Children's Home, Residential special school run by Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 1 SC048552 Registered provider: Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care for up to 50 children, irrespective of gender. It is a privately owned residential special school which is also registered as a children’s home. Children in this home are usually experiencing social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and they may have additional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager took up post in July 2020, and was registered with Ofsted in December 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 on 17 March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 18 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on our 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: SC048552 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/08/2019 Full Good 12/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/10/2018 Full Good 13/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children share extremely trusting and meaningful relationships with staff. Children enjoy spending time with staff and respond positively to the genuine fondness shown by staff. One child commented, ‘I feel safe in this home. Staff make it homely and make me feel wanted.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make consistently good progress in all areas of their development but clearly make excellent progress in making sense of their lives, their experiences and building aspirations for their futures. Children say that they are listened to, and that they value the advice and support that staff provide. One child said, ‘Staff make sure that no one is down, and they encourage us to talk and express our feelings.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers and, especially, parents spoken to during this inspection provided exceptional feedback to this inspection. They were unanimous in identifying that the considerable progress that children make is mainly down to the positive, trusting and nurturing relationships staff have with children. Children acknowledged that they learn the importance of respect, manners and politeness, and how people should be treated. This encourages considerable growth in children’s self-esteem and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are fully involved in their care planning, and many can articulate how this involvement has shaped their progress and their future planning. For example, for one child, this has resulted in less conflict and aggression, and for another, this has been to plan increasing time with siblings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy what they describe as the family feel of the home and the sense of community they experience. The bungalows and houses on site are currently incrementally undergoing a massive renovation. Children’s views and wishes have influenced the choices concerning redecoration and furnishings, which helps the sense of belonging they feel and the personal investment they make in their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress with full attendance in the organisation’s independent school. For many children, this has significantly improved and altered the course of their education path. Staff encourage children to have ambition and aspirations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are suitably prioritised by staff with the addition of a school nurse coordinating and reviewing general health care needs and a therapeutic team to ensure that children’s mental and emotional well-being are fully supported. Children enjoy a healthy lifestyle, engaging in regular exercise and eating a healthy, balanced diet. One child acknowledged how keeping active and eating better had caused him to lose weight and look better. Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 4 Staff encourage and plan a diverse range of activities that are specific to children’s interests and talents. For example, some children enjoy using their imaginations playing dungeon and dragons at a weekly club run by the home, while others are encouraged to play for local or county football clubs. Children enjoy having fun and show great commitment to their chosen activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, children’s records are well maintained. However, some shortfalls were identified during this inspection, specifically out-of-date placing authority plans on children’s records and an absence of up-to-date education plans. Because of this, staff did not have access to the most up-to-date information.

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

Children feel happy, settled, and safe at this home. They value their place at this home and are passionate about the care and support they receive from staff, and because of this, they are becoming increasingly more resilient and self-aware. They have coped well with several small outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus, maintaining safe practice and following government guidance and safe infection control measures.

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

Children’s positive behaviour reflects the valued relationships that exist and the mutual respect they have achieved. This provides children with good opportunities to reflect on their specific difficulties and challenges in life that they have experienced. Children are helped to mature and develop their thought processes and explore how to promote their safety and make their own safer choices.

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

Due to the quality of relationships that exist, the use of restraint has significantly reduced. Children were clear to tell inspectors that it is only ever used as a last resort. Children also say they receive lots of praise and encouragement. The use of sanctions is rare, but, when they do occur, they are predominantly restorative and seen by children as fair.

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

Staff share a strong understanding of children’s individual risks, such as self-harm, substance misuse, and child sexual exploitation. Comprehensive risk assessments ensure that staff have the necessary information to act to keep children safe. Since the last inspection, clear progress has been made in reducing incidents, such as the number of occasions when children go missing and the potential for them to be at risk of exploitation when missing.

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

Children are supported to understand their own vulnerability and gain insight from staff about the dangers that exist in the world that can harm them. One child explained, ‘I was scared when I first came here and would run. I don’t do that anymore and don’t just do anything to fit in. I have realised I can be who I am and don’t have to be the person that other people want me to be. I am safer that way.’

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

Recruitment and selection practice is sufficiently robust to ensure that children are less likely to be exposed to an adult who may harm them. When allegations are made about staff, these are thoroughly investigated, and appropriate action is taken Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 5 to ensure that children are safeguarded. These measures continue to effectively promote children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well led and managed by a Registered Manager, school Principal and senior management team. Their wealth of knowledge and experience together ensures that children receive a high quality of care and that all staff remain focused and ambitious for all the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak highly of the support and guidance that they receive from the management team and feel included in the day-to-day running of the home. They have a strong understanding of their individual roles and how these individually and collectively support children to achieve good outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the homes last visit, there has been a small turnover of staff, with some vacancies still waiting to be filled. However, permanent staff have sought to cover shifts where possible, limiting the use of agency staff to a small consistent number that primarily work nights at the home. Recent night staff recruitment has also relieved some staff from working nights, ensuring that children continue to receive a good continuity of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professional supervision is relevant and reflective, addressing shortfalls in practice when they occur, and helping staff to think innovatively about opportunities for children. Staff have good access to a wealth of training. However, it was noted that there hasn’t been any recent training around substance misuse. As this has previously been an issue for a few children, it would be helpful for this to be revisited.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal and external monitoring and audit of the home provide a good account of the home’s performance and an understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for further development. Internal monitoring is supported by a range of stakeholder feedback. However, external monitoring tends to regularly miss the value of obtaining feedback from children’s parents and family members. A requirement has been made to promote improvement in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and managers work effectively with a wide range of professionals and organisations. The effectiveness of their working together practice was evident from a recent and timely referral to the Prevent and the Channel processes, identifying a potential concern of radicalisation. Although concern has minimised, staff and managers remain alert and maintain good communication with partner agencies. Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that after each review, the home seeks a copy of the child’s latest care plan for the child’s case record held at the children’s home. 3 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)).

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to documentation relevant to children’s education. 3 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives, and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)) 3 January 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate training courses and resources, specifically in relation to substance misuse, to support their training needs. (‘The guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: SC048552 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8 Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2FX

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Inspectors

Gillian Walters, Social Care Inspector Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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