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

Inspection report children’s home: SC020630 1 SC020630 Registered provider: Castle Homes Care 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

This home is registered to accommodate up to six children and young people aged 11 to 18. Care and accommodation are provided for children and young people who have experienced trauma in their lives.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has registered with Ofsted since the last full inspection and is suitably qualified and experienced.

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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: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC020630 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/03/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/09/2018 Full Good 27/02/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/06/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC020630 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff deeply care for the young people they look after and want the best outcomes for them. As a result, staff and young people build positive and trusting relationships quickly. This enables young people to make excellent progress in all areas of their lives. Young people who have previously been out of education have maintained school and college placements. The risk of young people being exploited has reduced because staff educate young people on the risks of child exploitation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff educate young people through discussions and keywork sessions that are creative and interactive. Staff work closely with the home’s therapist to develop sessions that are relevant and specific to young people’s current needs. Staff focus on teaching young people about internet safety, appropriate relationships and self-development. This has a positive impact on young people and helps them understand risks that they have previously been exposed too.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a nurturing and positive environment. Staff continually promote young people’s emotional well-being. Staff encourage kindness and have developed the use of gratitude tokens as a small way of showing appreciation to others. Additionally, young people gave Christmas presents to children who were in hospital over the festive period. One young person did some voluntary work with the elderly as part of her work experience. These experiences help young people feel part of the wider community and allow them to help others in need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people feel listened to and understand the complaints process. The registered manager and staff regularly consult with young people to gain their views, wishes and feelings. Young people are consulted about the care that they receive, the decor of the home and the activities that they take part in. Consequently, young people feel valued and included in decision-making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote young people’s cultural awareness. Staff have developed an idea that they call ‘the big city passport’. Young people regularly visit cities and learn about the arts and historical facts of the chosen destination. This widens young people’s knowledge and experiences in a fun and creative way. The staff and young people are aiming to travel abroad by aeroplane in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide young people with clear routines and boundaries that are effective and encourage positive behaviour. Young people are motivated to work towards their goals due to the rewards that they gain. These have included feeding the tigers at a zoo, interacting with meercats and having money towards a new hairstyle. Staff work with other professionals to reduce the risk of young people being criminalised and give young people the best possible future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people with their independence skills and have recently developed a new independence programme. Inspection report children’s home: SC020630 4 The home is decorated and maintained to a high standard. It is comfortable and welcoming. Young people enjoy living in the home, and their life is greatly improved by the staff and the experiences and support that they provide for young people.

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

Staff respond exceptionally well on the very rare occasions that young people go missing. During the inspection, the inspector observed the registered manager, staff and other managers within the company work tirelessly to find a young person who had gone missing. Staff demonstrated strong team work. They followed protocols and liaised effectively with the police, local authorities and safeguarding teams. The actions taken by the staff enabled them to locate the young person and bring her back to the safety of the home.

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

The registered manager continually reflects on incidents and considers lessons to be learned following these. The registered manager thoroughly investigates allegations and takes appropriate action when needed to keep young people safe.

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

Young people’s risk assessments and behaviour management plans are detailed and provide staff with enough information to keep young people safe. These plans are updated regularly following any incidents and are ‘live’ documents. Safeguarding measures implemented to keep young people safe are effective.

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

Staff are skilled at helping young people manage their emotions and feelings. Staff know how to help young people who display self-injurious behaviours. As a result, there has been a reduction in the severity and frequency of these incidents. One young person can better manage her emotions because staff respond to her with empathy and concern and encourage her to talk openly about her feelings.

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

Staff have positive relationships with young people. They have good de-escalation skills. Consequently, physical interventions are only used as a last resort if young people or others are at risk of significant harm.

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

Staff have received training to enable them to reduce the risks of young people being exploited. Staff share their knowledge with young people and teach them about potential risky situations and how to keep safe. This is effective, and the risk of exploitation for some young people has significantly reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is dedicated to the young people living in the home. She spends good-quality time with the young people and is child-centred in her approach. The registered manager’s caring approach is mirrored by the staff who show equal commitment to caring for the young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC020630 5 The registered manager supports the staff team and is available whenever needed for advice and guidance. This helps staff feel confident and safe in their practice and enables them to meet the young people’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has excellent relationships with other professionals. Everyone the inspector spoke to was positive about the staff and management team and talked about the brilliant progress young people make.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a small staff team that provides stability and consistent care to young people. The registered manager provides staff with regular supervision and yearly appraisals and addresses staff practice issues. This promotes continual development in the home and drives improvement to ensure that children receive the best possible care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have a range of relevant training to meet the needs of the young people whom they care for. The training improves staff knowledge and helps to reduce risks relating to self-harm, child exploitation, gang culture and county lines. Staff are fully equipped to meet young people’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has good monitoring systems in place to monitor and review staff practice and identify patterns and trends in behaviours and incidents. This is effective and helps the registered manager make changes when needed.

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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: SC020630 6

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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: Fifth Floor, 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

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Inspector

Lisa O’Donovan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC020630 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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