Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1240572 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private company and is registered to accommodate up to two children or young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since May 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 18 November 2020 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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 for children’s home: 1240572 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/03/2020 Full Good 23/07/2018 Full Outstanding 22/01/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 19/06/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1240572 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by a committed and enthusiastic team. Staff have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities. Children benefit from regular individual direct work with staff. Children’s differing communication styles are supported well by the team. This helps children to feel able to share any worries they may have. Staff help engender a calm home environment, and one child told the inspector that they liked the ‘chilled’ team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are provided with clear guidance in how to best support the individual needs of each child. This is based on the provider’s specific therapeutic approach, which established staff have a sound understanding of. Although new staff are awaiting training in the therapeutic approach, senior staff role model this in their interactions with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from individual therapeutic support from the in-house therapist. The therapist also provides regular consultation to the staff team. Staff are provided with helpful guidance in the form of newly developed therapeutic care plans. These strengthen the team’s understanding of how the children are communicating their needs through their behaviours. The collaborative work between the staff team and the therapy team is key to the good quality of care that children receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s learning well in the home. They advocated for one child who was not in education, and a place in a specialist school has now been secured. The child has been appropriately supported to engage in home learning, including a focus on practical activities, while awaiting a new school placement. Another child is consistently supported to attend a school some distance away from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Planning for children moving into the home is thorough, with effective communication with fellow professionals being central to this. Professionals told the inspector how the collaborative working with the home helps children to develop. For one child, this has included developing their verbal communication skills. There has been an improvement in another child’s behaviour. This is supporting the plan for this child to move back to live with their long-term foster carers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children understand their rights well and how to access an advocate. One child has an independent visitor who they enjoy going on activities with. Staff support children to experience a range of activities to meet their individual interests. Both children really enjoyed the recent summer holiday at the seaside.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with people who are important to them, including family members. This is important for supporting children’s identity. Staff help children to sensitively explore their identify through individual direct work.

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

Inspection report for children’s home: 1240572 4 Staff have a good understanding of children’s individual identified risks. They are provided with clear strategies on how to keep each child safe. Staff help children to understand how to keep themselves safe when online. They appropriately monitor children’s engagement with their peers through the electronic devices. This helps to safeguard both children in the context of their known vulnerabilities.

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

Risk management plans for each child provide clear guidance for staff. However, the plans were not updated for one child to reflect a new risk that had been identified. There was a delay in updating the plans for both children following a potential concern observed by staff. However, effective strategies were put in place to address this. Staff understood the new risk and appropriately followed the updated guidance.

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

There is effective working together with fellow professionals where there has been limited safeguarding concerns. This includes a thorough response to managing an allegation against a staff member which was substantiated. The registered manager sought appropriate advice from the designated officer and followed their guidance. The professional conduct of the staff member was addressed in a timely manner. There was a detailed action plan put in place to address the practice issue.

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

There is safer recruitment practice in place for new staff member, with appropriate verification of references and relevant follow-up checks completed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is committed and empathic in their support of the children and staff. They have a detailed understanding of each child’s needs and the progress made in respect of their individual starting points. The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths of the home and areas for development. They have addressed the requirements and recommendations from the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has recently been redecorated, with some furniture replaced. However, there were some concerns identified during the inspection. These included a damaged linen cupboard door not having been replaced, and a child’s bedroom wall not having been redecorated. The registered manager made arrangements to remedy the damage, which had been made some weeks ago. However, overall, there is a clean, modern and welcoming feel to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel very well supported by the registered manager and the organisation. The support provided during the COVID-19 pandemic has been really valued by staff. They receive regular supervision and ongoing training. Staff particularly appreciate the support they receive to develop further in their role. The registered manager positively acknowledges the commitment of staff in their caring role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual supports the registered manager well. They maintain regular oversight of the home through their weekly visits. The registered manager Inspection report for children’s home: 1240572 5 and responsible individual are focused on strengthening staff recruitment. This includes addressing the limited number of female staff in the team. Inspection report for children’s home: 1240572 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)) 31 December

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, this relates to the monitoring of the home environment to ensure that maintenance issues are addressed when they are identified. 31 December

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or 31 December Inspection report for children’s home: 1240572 7 if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, to ensure that new staff are provided with training in the home’s therapeutic approach as part of their induction, to equip them with skills to undertake their role.

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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 for children’s home: 1240572 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Maria Lonergan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1240572 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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