Children's home run by Witherslack Group Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2533483 1 Registered provider: Witherslack Group 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 home accommodates up to five children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A private company operates this home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since 2 August 2019.

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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 outstanding

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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: This is the first inspection of this home.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2533483 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, the 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 ensure that suitable facilities are provided within the children’s home for any child accommodated there to meet privately at any reasonable time with the child’s parents, friends, relatives or any of the following persons—

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Requirement Due date

a solicitor or other adviser or advocate acting for the child;

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (5), the registered person must ensure that children are provided at all reasonable times with access to the following facilities which they may use without reference to persons working in the home—

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Requirement Due date

a telephone on which to make and receive telephone calls in private. (Regulation 22 (1) (3)(a)) 21/11/2019

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are developing good relationships with staff. The staff take time to understand the past experiences of the children and how this affects them. This enables children to build trust in a safe and supportive environment. Throughout the inspection, children were observed engaging with staff in fun and educational activities. Sharing activities and experiences with staff helps to develop secure relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are in good health. They are supported to eat a healthy, nutritious diet and to take regular exercise. The children and staff benefit from the advice and support of an on-site specialist mental health practitioner. Targeted and reflective one-to-one sessions are delivered both in school and at home. This ensures that children are receiving high levels of expert support to meet their emotional health needs. Children are making good progress toward their targets in education. Children benefit Inspection report children’s home: 2533483 3 from an on-site education provision with one-to-one support. Attendance is excellent, and children look forward to attending school. Good communication between the home and the school means that adults caring for children know them well and can respond quickly and effectively to changing needs and circumstances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to be involved in and understand their care plans. Support plans developed in one-to-one sessions with the input of children enables them to have a say in how their needs should be met and supported by staff. In doing so, children build resilience and learn new strategies that will help them in later life.

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

Children live in a home that is safe, homely and spacious. The home is in an area that has very few known risks that can have an impact on the children. Consequently, the children feel safe from people who may wish to cause them harm.

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

Risk assessments are detailed and contain information that enables staff to fully understand the steps to take to identify and respond to factors that increase risk. Missing-from-home episodes have significantly reduced for children since moving into the home. Staff are vigilant and on the rare occasions that children do go missing from the home, the response from staff ensures that the children are quickly located and returned safely.

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

Children know how to complain, but they do not currently have access to a telephone which would allow them to make calls without having to first ask a member of staff. This limits a child’s opportunity to raise concerns about their care or safety with someone independent of the home.

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

Good communication between the home and the school contributes to clear and consistent responses to the behaviour of children. In key-worker sessions, children are helped to understand the reasons for their high levels of supervision. These sessions help children to understand their risk and will enable them to develop their independence in a supported way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is managed by an experienced and inspirational manager who has high expectations of her team and the children. The manager is supported by an experienced and motivated leadership team that provides high-quality supervision, appraisal, training and induction programmes to the staff team. This ensures that children receive high- quality care from staff who are equipped to respond quickly and effectively to their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and staff are effective in creating an environment where children can thrive, develop and achieve. Individual incentive programmes that reward positive behaviour help children to develop confidence, resilience and independence. Behaviour is discussed in a supportive and reflective way. This helps children to explore issues and Inspection report children’s home: 2533483 4 develop understanding of their behaviour and the impact this has on others.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers and leaders have a clear understanding of the progress made by the children and will appropriately challenge other agencies when they feel children are not being supported effectively.

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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: 2533483 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Witherslack Group Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Marcia McLoughlin

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Inspector

Mark Proffitt, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2533483 6 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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