Children's Home run by Appletree Treatment Centre Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 1 SC033268 Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre Limited 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 12 children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. This company also runs a school, which is registered with the Department for Education, within the same grounds as the children’s home. Currently, all the children from the home attend the school.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is well qualified and experienced. The manager possesses a level 5 diploma equivalent qualification in residential leadership and management and has worked previously as a registered manager in another home run by the company between March 2007 and August 2014. The manager registered again with Ofsted in June 2020.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/06/2019 Full Good 17/05/2018 Full Good 07/08/2017 Full Good 22/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled in this home and are making good progress in all areas of their development. They share very trusting and meaningful relationships with staff and are very happy and feel safe in this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children share positive relationships with each other and live together quite harmoniously. They are currently thriving and have achieved a good sense of belonging at this home and feel part of the wider community. For example, during the initial national lockdown period, children enjoyed joining with neighbours weekly to celebrate and clap for NHS staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff are passionate and committed to ensuring that the home continues to be a happy and homely environment for children. For example, televisions are no longer protective boxes with plastic screens to avoid damage. This lessens the institutional feel of this large home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel confident in expressing their views and feelings. Children no longer have key workers. Staff formerly in these roles are now known as ‘child champions’. Children view this more positively and understand their role better. Children spend regular time with their child champion and tend to develop good attachments. Staff are good advocates for children, making sure their voice is heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are nurturing, and their creativity and imagination are positive factors in promoting their relationships with children. Children are encouraged to be children, enjoying a variety of traditional games, such as making dens in the garden, dressing up, and playing on scooters and bikes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic restrictions, staff have been creative in organising events to avoid boredom and keep children interested and occupied, for example recreating a drive through burger bar in the home’s lounge, with homemade food and drink packaged as they would have with a real drive through outlet. This has also allowed children to make lots of fun memories through what has been for many a very difficult period.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have supported the home’s independent school, providing home-schooling when teaching staff were absent through illness. Children have maintained 100% attendance throughout and are achieving well from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Placing authorities speak highly of the home and staff. One social worker commented, ‘The staff are fantastic in their relationships with the children. [Name of child] speaks positively of the home. He says he loves it here. Staff have really good relationships with children, which increases self-esteem and confidence.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 4 Several children have left the home since the last inspection, with the majority making successful transitions to live with foster carers. Overall, children have shown resilience during this last year.

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

Children’s safety is clearly a priority at this home. Staff understand children’s worries, concerns and individual vulnerabilities. Staff are appropriately trained to understand the range of child protection issues and to develop a strong safeguarding practice.

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

Although staff have a sound knowledge of children’s individual risks and how to deal with them, these are not consistently communicated well in written risk assessments. Risks are not underestimated, but they do lack detail and, in some cases, are based on historical information that is no longer relevant.

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

Children say they feel safe and can demonstrate several ways in which staff keep them safe. For example, one child during this inspection explained and walked the inspector through the process of what they must do if the fire alarm sounds. Others spoke of the ways staff have promoted their safety during this pandemic, including encouraging social distancing, the wearing of masks and frequent handwashing.

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

Children in this home thrive on praise and small rewards. Sanctions are not typically used. Instead, staff have become more restorative in their practice. Children are encouraged to repair relationships with staff and their peers and gain some insight into the effects of their behaviour. For children, these learning experiences are more positive in reducing challenging behaviours.

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

Physical interventions do occur but only when necessary to protect a child or others around them. Staff successfully use their behaviour management training and learned skills to de-escalate situations before they reach the need for staff to physically intervene. When these do occur, they are usually of a low level and of short duration.

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

The manager monitors these occasions of physical intervention very closely to detect any patterns and formulate alternative strategies to reduce the use of such interventions. For example, a recent increase in physical interventions has been attributed to some anxieties experienced by children, especially with some children moving on from the home and the latest government restrictions resulting in a further lockdown.

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

Recruitment practice is robust. Applicants are appropriately checked and vetted before being allowed to work with children. This good practice keeps children safe from adults that may harm them.

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

The home’s environment is very clean and well maintained. Any maintenance issues are dealt with swiftly to ensure children’s continued safety. Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership and management of the home have significantly improved since the last inspection. The home now has a permanent manager who has registered with Ofsted. The manager has considerable skill and experience in caring for children with attachment issues and complex needs. The manager has previously successfully led and managed a similar home within the organisation. More recently, she has been instrumental in influencing the organisation’s training and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Already the manager is firmly established in her role and works closely with the newly appointed school principal to ensure children receive consistent care and support. Staff feel well supported and guided and describe the manager as very child-focused, professional and approachable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff have a thorough understanding of children’s individual needs. They are helped and supported by a local team of therapists, contracted by the home, to provide the nurturing support and guidance children need. The manager leads by example, ensuring that staff remain child-focused in their approach and develop meaningful relationships with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff express a lot of satisfaction working in this home They identify the home’s training programme and regular supervision as highly positive in promoting their skills and developing their role as professional parents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One member of staff stated, ‘This is a genuinely lovely place to work and I can’t imagine anything that could be done to improve my experience here. I have worked in other settings and can’t say the same for them.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The commitment and unity of the staff team are viewed as being a real strength of the home throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff have been creative and imaginative to ensure children have coped and experienced as little anxiety as possible in this unprecedented time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established effective internal monitoring processes that appropriately track children’s progress and scrutinise the quality of practice within the home. External monitoring has recently improved with the easing of government restrictions and greater scrutiny because of changes in the monitoring arrangements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Requirements made at the home’s last full inspection have been met. One requirement is made following this inspection. Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 6

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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

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to reviewing the content of children’s risk assessments to ensure that risk assessments only contain relevant and current information to match the individual risk rating. 15 June 2021

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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: SC033268 7

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meathop Park, Meathop, Grange-Over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6RF

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Inspector

Gillian Walters, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 8 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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