Children's home run by Aspris Care North West Limited in Wyre

Inspection report for children’s home: 1231399 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 a number operated by a private provider. The home provides care and accommodation for three children with behavioural and/or emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager was registered with Ofsted in June 2020 and holds the relevant qualification.

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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: 1231399 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2020 Full Good 05/12/2018 Full Outstanding 15/08/2017 Full Outstanding 21/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1231399 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are currently three children living in the home. Children enjoy good-quality care based on individualised care plans. Staff know the children well and know how to meet their individual physical and emotional needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children have made good progress with their education. One child is currently receiving home tutoring while a new school is found. This is taking some time and the child is losing focus, which is impacting on other areas of her life. The manager has made attempts to speed this process up but now needs to escalate this to ensure the child’s education needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. They have access to the in-house therapist, whom all the children have a good relationship with. The therapist works with staff to help them better understand the children’s behaviours. All staff are trained in therapeutic parenting. This tailored care contributes to children receiving support and guidance in relation to their emotional and psychological well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to develop age-appropriate independence skills. Children are supported to develop the necessary skills for the next step in their lives. One child does not have a pathway plan and the manager needs to work with the local authority to ensure independence work is planned for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s experiences of arriving at and leaving the home are generally positive. One child has moved on to successfully live independently. Two children’s placements were ended in an unplanned way after safeguarding incidents. These moves were managed sensitively to minimise the negative impact on the children involved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is very good. Children have personalised their own bedrooms. There is a beauty room where the children receive rewards of beauty treatments from a member of staff who has the appropriate qualifications.

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

Children are safeguarded effectively because of the care they experience. Children said they feel safe living in the home. However, the quality of written risk assessments is variable. A lot of information is duplicated and some plans to manage the risk are not up to date. This has not compromised safeguarding for the children.

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

Children’s incidents of going missing have reduced since living at the home. When children are missing, staff go to great lengths to find them and get them home safely. Staff know the children well and the details of their friends and places they frequent. Information-sharing with key agencies is timely and recording of the Inspection report for children’s home: 1231399 4 incidents is clear. This good practice means staff can work towards getting children home quickly.

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

Staff implement routines and consistent boundaries for the children to promote positive behaviour. Staff further promote positive behaviours through incentives, rewards and positive relationships. There have been no physical interventions since last inspection. This shows that staff can use their skills to de-escalate challenging behaviour.

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

Allegations against staff are managed quickly and effectively, with all the correct procedures being followed. This means that the children are safeguarded appropriately. Staff are thoroughly vetted and assessed before any appointment is confirmed. These safe recruitment procedures make sure that children are protected by preventing unsuitable adults from working in the home.

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

The home is physically safe and secure. Regular checks are completed by staff to ensure children are protected from potential hazards.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced and qualified manager. It is clear the manager is passionate about the children and has high ambitions for them. This ethos runs through the home and there is a positive atmosphere.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been some changes to the staff team since the last inspection. However, the home is now fully staffed and the current staff team has a good range of age and gender, giving children the opportunity to form different relationships with different people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have good oversight of the home. Effective monitoring and evaluation of the home allow the manager to identify any areas for development and make plans to address these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are suitably qualified or currently undertaking their qualifications in residential childcare. The comprehensive training programme in place ensures that staff have the necessary skills to meet the complex needs of the children they look after.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are suitably matched before coming to live in the home. Impact risk assessments are completed to a high standard. This informs placement decisions around the suitability of new admissions. This ensures that the needs of the children are met safely. Inspection report for children’s home: 1231399 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and make sure that the plans in place to manage these risks are accurate and clear. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that care plans are clear and understood by the child. In particular, the registered manager should ensure that the children have a clear pathway plan. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.2)  The registered person should challenge the relevant person when services are not provided to meet a child’s needs. This is particularly in relation to challenging and escalating a lack of education provision for one of the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 12,

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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: 1231399 6

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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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Inspector

Rachael Crook, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1231399 7 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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