Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: 1244283 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 is a privately run children’s home that provides care and accommodation for up to three children and young people.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The children and young people who are referred to the home may have experienced a sudden placement breakdown. They may be experiencing a situation which does not allow for a longer period of planning and preparation for admission.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home provides a service for children and young people who would benefit from a placement in a small residential setting.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager in post is not yet registered with Ofsted as the manager of this setting. He is an experienced manager who has been registered for other services within the same company. An application for registration has been received.

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: 16 October 2018

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

None. Inspection report children’s home: 1244283 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/10/2018 Full Good 31/01/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 22/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1244283 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people currently living in the home are making excellent progress. This is due to them being well matched and having positive relationships with staff and each other. Both attend full-time education provisions and are settled, integrated and achieving well. One young person has made such good progress that she has been invited to attend a residential school trip to London. Another young person has settled into school and developed a positive friendship group. This promotes her sense of belonging and self-worth.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people do not display negative behaviours that impact on each other. This is due to the large age-gap between them and different presenting issues. Placement plans for young people identify their needs and the approach staff should adopt to best meet those needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people can identify staff with whom they have a positive and trusting relationship. This helps them because they understand that staff care about them and listen to their views, worries and concerns. Relationships between young people and staff were observed to be warm, caring and supportive, and firm where necessary. Staff communicate well with each other to ensure a consistent response to young people. This promotes a sense of security and predictability for young people.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Direct work with young people is frequent and relevant. Conversations happen in an organic way and young people do not feel forced to share their views.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have access to a wide range of activities in line with their individual interests. One young person always needs to be busy and occupied. Her activity planner shows that she participates in many activities to prevent her from becoming bored. Another young person is sensitively helped to participate by staff offering low-key activities such as going for a drive. Staff are good at offering completely different approaches to working with the two young people.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both young people in placement benefit from positive family contact. Managers advocated for a young person’s family contact to increase in line with her expressed wishes and feelings. The impact of frequent family contact is that the young person is now much more settled.

p.3

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

Staff understand young people’s individual risks. Risks are recorded in risk assessments which identify strategies to mitigate risks. Young people’s safety improves because of the care they receive, and their risks reduce. Inspection report children’s home: 1244283 4 Young people’s missing-from-home episodes decrease in frequency. This is due to staff listening to young people and identifying their pull factors. Once these pull factors are addressed, missing-from-home episodes reduce in number.

p.3

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

Staff adopt a ‘strength-based’ approach to support behaviour management. Staff understand that young people’s behaviour stems from their early adverse experiences. They therefore do not hold young people accountable for their behaviour in a punitive way. Sanctions are not used unless they are a natural consequence of behaviours. Behaviour management focuses on rewarding positive behaviours. Staff help young people to understand why they sometimes display less positive behaviours.

p.4

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

Young people reported that they feel safe in the home and with the staff who care for them. Staff help young people to ‘co-regulate’ their heightened emotions and they make progress with improving their emotional regulation. Staff understand how to redirect young people and prevent escalation of emotions. This reduces incidents where young people become aggressive or destructive.

p.4

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

Managers take appropriate action in relation to allegations against staff. They put measures in place to keep young people safe while they report and investigate incidents of alleged harm. Disciplinary procedures for staff are effective in reducing the risks posed to young people.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current manager is not yet registered for this home, but is a qualified and experienced manager. He shows high ambition for the young people in his care and the staff team alike. He has an excellent knowledge of both the staff team and the young people, and he can demonstrate progression for both.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is not fully staffed at present. Despite this, the manager has achieved consistency of care through using staff who are already known to the young people. Team members are also picking up additional shifts.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they are managed in a positive way. They receive regular supervision and there are opportunities for them to develop. An extensive training package is in place to support staff learning. Staff reported that the home has a supportive culture where they feel able to approach managers and ask questions.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Working with wider systems is a strength of this home. Positive working relationships have been forged with the agencies involved in the young people’s lives. When communication is not of a good standard, the manager takes effective action to address this.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are strong advocates for young people. Where placing authorities do not act on young people’s views, wishes and feelings, the manager challenges decisions on behalf of young people, resulting in better outcomes for them. Inspection report children’s home: 1244283 5 The one area identified for improvement at this inspection relates to ensuring all local authority documents are in children’s files. This includes having a system in place to request documents that are not provided by the placing authority in a timely manner, for example statutory review meeting minutes for children looked after. Inspection report children’s home: 1244283 6

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.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

p.6

Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

p.6

Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

p.6

Requirement Due date

Specifically, this relates to copies of the minutes from children’s statutory review meetings 08/04/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 1244283 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: 1244283 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

Charlie Bamber, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1244283 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