour. Risk assessments are detailed and clear. The registered manager and staff review and update them on an ongoing basis. Staff demonstrate an understanding of each child’s risks. They involve children when reviewing their risk assessments. A well-resourced staff team keeps children safe. A recent reduction in staffing levels reflects the progress that children have made. The registered manager has effective links with key safeguarding agencies. She works closely with social workers and designated officers to share information swiftly. The registered manager ensures that all allegations and concerns are managed effectively. This transparent and robust safeguarding culture means that children are kept safe.

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

A child displays extremely challenging behaviour due to his difficult and traumatic past experiences. Staff have used restraint on a number of occasions to keep him and others safe. Some of these restraints involve the use of holding the child on the floor. The child’s behaviour support plan did not contain any clear guidance on the use of ground holds. This shortfall was rectified by the registered manager during inspection. Furthermore, during one incident, the reasons why staff held the child on the floor were not clear. This made it difficult to see whether the restraint was proportionate. The registered manager acknowledged this through her monitoring and addressed it with the member of staff. The responsible individual has imminent plans to cease the use of ground holds in this and other homes owned by the organisation. Because of the resilience of staff and their willingness to try different strategies in consultation with the

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

home’s therapist, the number of restraints has reduced significantly for this child. This is impressive given his needs and starting points.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate and aspirational for the children in her care. Her Inspection report children’s home: 2483720 5 extensive managerial experience, knowledge, resilience and innovative approach inspires staff to provide children with good-quality care. The registered manager has worked hard to embed her vision for this new home. She is supported by an experienced deputy manager and team leaders. The diverse staff team has an excellent mix of experience and skills. Some staff take lead roles in various aspects of children’s care. They use their expertise to provide in-house workshops that continually develop staff practice. Staff enjoy their role and feel supported by managers. A member of staff told the inspector, ‘The manager likes to develop us [staff] and trusts us. I can’t fault her support. It’s clear that she doesn’t give up on children.’ The registered manager has some effective monitoring systems in place. She compiles

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

information on all aspects of children’s care, using a variety of means. Internal daily, weekly and monthly oversight helps to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the home and tracks children’s behaviour patterns. The registered manager uses this information to improve the quality of care that children receive. For example, a change in children’s daily routines resulted in a significant reduction of challenging incidents. There is a healthy learning culture in the home. The registered manager creates in- house training packages to develop staff practice. High-quality inductions help new staff to quickly settle and gain the necessary knowledge and skills. The registered manager strives for continual improvement in staff practice by offering effective challenge and support. She works closely with school staff and the therapist to review each child’s care. She uses this shared knowledge to offer children consistent care that

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

is in line with their needs. As a result, children make strong progress. The purpose-built home environment is exceptional. It is warm and welcoming, and this encourages children to feel relaxed and enjoy their surroundings. The home contains large lounges, dining areas and spacious en-suite bedrooms. Children enjoy spending time in the large garden playing football or using the trampoline. The home has quiet areas where children can relax, speak to their family, or meet with the in- house therapist. In addition, the registered manager promptly repairs any damage to maintain the appearance of the home. The registered manager develops excellent working relationships with agencies and family members. This coordinated approach helps children to make strong progress. Feedback from professionals is highly complementary. A social worker told the inspector, ‘I’ve seen a massive turnaround for him [child]. Staff don’t give up on him,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

they keep persisting. He was on the verge of school exclusion but is doing brilliantly now’.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young Inspection report children’s home: 2483720 6 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: 2483720 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Witherslack Group Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lupton Tower, Lupton, Carnforth LA6 2PR

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Inspector

Gareth Leckey, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2483720 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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