Children's home run by Active Ark Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1263126 1 Registered provider: Active Ark Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to two children, irrespective of gender, with social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home’s manager registered with Ofsted on 9 March 2021. The manager is suitably experienced and qualified, with a level 5 diploma in leadership and management.

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

Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 28 October 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1263126 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/07/2019 Full Good 28/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 09/05/2018 Full Good 07/03/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1263126 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children appreciate the comfort and warmth that they feel coming to this home. They share trusting and meaningful relationships with staff. They talk and enjoy spending time with staff. Consequently, children feel that they are accepted and are genuinely cared for. One child commented, ‘This is the closest to a home I’ve ever felt in my life. I’m so used to being let down. I now think of them as my family.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled in this home, and they have developed good relationships with each other. They enjoy spending time with each other and value the care and the support they receive from staff. Individually, they recognise the good progress that they have made since coming to the home and are proud of their individual achievements.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they are listened to by staff and that their views and wishes are always considered. Children are encouraged to contribute to their personal planning and are given choice in how they wish to be supported. Staff understand the importance of culture and identity, and they embrace and promote children’s individuality. Consequently, children feel they are treated with considerable respect and dignity.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The two children living at this home have significant healthcare needs. Staff are attentive to those needs and work closely with relevant healthcare professionals to ensure that children’s physical, mental and emotional health needs are appropriately met. Because of this, children remain in good health, and a need for crisis treatment has been avoided.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a healthy lifestyle. Healthy eating and regular exercise are promoted by staff. Children enjoy a wide range of fun activities with staff and peers. For one child, recent hill walking outings with a member of staff has proved quite invigorating and of benefit to his mental health and emotional well-being.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals speak highly of the home. They identify the nurture and the care that children receive from staff as being central to the progress children make. One social worker commented, ‘The home absolutely suits [name of child]. Staff have tailored their support around his needs. They have supported him to challenge himself and push himself out of his comfort zone.’

p.3

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

Children have a strong sense of safety at this home. They attribute this to the attention and the care they receive from staff. For example, staff have been careful to ensure that children understand the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic without causing them unnecessary anxiety. Children are familiar with the home’s infection control measures to minimise the threat of COVID-19. Inspection report children’s home: 1263126 4 Children’s vulnerabilities are well understood by staff, and this strengthens children’s feelings of safety and well-being. Comprehensive risk assessments that are integral to children’s care planning, guide and help staff to keep children safe. These are kept under regular review to ensure that staff are kept up to date of any new concerns or changes. One child commented, ‘I’ve never felt safe in myself and surroundings. How I feel here is a massive improvement. I’m not used to feeling this

p.3

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

Children have clear boundaries, and they respond well to these. Children’s positive behaviour is undoubtedly linked to the good and consistent relationships they share with staff. Consequently, there have been very few incidents in this home. One incident of a child going missing from the home was dealt with in accordance with procedure, which resulted in the child’s swift and safe return to the home. The prompt response of staff seems to have also deterred further occurrences.

p.4

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

Children are used to staff being attentive and being open to discussion to resolve matters that concern or frustrate them. Because of this, physical intervention has not been used in this home, and the use of sanctions are extremely rare. Staff are suitably trained and are experienced in using de-escalation techniques, but find that children are more likely to talk things through.

p.4

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

Children have considerable medication needs, and these are safely managed by staff. Staff are familiar with those needs, and they take care in administering and storing children’s medication, in accordance with the company’s policy. Therefore, children’s safety and well-being are appropriately maintained.

p.4

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

Staff receive regular training in child protection and a range of safeguarding matters to ensure that children are kept safe. Despite training in self-harm and suicide ideology to ensure that staff can meet children’s needs, ligature knives are not available to staff in this home. Although the use of this implement has not been required, this is a shortfall in considering children’s safety needs in this home.

p.4

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

Recruitment is robust; this means that children are less likely to be cared for by inappropriate adults who may harm them.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are benefiting from the strong leadership shown by the manager recently appointed to this home. She is passionate and determined to secure good outcomes for children. She is well organised and aspirational, and she is not afraid to challenge other professionals to ensure that children receive the help and the support they need. She is clearly a strong advocate for children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported and believe there to be a renewed enthusiasm in the home and comment on morale being good. Staff are supported with regular supervision, staff meetings and frequent and less-formal discussions, when required. Inspection report children’s home: 1263126 5 Consequently, staff feel confident in their caring roles and enjoy the time they spend with children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have good access to training. Staff felt encouraged that recent training events have focused more specifically on the needs of the children they are caring for. For example, all staff have been educated on type one diabetes and have learned how to support a child with their medication and diet effectively.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is operating in accordance with its statement of purpose. However, some information in this document requires updating. The children’s guide also requires updating as it also lacks some accurate information that a child may need.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal monitoring is robust and effective. The manager has implemented a comprehensive assessment tool which is effective in monitoring and reviewing children’s progress. Monthly reports are shared with social workers to keep them up to date with children’s progress. Monitoring activity is also being successfully used to inform the home’s development plan.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of external monitoring reports has been variable but now appears to be improving. However, several reports have not reached Ofsted or the home’s manager in a timely fashion. This has reduced transparency with Ofsted and has failed to ensure that staff are clear about the issues raised by the independent person. Inspection report children’s home: 1263126 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.6

Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

p.6

Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(c)) 30 September

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to ensuring that ligature knives are available and accessible to staff within the home. 30 September

p.6

Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and 30 September Inspection report children’s home: 1263126 7 notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

p.7

Requirement Due date

upon request, the local authority for the area in which the home is located;

p.7

Requirement Due date

the registered provider and, if applicable, the registered manager; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

the responsible individual (if one is nominated). (Regulation 44 (7)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

p.7

Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that reports are sent to Ofsted within Ofsted’s stipulated timescale. 30 September

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’. Inspection report children’s home: 1263126 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Active Ark, Unit E, Baron Way, Kingmoor Business Park, Carlisle CA6 4SJ

p.8

Inspector

Gillian Walters, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1263126 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