Children's Home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2615494 1 Registered provider: Witherslack Group Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to four children with emotional, behavioural and social difficulties. The home provides short- term care placements or an agreed period of assessment, for children who require a placement at short notice.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2615494 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2615494 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a professional and effective service from the staff. This helps children to regulate their behaviour and settle into the home quickly. Many children have successfully moved to other homes after staff have helped them to stabilise their behaviour. Children become settled and go on to do well because of interventions from staff. Children are happy at this home. A child said that the home is ‘fun’. Staff are skilled at quickly forming warm and nurturing relationships with children. They are open and honest with children, which helps to build positive and trusting relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions to and from the home are well planned. Staff implement these plans effectively. Leaders and managers work closely with external professionals, such as children’s mental health services and education professionals. This ensures that children have the right support that helps them to learn to regulate their behaviour. This has led to successful transitions for the children into longer-term placements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is embedded into the ethos of the home. Most children attend the organisation’s own school until they move from the home. If the school is not suitable, tutors carry out planned education to suit the needs of the individual child. This helps children to have stability and security of education as well as helping children to improve their life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have regular discussions with children. Most of these discussions are planned, but many are reactive, for example, in response to incidents that may have occurred. Many planned discussions are focused on helping children understand their life experiences and talking through emotions and feelings. This helps children to develop improved self-awareness and understanding of the feelings that drive more difficult and challenging behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has access to a psychologist. The psychologist completes an in-depth assessment of each child. This helps the manager and staff to have a better understanding of the needs of the child. This assists with identifying the right placement for children to move to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities in the home and in the local and wider community. For example, children have a games room with a cinema screen. They go for walks, play sports and go to the cinema and trampoline parks. Children’s activities are linked to their personal preferences, talents and interests.

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

Staff have a good understanding of how to keep children safe. Some children have been involved with gangs, exploitation and drug misuse. Other children have been at risk of going missing from home or exhibited self-harming behaviours. The staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2615494 4 team is skilled and they set clear rules, boundaries and expectations for behaviour. This helps to provide structure to the child’s day.

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

Staff provide good support to children, using well-established therapeutic approaches. This means children feel cared for and understood by staff. Consequently, children rarely go missing from the home. Concerning incidents are rare for children or reduce in frequency during their stay in the home.

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

When children are feeling angry or anxious, staff follow clear behaviour support plans. The interventions from staff, in line with the agreed plans, help children to regulate these strong emotions. Staff are trained in de-escalation techniques and physical intervention. Staff only use physical intervention as a last resort. Physical intervention is used for the right reasons, for the shortest amount of time and using the least restrictive hold. Children and staff are supported by managers following any incidents that occur and are encouraged to reflect on the incident. This helps staff to adapt their strategies to further support children when they are struggling with strong and overwhelming emotions.

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

Staff ensure the safety of children by completing good and sufficiently detailed risk assessments for each child. Good risk management means that children can increase their levels of independence in a safe and planned manner. This helps to build their resilience, confidence and self-esteem.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is qualified, experienced and ably supported by the responsible individual and senior managers in the organisation. The manager intends to submit his application to register with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have effective monitoring systems that help them to understand patterns and trends. They have a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. They have good development plans to address shortfalls and move the home forward.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Many staff have left the home, for a range of reasons. For example, some have been promoted within the company. This has left a small staff team. The number of children admitted to the home at any one time is low. For example, there is currently one child at the home. The current team is sufficient to cover shifts for this child. Recruitment is ongoing and managers intend to become fully staffed as soon as possible to increase their capacity to admit more children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel very well supported. They are happy and feel highly motivated to provide a good service for children. They have a good understanding of the children’s needs and how to care for them. Because of this commitment and the skills of the team, children make significant progress in a short space of time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training is good. There are good opportunities for staff to increase their knowledge and skills. This includes regular sessions with the home’s psychologist to Inspection report for children’s home: 2615494 5 keep them informed about the impact of trauma and attachment for children. This also includes more specific development in relation to supporting children with their anxiety and feelings of anger. This means that staff have the skills and knowledge required to support children’s health, safety and well-being. Inspection report for children’s home: 2615494 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of children knowing who they are and where they come from, and that this is recognised in good social work practice, for example through undertaking life- story work or other direct work. Staff in children’s homes should play a full role in work of this kind. This work, such as key-work sessions, is better undertaken when it is planned rather than reactive. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)

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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: 2615494 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Witherslack Group Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Witherslack Group, Lupton Tower, Lupton, Carnforth LA6 2PR

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Inspector

Joanne Vyas, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2615494 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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