Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Kirklees

Inspection report children's home: 2632092 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 privately operated home provides care for up to two children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home opened on 19 April 2021. There is a registered manager in post who is new to the role.

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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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Inspection dates: 25 and 26 January 2022

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people , taking into account good

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Inspection dates: 25 and 26 January 2022

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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Inspection dates: 25 and 26 January 2022

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Inspection dates: 25 and 26 January 2022

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Inspection dates: 25 and 26 January 2022

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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Inspection dates: 25 and 26 January 2022

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2632092 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children's home: 2632092 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children have positive experiences living at the home. Children experience a variety of activities, such as going to skate parks, meals out, and going clothes shopping. Staff support children with their hobbies and interests. For example, they have provided one child with the relevant equipment so that they can develop their skills. This positive role modelling allows the children to develop trust and to form positive attachments with the adults around them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager has a focus on education for children. Children’s views are listened to and shared in meetings. This has resulted in children now attending school. One child said, ‘[Name of registered manager] asked me how I would like to get back into going to school. He didn’t just tell me what I was going to be doing, like staff in other places did. He helped me. This is the best home I’ve lived in.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to attend routine health appointments and are registered with local healthcare practices. Children are supported to keep fit and eat a balanced diet. Nevertheless, one child does suffer from a health condition and has not been taking their medication as identified in their statutory plans. Staff are not carrying out direct work with the child around the impact of not taking the medication. This is not raising the child’s awareness on the potential health implications.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is nicely decorated, clean and tidy. The children have a sense of belonging living at the home as there are photos displayed of them with staff. Children’s bedrooms are personalised with their belongings, such as computers and decor of their choice. However, the inspector saw that one child’s bedroom carpet had small burn marks, and there were unused television brackets on the bedroom wall. This distracts from the overall homeliness of the environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff supervise family time when necessary. This means that children can rely on staff for nurturing support should they feel sad. When needed, the registered manager advocates on children’s behalf to ensure that family time remains enjoyable.

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

Staff undertake direct work with children around staying safe. This helps to raise children’s awareness of risk and personal safety.

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

Children’s peer relationships are closely monitored by staff, and work is undertaken around the management of any associated risks. However, this risk is not well documented within the child’s risk assessment. This means that staff do not have clear actions to follow to ensure that there is a consistent response to the risk. Inspection report children's home: 2632092 4 The registered manager has oversight of recruitment files. Where there are discrepancies between staff and their previous employer, the registered manager has not implemented a safeguarding measure. This would ensure that any risks are managed in line with a protocol to support staff in their duties and to keep children safe.

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

Physical interventions are well documented and include behaviour management strategies staff used to help the child. All staff involved and the child have completed debriefs after the incident. This gives all people involved the chance to reflect on the incident and identify any potential triggers.

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

Missing-from-home incidents receive a coordinated response. For one child, a new plan has been implemented to help manage the risk of their missing-from-home episodes. This means that when the child is out, welfare checks are made. This reinforces a safety message to the child and shows them that adults around them care about their welfare. Through the positive relationships the child has with staff, missing-from-home incidents have reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is new in the role and is supported by a dedicated core team that is respected by other professionals. Together, they create a culture where there are high aspirations for the children to succeed in life. Through their nurturing approach, children feel cared for and like living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. The registered manager has a monitoring system in place that is frequently completed. Shortfalls identified are addressed without delay and necessary action is taken. This means that the home is evolving to meet the child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has not escalated with a child’s local authority that their education plan is significantly out of date. Despite this being raised in meetings, nothing has been done to follow up the plan. This means that all staff are working in line with out-of-date information. This is not supporting the child’s development academically.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff spoken to at the inspection all said that they receive reflective and frequent supervision and team meetings. The registered manager discusses an action plan with each staff member, to support their development in their role. Training is discussed as part of the staff supervision. However, some staff are not trained in substance misuse and self-harm. This does not raise their awareness around these risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Newly appointed staff have an in-depth induction into the home. Alongside this, there is a six-month probation period. This is reviewed on the second, fourth and sixth month by their supervisor. This identifies areas where additional support is needed and what is going well. This helps new starters to understand the processes to working in the home. Inspection report children's home: 2632092 5

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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

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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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 (a)(c)) 25 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(b)) 25 February 2022

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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)) 25 February 2022

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(c)) 25 February 2022 Inspection report children's home: 2632092 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. Children’s homes will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that good employment practice is maintained, as set out in regulations 31 to 33. They must ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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 children's home: 2632092 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 Limited, 49 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool FY3 9DG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Penelope Rafferty

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Inspector

Gemma McDonnell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2632092 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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