Children's Home run by A Wilderness Way Limited in Northumberland

Inspection report children’s home: SC474894 1 SC474894 Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by an independent provider. The primary focus of the service is to work with two young females who may be at risk of exploitation and may present primarily with emotional and social difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left on 23 April 2021. There is an acting manager in post who works for the provider and has previously been a deputy manager in the home. He has relevant experience. However, he has not applied to be registered with Ofsted.

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

Date of last inspection: 17 December 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC474894 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/12/2019 Full Good 24/09/2018 Full Good 15/01/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 04/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC474894 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed into this home. They receive a warm reception which often starts before they arrive. Staff are warm and nurturing in their approach and enthusiastically get to know the children. This supports the early identification of children’s needs and characteristics. Staff work in collaboration with all relevant members of the care team around the child. This helps to ensure that children’s care plans are thorough and individualised. As a result, children settle relatively quickly in a stable and homely environment.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled in developing positive, supportive relationships with children. This helps staff to gain children’s trust and respect. As a result, children express their views confidently in a supportive and positive home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Staff ensure that all children have access to general and specialist support. Children often have complex emotional and physical health needs due to traumatic experiences. Staff liaise with a range of health professionals and the provider’s own internal multi-disciplinary team to support children. This means children are provided with a sensitive and skilled approach to support the healing process.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged and supported to develop their interests. For example, good established community links enable children to volunteer at local stables. This supports their confidence and development of social skills.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are proactive in communicating with children’s families. They ensure that children are supported to maintain family time through direct face-to-face contact and through the use of telephones. The staff also facilitate families visiting the area in accordance with children’s agreed care plans. This helps children to maintain a sense of identity and promotes their well-being.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to take part in a wonderful array of stimulating and exciting outdoor activities. These opportunities are supported by the provider’s own skilled outdoor activity specialists working with the staff team. This helps children to develop a range of skills in a safe but exciting environment. Activities such as horse riding, climbing and ghyll scrambling are enjoyed by children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and encourage children to attend education. However, further education to support children in their transition to adulthood is not consistently or proactively supported. This limits the skills and knowledge children need to support their independence. Inspection report children’s home: SC474894 4

p.3

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

Children expressed that they feel safe. Staff ensure that information is gathered from a range of professionals to enable children’s risks to be known and understood. This supports the development of clear and purposeful risk assessments and behaviour support plans. Children are supported to be and feel increasingly safe as a result of the care they receive from the supportive and vigilant staff.

p.4

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. Access to social media is managed through effective safe care strategies which are agreed with professionals and the children. This open, working relationship strengthens the safeguards around the child. Staff and children spend time listening and talking together. Children explore their life experiences with trusted adults. This non-judgemental environment supports children to share vital information, which is shared with relevant professionals to aid and assist with often ongoing criminal proceedings. This is part of the healing process that enables children to regain trust in adults and promotes their safe care.

p.4

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

Staff management of behaviour is supported through close supervision. Staff follow safeguarding procedures and have excellent relationships with the police. The staff are aware of the individual protocols that are implemented through the court to ensure that children are protected from harm. This forms part of the safeguarding network around the child.

p.4

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

The physical environment enables children to have privacy, but always with staff close by ready to support or to intervene if required. The well-maintained grounds provide a peaceful and spacious resource. Children spoke about the garden as a place where they can find peace and reflect on life events safely. An area of the garden is used for this purpose.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is supported by a senior management team which is known to the children and the staff. The team’s presence is in response to the changes in management and staff that occurred during April 2021. This level of support is recognised by staff who spoke positively about the stability and structure this has brought to the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has excellent relationships with the children, who seek him out for interaction and to share their thoughts and feelings on day-to-day matters. This, and the stable and positive environment provided to children, helps children to make good progress.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is hands-on and a good role model. Professionals spoke about his commitment to getting things right. He shows this in his communication with a range of professionals, double-checking requirements that are specific to children’s needs. He works in a positive, consistent manner with professionals and families. This promotes positive outcomes for children. Inspection report children’s home: SC474894 5 Staff receive regular training, both face-to-face and e-learning. However, the cultural needs of children are not enhanced by knowledge and skills provided by targeted training. This limits the effectiveness of planning and support to children from different ethnic backgrounds.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision is of a good quality, enabling staff to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children. However, a member of staff had a significant gap with no explanation and there is no formal record of increased supervision for new staff in line with their development needs. This limits the effectiveness of management oversight.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new internal recording system has been introduced this year. It enables comprehensive weekly and monthly audits to be completed. However, external scrutiny from the independent visitor does not consistently gain the views of children, their families, or professionals. This limits the manager’s ability to recognise and address any areas of development for the service in order to meet the quality care needs of children. Inspection report children’s home: SC474894 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff work with the local authority to make sure the young people they are responsible for are getting the support they need to participate in education. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.17)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate resources to support their training needs. In particular, to meet the diverse and cultural needs of the children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that supervision is provided regularly and in a timely manner to staff to meet their individual needs and progression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out

p.6

Recommendations

visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. In particular, they must ascertain the views of children, their families, and professionals consistently to inform the report. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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: SC474894 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Stoneybeck, Bowscar, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 8RP

p.7

Inspector

Michael Dack, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC474894 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

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

p.8