Children's home run by Aspris Care North West Limited

Inspection report children's home: 2596541 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. The home provides care for two children with social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The current manager has been registered with Ofsted since October 2020.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2596541 2

p.1

Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report children's home: 2596541 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children live at this home. Children say that they like living in the home and that they have positive relationships with staff. This enables the children to feel safe and secure. There have been no staff changes which means children benefit from continuity of care.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are good bedtime routines in place that are helping children settle at night. Staff are nurturing in their approach and help children develop their independence skills by promoting personal hygiene. They are making good progress from their starting points in this area.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use incentive schemes to promote positive behaviour in the home. Children often receive praise and rewards, such as ice cream sundaes, for being kind and considerate to others. Children are learning to understand the implications of their behaviours and are accepting of consequences. For example, one child was apologetic to staff and could understand why he could not use the switch gaming machine for a day.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The progress that children make in their education is limited. For example, one child is not currently receiving any form of education. Staff show good initiative and are creative in providing children with stimulating learning activities. However, in the absence of any current educational plan, the range is not broad enough or aligned with any specific learning targets.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported well by staff in spending quality time with family and friends. This is helping children develop a strong sense of identity and belonging to people who are important to them. Children are listened to and valued. One child expressed an interest in seeing his siblings. Staff coordinated a family visit to the home which was very positive.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s wishes and feelings are respected. Children who are moving on from the home, to be back with family, are doing so through a carefully planned approach with their placing authority. The transition plan is working well with good means of support from staff who have kept in regular contact with the child and parent.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff organise a wide variety of fun based activities for children to enjoy, such as trips to the wildlife park and cinema. These experiences are helping children reduce their anxieties and fear as they develop a greater confidence by going out into the local community. Children are learning to develop healthy lifestyles by taking regular exercise. Inspection report children's home: 2596541 4

p.3

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

Staff provide the children with a safe place to live. The home is clean, well maintained and personalised. For example, children contribute to making living spaces such as the bedroom and outdoor areas, more comfortable and homely.

p.4

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

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s needs, and use good-quality risk assessments to support children’s safety inside and outside of the home. Although there has been a historic pattern of one child going missing from home, incidents have not occurred at this home. This is because staff are effective in managing the risks which have significantly reduced in this area.

p.4

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

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the risks associated with the children’s care and speak confidently, for the most part, about the strategies in place to keep children safe. Through key-work support, staff have engaged children effectively in learning about the risks of criminal exploitation and dangers of going missing from the home. This has led to a reduction in these risks with one child developing a stronger awareness of his own safety.

p.4

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

Children benefit from the support and input of the in-house therapist, and staff that give focus on past experiences and triggers for behaviours. Successful engagement with the children has resulted in a significant reduction in challenging behaviours as they learn to self-regulate.

p.4

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

Staff use good initiatives that help children develop the ability to communicate. For example, children use the ‘worry bear’ to express their emotions in writing to staff. This is enabling children to open up to staff in safe surroundings so that they can be suitably supported.

p.4

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

Staffing levels are appropriate, which allow children to have access to good levels of support. Furthermore, this ensures children have the required supervision and safeguards in place, particularly when in crisis.

p.4

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

There are safe recruitment processes to ensure that any person employed to work at the home does not present any known safeguarding risk to children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced manager who has high aspirations for children. He is passionate and child centred. He knows the children well and has a good understanding of children’s needs and the individual progress they are making.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads a team of staff who are settled, and who share the same positive commitment and ethos. Staff feedback about the manager’s leadership is unanimously positive. One staff member states ‘The support I have from my manager is amazing and I am currently supported at all times.’ Inspection report children's home: 2596541 5 Staff are up to date with mandatory training and receive a good range that is matched to the needs of the children, including trauma and attachment training. This means that staff are developing the knowledge necessary to support children effectively in their care.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision from the manager and lead practitioners. However, there is limited reflection on learning from training, and how new learning is to be embedded into practice. For example, staff complete learning outcome forms but these are not known to the lead practitioners undertaking supervision of staff. This hinders the effectiveness of the supervision and staff development.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are good systems in place, such as daily handovers and team meetings, that ensure staff are kept informed about anything they need to know regarding the children’s day-to-day needs and any emerging risks.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff work proactively and positively with the professionals involved with each child, including the social workers. This includes attempts to identify suitable education provision for a child. Social workers speak highly about the manager’s and staff’s regular communication that keeps them very well informed of children’s needs and progress. One social worker stated that a child had made ‘massive progress’ with ‘excellent input’ from practitioners. This positive input includes good advocacy in supporting the child in court and his transition home, back to family.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are gaps in the manager’s internal monitoring and evaluation of documentation in the home. Not all records are accurate, signed and dated by the author. The manager’s report about the quality of the care provided is overly descriptive and does not capture the views and opinions of children, social workers, parents and staff. There is also a lack of clarity in terms of the extent of children’s progress from their starting points. Inspection report children's home: 2596541 6

p.5

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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education and learning;

p.6

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to undertaking individual work with the child to develop understanding about the importance of education and learning. 3 September 2021

p.6

Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational support throughout the period of non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible.

p.6

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring suitable educational support is provided whilst the child is not in school and, where possible, apply a structured routine that replicates normal school hours and linked to an educational plan. 3 September 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2596541 7 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

p.7

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring the manager—

p.7

Requirement Due date

oversees and monitors the quality of support-session recordings undertaken with children and;

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensures that all documents are accurate, signed and dated;

p.7

Requirement Due date

gives staff every opportunity to reflect on their learning from training and how they will embed this into practice. 3 September 2021

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should encourage staff to use positive behaviour strategies in line with the child’s relevant plans. This is in relation to using effective distraction techniques to balance out the amount of time children access online gaming devices. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.13)  The registered person should make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring, to ensure continuous improvement in relation to capturing an effective evaluation and critique of the home’s practice, and how this may have an impact on outcomes for children, including using the feedback gained from children, parents, placing authorities and staff. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) Inspection report children's home: 2596541 8

p.7

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’.

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sandcastle Care Ltd, 49 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool FY3 9DG

p.8

Inspector

Michael Charnley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2596541 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