Children's Home run by Lonsdale Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: 1183605 1 Registered provider: Lonsdale Care 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

The home is registered to take up to four children aged from eight to 17 years, irrespective of gender. The home provides care and accommodation for children who may display antisocial behaviours and/or emotional difficulties and moderate learning disabilities. The current manager was registered with Ofsted on 29 February 2016 and holds the relevant qualification.

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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: 25 January 2019

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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: 1183605 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/01/2019 Full Outstanding 21/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/06/2017 Full Good 24/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: 1183605 3

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Recommendations

 The importance of understanding who we are and where we come from is recognised in good social work practice, for example through undertaking life story work or other direct work. Staff in children’s homes should play a full role in work of this kind. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)  The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and make sure that the plans in place to manage these risks are accurate and clear. Furthermore, all relevant records should be clear and unambiguous. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and that the training available meets the needs of the children in their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes

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Recommendations

regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) Inspection report children’s home: 1183605 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make exceptional progress living here. The home is centred around the children’s individual needs. Children thrive in a warm, caring and homely environment. Children describe the home as ‘their home’ and enjoy living here; there is a real sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children enjoy the experience of living here. One child expressed that ‘it was the best Christmas they had had in their life’. They went on to say that ‘it was magical’ and ‘it was great’, as they got to spend the first Christmas in years with their sibling, opening presents and singing karaoke, and they will never forget it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff offer children a solid foundation of honesty and trust. This enables children to form strong and positive relationships with each other and with staff. The importance of good and valued relationships is embedded in the home. This emphasis extends to the children’s families and friends. Children flourish in this positive environment and establish and develop good relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children receive support to explore who they are. This means that children are able to express their uniqueness and their personal journeys. To support this further, children would benefit from having more life-story work completed with them. When life-story work is done, it is done to a good standard and the children benefit from this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are exceeding expectations in their progress. This shows that they are happy and safe and believe that they can achieve their individual goals, however small or large. Children are encouraged by their individual achievements, and this supports them to try new things and develop new interests.

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

Staff put children’s safety and happiness at the centre of all they do. Children say that they feel safe and happy living here.

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

Staff take the time to analyse children’s behaviours and understand the underlying issues. This enables staff to identify any patterns of behaviour and what could be the triggers. Staff explore ways to respond to the triggers effectively. From this analysis, they develop strategies that have a positive impact on children’s progress.

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

Children receive support to help them understand why they display risk-taking behaviours and how they can make better choices to reduce these risks. This has a positive impact, as children start making good decisions and risks reduce.

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

While staff manage the children’s risk-taking behaviours well, there are times when risks are assessed and planned for in isolation. Furthermore, in some instances, important information is not recorded. This means that not all risks are clearly known and understood by all the staff. Inspection report children’s home: 1183605 5 Children have access to support from partner agencies. Staff recognise the importance of children receiving this support and encourage them, in a sensitive and supportive way, to access the support on offer to them. This helps children to take ownership of their individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The leadership and management of the home are outstanding. Managers are visible in the home, and children and staff benefit from this. There are good relationships between managers, staff and children, which supports the progress of the children, the staff and the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers go above and beyond to ensure that the children have the best experience living here. They have developed a home that ‘belongs to the children’. They ensure that the children are at the heart of any decisions they make.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home has recently developed an annex. This is as a result of leaders and managers identifying an opportunity to support children during their transition to independent living. The child that has moved into this annex speaks very positively about this opportunity and is thriving. The annex facility allows them to have independence, alongside the availability of support when they need it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff have regular and meaningful supervision, and day-to-day support is excellent. Any issues raised about practice are appropriately explored and challenged. Any safeguarding concerns are investigated to a good standard. Managers share any lessons learned within the organisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive effective training that enhances their practice. To strengthen this further, staff would benefit from training in life-story work and identity. Staff would also benefit from exploring how and why any training improves the experiences and outcomes for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff work in partnership with relevant professionals to ensure that children have the correct support and guidance in place. Professionals speak very positively about the home. They say communication is excellent and staff deal with any issues in a timely way. Furthermore, they say that staff are reflective, which supports children’s progression.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

One professional said, ‘[Name of child] is incredibly settled there, so much so that we changed the care plans for [name of the child] to remain in residential care and not fostering. They went on to say that staff have been consistent in their care and that the home has made a ‘massive difference’ to the child’s life. Inspection report children’s home: 1183605 6

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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: 1183605 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 34 Broadacre, Caton, Lancaster, Lancashire LA2 9NH

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Inspector

Lisa Gregoire-Parker, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1183605 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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