Children's home run by North Lakes Children’s Service Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report children’s home: SC457254 1 SC457254 Registered provider: North Lakes Children’s Services 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 owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four boys, aged between nine and 16, who have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager took up post in October 2019 and was registered with Ofsted in November 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 outstanding

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC457254 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/06/2018 Full Outstanding 24/05/2017 Full Outstanding 14/03/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 04/10/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC457254 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children settle quickly into this home and develop a strong sense of belonging. This is because of the nurturing ethos and culture that exist in the home that ensure that children feel safe, wanted and accepted. Consequently, children find the unconditional love, support and stability they need to help them make excellent progress in all areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children at this home have all suffered some early childhood trauma and, in addition, they have often experienced several unsuccessful placements in care before coming to this home. Children’s care is informed by a child-focused therapeutic model of care that supports their physical, emotional and mental well-being. Staff skilfully help children to explore their feelings and emotions safely. In this way, staff can focus on children’s underlying needs rather than simply respond to their behaviours. Consequently, children’s self-esteem, confidence and resilience grow, while children’s complex and challenging behaviours prior to placement significantly decline.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A real strength of this home is the care taken to appropriately match children to ensure their compatibility and suitability to live together at the home. Because of this, children develop very positive relationships, not only with staff but with their peers. Children enjoy spending time with each other, but also value their individual time with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Care planning is clear and comprehensive, with considerable detail about the child’s needs and the support required to meet them. Children are included in their planning process and regularly consulted to ensure that their views and wishes are understood and considered. Because of this, children feel valued and place their trust in the adults caring for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s health and well-being are prioritised and exceptionally well supported at this home. Children benefit from regular contact with the company’s registered nursing professional, who coordinates the care and support required for all their healthcare needs. In addition, many children also receive direct support from one of the company’s commissioned therapists, who are skilled in helping children who have suffered childhood trauma. Consequently, children maintain good health and benefit from their health being closely monitored and consistently reviewed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff are strongly committed to ensuring that children at this home leave with positive memories of their time here. They encourage children to be children, actively promoting their involvement in childhood interests and activities. For example, this may include attending scouts, trampolining, or playing with toy cars and soft cuddly toys.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff are ambitious for the children they care for and, as such, encourage them to value their education. Children have excellent attendance at the company’s independent school, which is within a reasonable travelling distance from the home. Their education programmes are bespoke to their needs and educational ability. School reports reflect Inspection report children’s home: SC457254 4 that they are all making measurable progress from their starting points. Communication between the home and school is effective. Staff receive daily updates from teachers and additional advice which helps them to support children’s educational progress at home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Social workers, contacted during this inspection, spoke highly of staff and the standard of care children receive. Staff creativity was identified as a strength, as well as their understanding of the children they care for. One social worker commented, ‘Straightaway I felt that they understood him. They understood his lack of attachment and engaged him in a good, child-centred manner. They are outstanding, without a doubt.’

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

Children have a strong sense of safety in this home, promoted by a consistently high standard of safeguarding practice. Staff regularly update their knowledge and understanding of child protection issues to ensure that their practice remains current and relevant to the children they care for.

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

Staff are acutely aware of children’s individual risks and how these should be best managed. Children’s individual risk assessments provide clear guidance to staff, highlighting risk-reduction strategies that are known to be most effective.

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

Excellent routines and boundaries have been established with children. This includes aspects of their day-to-day care. These ensure that children are clear about what support they can expect from staff and what is expected of them in terms of their own behaviour. Children find both reassurance and comfort in this.

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

Staff promote positive behaviour by helping children to understand that their behaviour often reflects how they are feeling. Staff encourage children to know and name the range of feelings that they may experience. For some children, staff have helped them create a cardboard cut-out of themselves that they keep on their bedroom wall. With this, they have a range of feelings/emotions cards that they choose that can then be placed on the picture to help staff know how they are feeling. This has been particularly effective with one child who uses it regularly to communicate how he feels and seeks the support he needs.

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

The need for physical intervention remains low at this home. This is due to the skill of staff helping children to make sense of their feelings and their ability to identify and defuse potentially challenging situations before they become problematic.

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

There have not been any incidents involving children going missing from this home since the last inspection. Children are happy and settled at this home and staff are attentive, ensuring that they are always appropriately supervised.

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

The staff recruitment process is well established. It ensures that children are cared for only by adults who have been suitably checked, vetted and deemed safe to work with children. Children in this home benefit from a high level of supervision. Together, these measures ensure that they are suitably protected and kept safe from harm. Inspection report children’s home: SC457254 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Since the last inspection, there has been a change in management arrangements. The previous registered manager resigned her post, as she was promoted within the company to a head of care post. The home’s former deputy manager has recently been appointed as manager of this home and has successfully registered with Ofsted. The management change was well planned to ensure that both children and staff remained well supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager, who was on leave at the time of this inspection, is held in high regard by the staff team. She is a skilled, competent and experienced residential care practitioner who has already gained a level 5 qualification in leadership and management in residential care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is operating in accordance with its statement of purpose, which clearly details the therapeutic approach that the home has adopted to help and support children who have experienced childhood trauma and have attachment issues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Like their manager, staff are passionate and committed to providing a high standard of care and support that will ensure that children reach their full potential. The registered manager promotes a strong child-focused ethos that is successfully implemented by a strong team of staff who work well together, providing children with the support and continuity of care they require.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff have a firm grasp of the theoretical framework that guides their practice. They are trained and supported by qualified psychologists commissioned by the company to ensure that children’s emotional well-being and mental health are promoted. Staff practice is intuitive and skilled. They work together in good cooperation to ensure that children receive the support they require to thrive and flourish.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff said they feel very well supported in their roles. They meet regularly as a team and receive clinical, professional and therapeutic supervision that looks after their emotional and mental health, as well as the children’s. This is valued by staff, who appreciate the additional support and guidance these sessions provide.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Children’s case records are well maintained. They provide a clear picture of their plans, activities and day-to-day life in the home. Their progress and achievements are routinely monitored and well reported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The arrangements for internal and external monitoring are well established and robust. Together, they ensure rigorous scrutiny of the home. The registered manager’s six- monthly quality of care review supplied to Ofsted in advance of this inspection demonstrated a clear understanding of the home’s strengths and the manager’s commitment to continuous improvement. Inspection report children’s home: SC457254 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: SC457254 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: North Lakes Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Rayrigg Show Rooms, Rayrigg Road, Windermere LA23 3DN

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Inspector

Gillian Walters, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC457254 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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