Children's home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report children’s home: SC485540 1 SC485540 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 is run by a private organisation and is registered for the care and accommodation of up to seven children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The manager, who registered in November 2014, is suitably skilled and qualified for the position held.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 10 to 11 December 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 good

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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

Date of last inspection: 13 November 2018

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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: SC485540 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/11/2018 Full Outstanding 30/01/2018 Full Outstanding 22/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/06/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC485540 3

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18)  Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change negative behaviours in key areas of health and well-being such as, but not limited to, nutrition and healthy diet, exercise, mental health, sexual relationships, sexual health, contraception and use of legal highs, drugs, alcohol and tobacco. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

In particular all staff should receive training in relation to children’s self-harm behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people live in a large and very well presented home. The manager schedules a programme of work identifying areas of the home for redecoration or update, involving children and young people in each step of this process. Each child and young person has been supported to decorate a unique Christmas tree for a communal area of the home. This creates a vibrant and warm environment showing children and young people that their input is valued, which promotes self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff in this home are particularly skilled at identifying innovative ways to help children and young people with issues such as loss and bereavement. The manager and her team have developed individualised care that has enabled children and young people to develop skills and coping strategies. The support that children and young people receive helps them to continue to make significant progress during times of difficulty.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people take part in a broad range of activities. The staff have used research into how teams develop, to set challenges designed to help children and young people live harmoniously and to learn empathy. This has brought about a sense of unity, with children and young people celebrating their special events and successes together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Care planning records show that children and young people are consulted regarding the Inspection report children’s home: SC485540 4 care they receive. When children and young people disagree with aspects of their individual plan, their challenge is invited and they are given opportunities to further discuss their point of view. The manager uses this system to implement changes to children and young people’s care plans because of their input. This gives children and young people a powerful message that they have control in their life and that they are important.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Careful consideration is given to developing children and young people’s independence. Children and young people are set targets and are supported to take manageable steps towards their individual and age-appropriate goals. For some, it is the increase in their levels of independence that is evidence of exceptional progress.

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

Children and young people are safe in this home. Children and young people do not go missing from the home, but the manager maintains effective links with police and ensures that the members of her team maintain current knowledge of protocols that they need to follow should the need arise.

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

Monitoring is in place to reduce the risk of children and young people being exposed to potential harm when using the internet. Programmes of work are in place to develop their knowledge and understanding of being safe online. For some, it is the ability to stay safe online that is evidence of risks reducing and demonstrates that children and young people are becoming increasingly safe.

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

Risk assessments provide staff with guidance on strategies to keep children and young people safe. At times, the language used in these documents makes the level of risk seem higher than the actual level of concern. There is not an impact to children and young people, but a recommendation is made to address this issue to ensure that children and young people’s documents are helpful to them.

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

The process for new staff joining the team has been an area of improvement since the last inspection. Inductions into the team are now more thorough, and staff are guided through the key processes required to be understood to protect children and young people. Staff have a broad range of skills and knowledge. However, while a large proportion are trained to deal with self-harming behaviour, they are not all specifically trained in this area. A recommendation is made to ensure that all staff could respond to children and young people’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is a highly effective and motivational leader. She uses robust auditing processes to monitor practice and has developed individualised, creative approaches to consult children and young people. The manager uses the information gained to evaluate the quality of care that children and young people receive and is passionate about driving continuous improvement in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC485540 5 The manager accesses articles from social media and the news and uses them to help children and young people understand the impact of their behaviour in ways to which they can relate. This innovative approach helps children and young people learn to be respectful to one another and to develop socially acceptable behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive regular, thorough, reflective supervision. The manager acknowledges good practice and when she identifies weakness, she uses this as a learning tool to raise the standard of practice. The staff team members respect their leader, saying that morale is high and that they feel valued and supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager uses her position to challenge any aspect of a process to ensure that it is in the best interests of children and young people. When plans for children and young people do not meet her high aspirations for them, she has fought persistently and secured outcomes that have significantly improved their lives. Feedback from professionals gave a consistent message that the manager and her team provide children and young people with a service of the highest quality.

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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: SC485540 6

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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

Paula Kelly: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC485540 7 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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