Children's Home run by Bay View Child Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2533956 1 Registered provider: Bay View Child Care Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and run by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to four children. At the time of the inspection, four children were living in the home. They all met with the inspector and three of them spoke about their experiences of living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager was registered with Ofsted on 22 April 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 children’s home to carry out a monitoring visit on 4 February 2021. 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: Improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2533956 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/03/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2533956 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like living in the home and say they are happy. They are helped to develop secure, trusting relationships with staff who care about them. These relationships help children to make significant progress in all areas of their lives. One child said, ‘It’s brilliant. I love everything about living here. The staff are the best.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a wide range of activities, opportunities and new experiences. Through these experiences children are supported to learn new skills, develop positive peer relationships and improve their self-esteem. Children’s identities are well supported, and they are encouraged to learn about their own and other cultures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are listened to. They regularly meet with the staff and manager to share their views. These views contribute to their day-to-day care. Children know how to complain. Any concerns they raise are dealt with appropriately by the manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Progress in education is a key strength in the home. Children who previously struggled to attend education now attend full-time. This enhances their life opportunities. Children’s achievements are recognised and celebrated. They are encouraged to work towards achieving their goals, and their aspirations are nurtured.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff strongly advocate for the children in their care. They appropriately challenge other services to ensure that children’s needs are being met. A recent example of this is staff requesting a medication review to prevent unnecessary obstacles to a child’s future aspirations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work effectively to build and maintain positive relationships with children’s family members. They support children’s wider networks and promote relationships that children can continue to benefit from into adulthood. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have creatively enabled children to safely see people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to move into and out of the home in a planned way. Recent changes, including one child moving into the home in the same week that a child had moved out, were well managed. Staff ensured that children living in the home were appropriately included in the moves and that their needs were also carefully considered alongside the needs of the child moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In preparation for their transition into adulthood, children benefit from bespoke independence plans tailored to meet their individual needs. These plans identify goals and support children to learn skills around cooking, budgeting and household tasks. Inspection report for children’s home: 2533956 4 Children are encouraged to develop a sense of belonging in the home. They are included in decisions about decoration and furnishings. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and decorated to a high standard, reflecting their personalities and tastes. Their photographs are displayed throughout the home. Despite efforts to create a welcoming and comfortable environment, some areas of the home appear tired, and the kitchen is awaiting refurbishment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s individual needs. However, in strategies for managing children’s behaviour, leaders have not fully considered the needs of, and impact on, other children living in the home, for example when locking a door to safely manage a child’s behaviour. This means that children’s choices to move around the home are determined by another child’s needs. This is potentially detrimental to the group dynamics and impacts on the experiences of all children living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The laundry room is kept locked to prevent access to cleaning materials. This restricts children’s choices to access the laundry facilities without staff. Locks on other communal doors throughout the home are rarely used. The manager is taking action to review the storage of cleaning materials and the presence and function of locks on communal doors.

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

Children say they feel safe. Professionals share this view and are consistently positive about the quality of care and communication provided by the team. One social worker said, ‘I don’t have any concerns at all. [Name of child] is safe. The progress he has made is huge. The child who moved in is not the child he is today, and that is credit to them and the work they have done with him. He has come on really well and they are helping him to do well in the future.’

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

Complex safeguarding risks are significantly reduced for children living in the home. Staff understand challenging and high-risk behaviours and work as part of a multi- disciplinary team to safeguard children. Incidents of children going missing from home or engaging in self-harming behaviours are rare. When they do occur, staff know how to respond and there is clear oversight from the manager.

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

A comprehensive location risk assessment is kept under review by the manager. This identifies any risks in the immediate and surrounding areas and helps staff to keep children safe.

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

Staff have an in-depth understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and are vigilant to children’s individual and group risks. They are often able to prevent incidents from occurring, and both staff and children benefit from higher staffing levels. High- quality risk and behaviour management plans provide clear strategies for staff to follow to keep children safe. Plans are regularly reviewed and reflect current risks and behaviours. Inspection report for children’s home: 2533956 5 Children benefit from direct work sessions and key conversations with staff about relevant issues. This helps them to make safer choices. Children are helped to access specialist support around anger management and to develop strategies to regulate their emotions. They also benefit from spending time with the organisation’s therapy dog.

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

The manager has robust oversight of all safeguarding incidents and allegations. They are dealt with in line with procedures. Detailed records reflect direct work completed with children and any learning that is implemented as a response to incidents.

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

Bedroom door alarms are routinely used as an additional safety measure to monitor children’s movements. This does not take into consideration children’s individual needs. This is something the manager is taking action to review to ensure they are only used when necessary to keep children safe.

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

Instances of staff holding children to keep them safe are only used as a last resort. Records reflect the action taken and detailed debriefs are completed with everyone involved.

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

Consequences used as a response to negative behaviours are not always restorative. This limits opportunities for children to reflect and learn from their behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been several changes to the home’s management team since the last inspection. The current manager was the previous deputy manager. She is suitably skilled and experienced and holds the relevant qualification. The manager is passionate about improving outcomes for children and is held in high regard by children, staff and other professionals. The team benefits from her clear leadership and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is supported by the acting responsible individual and two recently appointed deputy managers. Together, they use internal and external monitoring systems to maintain strong oversight and ensure that the home is managed effectively. Managers have high expectations of staff and are ambitious for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

During the pandemic, the home has experienced a number of staffing changes. These changes have been well managed. Agency staff are not used, and any shortfalls are covered by staff who work at the home. This ensures that children continue to receive consistent care from people who know them and the home well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working in the home. There is a strong family ethos and morale is high. Staff feel supported and valued in their roles. They benefit from a clear induction, high-quality supervision, relevant training and staff meetings that provide them with opportunities to reflect and learn. Their practice is further strengthened by access to additional resources provided by the organisation’s person-centred counsellor and other specialist services as required. Inspection report for children’s home: 2533956 6 Communication with partner agencies is excellent. Records are maintained to a high standard and the members of the management team are currently reviewing the systems in place to prevent repetition. Placing authorities and children’s families receive regular updates about children’s progress. The manager continually seeks feedback from children and stakeholders to develop the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirement made at the monitoring visit has been met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2533956 7

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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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home;

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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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children’s restriction of movement in and around the home and the impact of these arrangements on all children. 18 March 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the condition of the home is maintained to a high standard throughout. Some areas appear tired and would benefit from refreshing, and the kitchen would benefit from refurbishment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should review and risk-assess the presence and function of locks on internal communal doors and the routine use of door alarms to ensure they are only used when required to keep children safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that any sanctions used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, clearly recorded and maximise the opportunity for children to reflect and learn. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children’s home: 2533956 8

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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: 2533956 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bay View Child Care

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3–5 Dalton Square, Lancaster, Lancashire LA1 1PP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Thompson

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Inspector

Caroline Bertram, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2533956 10 regulates and inspects 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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