Children's Home run by Active Ark Limited in Cumberland

Inspection report for children's home: 1233899 1 Registered provider: Active Ark Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company. It provides care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been registered since October 2016. The manager, who registered with Ofsted in October 2018, is suitably experienced and qualified with a level 5 leadership and management qualification in residential care.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1233899 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/06/2019 Full Good 24/10/2018 Full Good 16/07/2018 Full Inadequate 14/03/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: 1233899 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a nurturing and homely environment. They are happy and settled and making good progress overall since coming to live at the home. One child commented, ‘My life has really changed since coming here. I just had my birthday and staff have spoiled me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s individuality is welcomed and celebrated. Staff are sensitive to children’s wishes and feelings, so that children feel listened to and respected and know that their views are important. Equally, staff are respected and valued by the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Educationally, children’s starting points were low. Both children currently living in the home were not attending mainstream education prior to coming to live at the home. However, the manager and staff team have worked closely with placing authorities and local alternative education providers, successfully re-engaging one child who is now regularly attending school and introducing another to the prospect of attending college locally.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff continue to support children’s learning at the home, assisting with homework and encouraging children to learn new skills, such as cooking and baking, that will promote their independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children understand the importance of eating a healthy diet and enjoying regular exercise. Staff work in close cooperation with local knobs practitioners to ensure children’s health is monitored and regular services are available and provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to enjoy time in their local community and participate in activities that interest them. For one child, a local youth club has proved to be a good place to socialise, make friends and gain new interests, including becoming a youth team leader.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are proactive in promoting children’s time with family and friends and other people who are important in their life. This includes visits to the home and staff travelling with children to make sure they can meet up with friends and family who are some distance away.

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

Children say they feel safe and happy living in this home. Children describe staff in glowing terms, talking about how kind and caring they are and the very positive relationships they share with them.

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

Children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities are well understood by the manager and staff team. Individual risk assessments provide good and essential guidance to Inspection report for children's home: 1233899 4 staff to ensure they know how to safely manage children’s care. However, in places, risk assessments were lacking supporting detail that would have helped the reader to be clear on how the level of risk had been reached.

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

Children have previously gone missing from this home, but incidents have significantly reduced since coming to the home. Staff manage individual incidents well and work together with police to ensure that children are returned to the safety of the home at the earliest possible time. One child said, ‘I don’t go missing from here as I feel safe and happy with staff.’

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

The use of restraint in this home is minimal and only ever used when necessary to safeguard a child. Detailed records confirm that there is clear management oversight, ensuring that procedures have been followed and staff and children are spoken to following such incidents. Sanctions are also rare, but on the few occasions when they have been given, records confirm the sanction to be fear, appropriate and proportionate.

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

The home’s recruitment and selection processes are robust. New staff recruited since the last inspection have been thoroughly checked and vetted in accordance with safer recruitment practice, minimising the likelihood of children being cared for by an unsuitable adult.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they are well supported and led by their registered manager. Regular supervision is provided to all staff and takes place more frequently for those new in post. Despite the recent restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, morale within the home has remained high.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A key strength of the home is the valuable mix of experience in the staff team. Those not yet qualified with a level 3 diploma are enrolled and working towards the qualification. Some others already have teaching qualifications that are of great benefit to children living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Ofsted has been notified of all relevant incidents as they have occurred. However, the content of some notifications contains insufficient information to reassure the reader that good practice has been followed to achieve a positive outcome. The shortfall has not affected the care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal monitoring is well established but would benefit from further analysis and evaluation to enable staff to learn from incidents and improve practice. External monitoring reports lack value, as the independent person has failed to consistently provide these to the manager within a reasonable timescale. There have also been considerable delays in sending reports to Ofsted. This has again reduced transparency between the home and Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager promotes good partnerships and has successfully established highly productive working relationships with a range of professionals. Good liaison has Inspection report for children's home: 1233899 5 been established with local police officers to ensure the continued safety and well- being of children living at the home. One social worker commented, ‘I have nothing but good things to say about the home. Staff persevere; they have excellent relationships with the children.’ Inspection report for children's home: 1233899 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

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

upon request, the local authority for the area in which the home is located;

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Requirement Due date

the registered provider and, if applicable, the registered manager; and

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Requirement Due date

the responsible individual (if one is nominated). (Regulation 44 (1) (7)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that visits occur on a regular monthly basis and that reports reach the provider and Ofsted within the required timescale. 9 May 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. Specifically, ensure that plans are reviewed regularly and contain sufficient detail to assist the reader. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that best use is made of independent and internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. This includes reviewing and evaluating incidents to proactively implement lessons learned. (‘Guide to the Inspection report for children's home: 1233899 7 Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55,

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Recommendations

paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s record of an event notified to Ofsted must include a description of the action taken and the outcome of any resulting investigation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.14)

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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: 1233899 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Active Ark, Unit E, Baron Way, Kingmoor Business Park, Carlisle CA6 4SJ

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Inspector

Gillian Walters, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1233899 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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