Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: 2564415 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to two children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Children were spoken to during the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 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

This is the home’s first inspection since it was registered on 1 May 2020.

p.1

good

Enforcement action since registration: none Inspection report children’s home: 2564415 2

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff work tirelessly with other professionals to ensure that the children receive the services and support that they need. Strong partnership working with schools, social workers and the virtual school has enabled the children to successfully return to education. As a result, they are making continued progress with their learning.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff promote the children’s physical and emotional health consistently. Regular input from the in-house therapist helps the children to learn how to deal with difficult emotions and past trauma. Specialist guidance and training are sought when children have specific health conditions, for example in relation to dietary requirements. As a result, the staff are suitably equipped with the knowledge and skills to meet the individual needs of each child.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are committed to promoting the children’s individuality and identity. They find creative ways to actively promote equality and diversity within the home. For example, the staff and children celebrate Pride month (a LGBTQ+ event).

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from developing positive relationships with a warm, friendly and nurturing staff team. One child said, ‘The staff here are great. They have really helped me. Because of staff, I don’t go missing anymore.’

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff supported the children extremely well during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, the children were supported to safely spend time with their families. Additionally, the staff ensured that they continued to do activities in the home and have fun.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some minor shortfalls were found in the medication records. For example, the staff had not consistently recorded when a child had refused to take their prescribed medication. Although there was no direct impact on the child’s welfare, shortfalls in medication records could lead to medication errors.

p.2

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

The staff are alert to potential risks and dangers. They know the children well and demonstrate a good understanding of their needs and vulnerabilities. The staff’s in- depth knowledge of the children and constant vigilance are keeping the children safe.

p.2

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

The staff are skilled at nurturing positive relationships with children. The children trust staff and accept their guidance and support. As a result, risk is successfully managed, and the children’s welfare and safety improve. Inspection report children’s home: 2564415 3 Consistent routines and boundaries support the children to settle and develop a sense of stability and security. The children benefit from regular keywork sessions at which staff encourage them to talk about risk and how to keep themselves safe.

p.2

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

Partnership working with all safeguarding agencies including the police and local authorities is strong. This is reflected in an independent reviewing officer’s comments, ‘Risk is responded to in a timely manner. They ensure that we are kept informed, whilst also holding the responsibility firmly to an agreed conclusion.’

p.3

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

Although high-risk behaviours are infrequent, the staff have managed serious incidents well. In particular, these include incidents of self-harm, missing from home and child sexual exploitation.

p.3

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

Safeguarding practice in relation to children’s internet use is inconsistent. For example, one child was not provided with sufficient staff support and supervision while accessing the internet. As a result, the child’s welfare and safety were compromised.

p.3

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

Written risk assessments need to improve. At times, they provide contradictory information, which is confusing for new staff. This is a recording shortfall that reflects weaknesses in the manager’s monitoring and oversight of the records.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced, suitably qualified and child-focused registered manager. She supports and leads a content and committed staff team well. This is reflected in a member of staff’s comments, ‘I can honestly say that I have never worked under a manager who is as supportive, caring and encouraging as (name). It is obvious how passionate she is about her job and about the safety, progress, security and happiness of the children in our home.’

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have high aspirations for the children and the home, which is welcoming, homely and well maintained. The staff are adequately equipped with the knowledge and skills to promote the children’s needs effectively. This is because the manager’s regular monitoring of staff’s training is providing her with good oversight of the staff’s learning needs.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the children have a voice. She listens to their views and takes swift action when they raise issues about their care. The manager and staff are strong advocates for the children.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff spoken to described a settled, supportive and happy work environment. The staff receive regular professional supervision, and their performance is reviewed at least annually. This ensures that the staff have the opportunity to reflect on their practice and identify their strengths and any areas for development.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a proactive leader and operates an open-door policy for the children and staff. This ensures that she has a good overview of the home and staff’s Inspection report children’s home: 2564415 4 practice. However, monitoring of the home’s records, for example risk assessments, incident reports and medication records, is an area for improvement.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Similarly, the manager’s quality of care review reports do not provide a detailed analysis of her findings. These reports fail to provide a meaningful evaluation of the quality of care provided and its impact on the children’s experiences and progress. Inspection report children’s home: 2564415 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

This is in relation to ensuring that the children are safe when using the internet and game consoles. 30 July 2021

p.5

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This is in relation to the auditing of the home’s records, including children’s risk assessments. 30 July 2021

p.5

Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review, the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This is in relation to ensuring that the report provides an evaluation of the quality of care provided in the home. 30 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2564415 6

p.5

Recommendations

 Ensure that a record is made when a child refuses a prescribed medication. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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: 2564415 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

p.7

Children’s home details

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

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered manager: Suzanne Grocott-Waters

p.7

Inspector

Marina Tully, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2564415 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.

p.7

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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8