Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report for children's home: 2537060 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

This home is one of several homes operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who may have emotional or behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2021.

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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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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

Date of last inspection: 18 February 2020

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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: 2537060 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2537060 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised, high-quality care that promotes their safety and positive outcomes. The staff know the children and their needs well. Children enjoy positive relationships with the staff, which have strengthened over time. Children easily identify the staff who they will approach if they have any worries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children were extremely positive about their home and the care they receive. Children said:

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

 ‘Staff help me and sort everything out that I need.’  ‘After all the places I have lived this is definitely the best.’  ‘If you gave them medals the staff in here get gold.’  ‘It’s like one big family in here and nice to live in.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Such comments reflect the quality of the relationships between staff and children. Children clearly benefit from being cared for by a skilled and dedicated staff team that establishes open and honest relationships with them. This fosters mutual respect and trust and enables children to develop reciprocal relationships with others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in their education from their starting points. There is effective communication between the staff and education providers. This ensures that children receive the support that they need. However, the manager and staff are not aware of the local offer setting out the support available for children with special educational needs or disabilities. This is a missed opportunity to access additional resources for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support children well in building and maintaining relationships with their families and friends. Children’s views about how often they see these important people in their lives are listened to and acted on. A parent commented, ‘I am so thankful and grateful to them [staff] because they have taken him under their wing and guided him.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff spend time with children to review their progress monthly. This helps children to understand their journey and experiences, and to plan how the staff can help them in future. Children are consulted on developments in the home and are central to the staff team’s practice.

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

Staff have a sound understanding of children’s individual vulnerabilities and identified risks. The detailed risk management plans for each child provide staff with clear guidance and individual strategies to address identified risks. Staff review these Inspection report for children's home: 2537060 4 plans regularly to reflect changes in the child’s support needs. This helps to ensure that children’s plans are appropriate to their age and reflect any new identified risks.

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

Children go missing less frequently than when they moved into this home. The home has been proactive in finding solutions to managing missing-from-home incidents alongside other agencies. Children now maintain contact with the staff while away from the home. This is a positive change in behaviour.

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

Children’s plans include therapeutic input providing guidance and support for staff, detailing how to manage behaviours. This ensures that staff have a better understanding of trauma and how they can support children to overcome some of their emotional setbacks.

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

Clear boundaries are in place for children. Restrictive physical intervention is only used when other methods of de-escalation have failed. The manager provides suitable oversight in evaluating incidents and the effectiveness of the measures used. From the records sampled, the holds applied were necessary and proportionate to keep the child and others safe. Revised strategies have led to a recent decrease in applying physical intervention for one child. This is because the child, with staff support, is making more positive choices and learning to self- regulate better.

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

The home presents as a lived-in family home. It is warm, welcoming and comfortable. However, locks on internal doors distract from this family-home feel.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a passionate and compassionate manager. He knows the children well and has created a warm and nurturing environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced and stable staff team benefits from regular team meetings and access to a range of training to support children’s needs. The manager recognised the need to support the staff well to minimise the impact of COVID-19 on their welfare, so that they could provide continuous care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records require improvement. For example, some records do not identify the children by their chosen name. This does not provide clarity in records, especially for children when they access their records now or in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are up to date with mandatory training and receive a good variety of training that is matched to the needs of the children. This means that staff are developing the knowledge necessary to support children in their care. Staff also receive regular supervision sessions that give them the opportunity to reflect on their practice. Feedback received from staff is positive. They find the manager approachable and supportive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are good professional relationships between the registered manager, staff, family members and professionals involved in the lives of children. These positive Inspection report for children's home: 2537060 5 relationships encourage good information-sharing for the benefit of children. A social worker commented, ‘I have never known a manager who has been so involved. He helps with family relationships. He is like my wingman.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager responds well to findings and recommendations from the external monitoring reports to drive forward improvements to practice in the home. The manager’s report of the quality of care provided in the home would be strengthened by consistently including the opinions of children and external stakeholders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose reflects the care and support to be provided for the children. However, sensory alarms are in use in the home as a form of surveillance. The use of these alarms is not detailed in the home’s statement of purpose. Inspection report for children's home: 2537060 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should challenge the placing authority when children are not receiving the support and services that they require to meet their needs. Also, the registered person should make sure that children have the use of an independent advocate to help them express their wishes and feelings about the support they are receiving. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 12, paragraph 2.8)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that staff record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a

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Recommendations

way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that if they are using monitoring equipment that they should have a written policy describing how this will support the safeguarding and well-being of those living and working in the home. The registered person must gain consent to any monitoring or surveillance by the placing authority in writing at the time of the child moving into the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)  The registered person should recognise that a high proportion of children in children’s homes have special educational needs (SEN). Staff need to understand the specialist support children may need to be able to engage positively and achieve in education. Staff must be aware of whether a child has an education,

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Recommendations

health and care (EHC) plan and the information in it. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.4)

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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: 2537060 7

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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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Inspectors

Carly Quinn, Social Care Inspector Elaine Allison, Social Care Inspection Manager Inspection report for children's home: 2537060 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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