Children's home run by Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) Limited in Lancaster

Inspection report children’s home: 1228522 1 Registered provider: Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) 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 home is owned and operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in post who has been registered with Ofsted since July 2019.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1228522 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/05/2018 Full Good 22/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/11/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1228522 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

Engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs; if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(a)(b)(c)) 06/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard 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; manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(iv)) 06/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 06/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 1228522 4 lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Behaviour management policies and records The registered person must ensure that— within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— the name of the child; details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time and location of the use of the measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person

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Requirement Due date

to do so (“the authorised person”)— has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(a)(i–viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 06/03/2020

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Recommendations

 In some cases, restriction of freedom may be necessary. Details about planned and agreed approaches to restraint or restriction of freedom to be applied in the day-to-day routine of the child must be included in their EHC (education, health and care) plan, statement of special educational needs or within their care plans. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.43)  Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally Inspection report children’s home: 1228522 5 within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age and ability of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of

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Recommendations

restraint (regulation 35(3)(c)). Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. Children should be offered the opportunity to access advocacy support to help them with this (regulation 7(2)(b)(iii)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)  Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases, it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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improvement to be good

Progress for young people is mixed. Young people are progressing well in some areas, but not as well in others. Similarly, young people have opportunities to enjoy positive experiences, but some have also lived through negative events due to the behaviours of their fellow residents.

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improvement to be good

Staff know young people well and demonstrate a good understanding of their needs. Staff show good insight into young people’s emotional needs and work closely with an in-house therapist to increase their understanding. One young person spoke positively about her input from the therapist, which she found helpful.

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improvement to be good

Some young people regularly achieve good school attendance and are working towards expected targets. However, one young person has experienced significant disruption to her education. She is currently in receipt of a reduced package and is herself concerned about the impact this might have on her impending GCSE exams. The manager has engaged in discussions with professionals in an attempt to address the issue, but has not challenged the situation in a sufficiently robust manner.

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improvement to be good

Young people receive good support to maintain valued relationships. Staff work positively with families and carers and, at times, travel considerable distances to facilitate contact arrangements.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage young people to share their thoughts, wishes and feelings. There are good examples of individual key-work sessions in areas relevant to individual young people. In addition, young people are consulted on a regular basis about matters Inspection report children’s home: 1228522 6 affecting their home. For example, young people have input into the recruitment of new staff.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff demonstrate a good understanding of safeguarding procedures. They respond promptly to safeguarding concerns, such as disclosures from young people. There are clear records of action taken in response to concerns, which demonstrate that the manager ensures that all the appropriate agencies are promptly informed.

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improvement to be good

Some young people have made good progress in reducing high-risk behaviours, such as going missing from home, and are engaging less in antisocial behaviour in the community. This means that they are safer on a day-to-day basis.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff endeavour to keep young people safe and protect them from harm. However, practice is not consistently underpinned by robust risk management. Some risk assessments lack detail and context, and strategies for minimising risk are not always clearly described. This means that staff may not have enough information to provide consistently safe support.

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improvement to be good

There have been unpleasant incidents between young people, which have had a negative impact on some young people’s well-being. Staff attempt to manage situations as they occur, although their responses are inconsistent. Shortfalls in the way such incidents are logged and monitored mean that managers, staff and external professionals do not have a clear overview of their frequency or severity.

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improvement to be good

All staff are trained in recognised behaviour support techniques. Any incidents requiring staff to physically intervene are recorded and these records are monitored by the manager. Debriefs following such incidents are inconsistent and not always completed. This means that staff or young people do not always have the opportunity to reflect or raise concerns.

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improvement to be good

Consequences for inappropriate or negative behaviours are not consistently applied in a proportionate manner. This inconsistency does not support young people to develop their understanding of appropriate or safe behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a manager in post who has been registered with Ofsted since July 2019. Young people and staff spoke highly of the manager. Feedback from external professionals was positive. A social worker said, ‘The manager and staff team work very closely with me and always ensure I am kept informed about any incidents.’ Inspection report children’s home: 1228522 7 The manager and staff have failed to make effective use of impact risk asssessments when considering whether to admit new young people. In addition, the potential impact of new young people on those already living in the home has not always been properly considered. This means that young people’s safety and well-being have not been consistently promoted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are provided with a detailed training programme that is designed to enhance their skills and assist them in carrying out their roles effectively. Training is carefully monitored to ensure that the team remains up to date in all areas of learning. The manager has also arranged for additional in-house training in positive behaviour support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Team meetings and one-to-one supervision sessions enable staff and managers to share information and discuss areas such as personal development, performance and any concerns either party may have. There have been some shortfalls in the frequency of supervision, but the manager has recognised this and is taking steps to bring all staff up to date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Internal monitoring could be used more effectively to ensure that shortfalls and areas for development are identified. Shortfalls in areas such as risk management were found during this inspection, yet had not been previously identified by the manager. Furthermore, requirements in relation to risk management and behaviour management records were raised in the last inspection of the home and have not been met. This demonstrates that the home has failed to take the necessary steps to ensure that young people benefit from an improving service.

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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: 1228522 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8, Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2FX

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1228522 9 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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