Children's home run by Aspris Care North West Limited in Wyre

Inspection report children’s home: 1231399 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is one of a number operated by a private provider. The home provides care and accommodation for children with behavioural and/or emotional needs of single gender.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The current manager was registered with Ofsted on 20 June 2016 and holds the relevant qualification.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 5 December 2018

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 1231399 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/12/2018 Full Outstanding 15/08/2017 Full Outstanding 21/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1231399 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people live in a warm, calm and nurturing home. Staff are child- centred and it is very evident that they care about all the children. The relationships between young people and staff are positive. Young people also get along well with each other. Young people respond well to this positive and supportive environment and make good progress.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The ethos of the home is based on trust, honesty and respect for one another. Young people thrive in this environment and feel safe and happy. While the young people who currently live in the home have only lived there for a short period of time, it is clear that they are settled and see this as their home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been several children and young people moving in and out of the home during this inspection year. The outcomes for these children and young people have varied. In some instances, placements have ended suddenly following significant incidents.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Records are of a good standard. They are individual to the child or young person and reflect their journey. However, not all information is helpful to the child or young person’s progress. This is particularly evident in support sessions that explore incidents. In these instances, recording does not always reflect the philosophy of the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people access education and they are progressing well. They talk positively about their education. Young people also take part in a range of activities and undertake voluntary work. Young people speak fondly of these opportunities, which support them to develop skills and grow in confidence.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive excellent help and support to develop their independence skills; this is both practically and emotionally. They are keen to develop these skills and take their increasing responsibilities seriously. In some instances, however, their care plan is not clear, and this causes feelings of uncertainty and worry.

p.3

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

Safeguarding practice is good. Staff are not risk-averse. Instead, they take an informed and measured approach to risk-taking behaviour. This allows children and young people to take age-appropriate risks, while also having the required strategies in place. Children and young people benefit from this. They are learning about the importance of independence and developing their decision-making skills.

p.3

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

While staff understand the importance of risk assessing, staff do not always have the required safeguards in place. On occasion, some risks are not assessed and thus clear risk reducing plans are not established. Inspection report children’s home: 1231399 4 Children, young people and staff have access to an in-house therapist. The home benefits from this support. Children and young people respond well to the therapy on offer and it helps with their progress. Staff receive help to understand the complexities of children and young people’s needs and this has a positive impact on their practice.

p.3

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

Children and young people receive good healthcare. Plans are clear and they progress well. However, the acute nature of a child’s emotional and mental health was not fully assessed and planned for following a period of being in hospital. Consequently, the placement broke down within days of the child arriving at the home, and they were readmitted to hospital for treatment.

p.4

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

Staff encourage the children and young people to develop positive relationships with their family and friends. When these relationships are not positive, staff are able to intervene and defuse situations.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership and management of the home are of a high standard. Managers ensure that the children and young people are at the heart of the home. Managers lead by example, and they ensure that the children and young people have a positive experience living here. Managers and staff are passionate and committed.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers support and empower staff to develop their knowledge and skills. Staff have high expectations of themselves and each other. Consequently, the standard of practice is good. To strengthen this further, the staff would benefit from having access to training that reflects the needs of the young people. In addition, reflective practice, particularly after incidents and periods when the home is unsettled, would be helpful. This would provide an opportunity to learn from the incidents and enhance practice further.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose and the registration certificate do not reflect the young people that are currently living in the home. However, the care and support offered to the young people are still of a good standard and there has been no negative impact on the young people. The registered manager recognises that this has been an oversight and plans to make the necessary variation and amendments.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Parents and professionals speak well of the home and of the progress that children and young people make. One professional said that on a recent visit to the home, they were ‘impressed with the home and the values of the manager’ and that the staff members were ‘friendly, warm and welcoming’.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Another professional said, ‘The team are a fantastic bunch of people. I have no doubts from what I saw that these young people are looked after like they were a staff member’s own child. I would highly recommend this residential home and its staff.’ Inspection report children’s home: 1231399 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that the health and well-being needs of children are met. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans; understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding and that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(c)) 24/03/2020

p.5

Recommendations

 Homes are required to develop and keep under a review a statement of purpose and notify HMCI of any revisions (regulation 16 and schedule 1). The registered person should ensure that the statement of purpose indicates how the home provides individualised care to children in their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards, page 14, paragraph 3.5)  Staff should have a clear understanding of the expectations of the children’s behaviour. Staff should address poor behaviour in a consistent way. Agreed strategies should be in place and staff should apply these when managing challenging behaviours. In addition, staff should reflect on any incidents and use the learning to inform future practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.11)  The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the

p.5

Recommendations

risks to each child and make sure that the plans in place to manage these risks are accurate and clear. (‘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 regulations including the quality standards’ page 53, paragraph 10.11)  Effective care planning and strong working relationships between the staff of the home and the placing authority are essential to the success of placements. The Inspection report children’s home: 1231399 6 registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that care plans are clear and understood by the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.2) In particular, the

p.5

Recommendations

registered manager should ensure that the children have a clear pathway plan and that this reflects their range of needs, their wishes and their feelings.  As well as longer-term support for children to move on from the home effectively (regulation 6(2)(b)(vi)), the home has an important role in supporting each child leaving the home in the period immediately before their departure. The registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that each child’s transition is planned and help each child to prepare for leaving both practically and emotionally. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.9)  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

p.6

Recommendations

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 62, paragraph 14.4) This is particularly in relation to individual support sessions and key working. Inspection report children’s home: 1231399 7

p.6

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: 1231399 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 49 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool, Lancashire FY3 9DG

p.8

Inspector

Lisa Gregoire-Parker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1231399 9 to 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9