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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2590522 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 was registered in July 2020. The home provides care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager resigned her post in July 2021. A new manager has been in post since November 2021 and is in the process of registering 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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 18 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. 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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2590522 2

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Recent inspection history

This is the home’s first inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2590522 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This children’s home, which is set in a very rural location, currently provides care for four children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children who live here have all made progress. This is largely due to the very positive, trusting relationships the children have with their carers. The staff team consists of a number of skilled and experienced staff who act as positive role models as well as providing nurturing and consistent care to the children. This enables children to settle into the home quickly and risks begin to reduce.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to have fun and enjoy themselves. They have lots of positive experiences and are given opportunities to try new activities. Family time, and time with friends, is important and staff work hard to facilitate this when it is safe to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three of the children attend education, but one child is currently educated at home while the practical arrangements for his reintegration into education are put in place. Staff and managers liaise with education professionals, including the virtual school. They are ambitious for children and want them to do well academically, as well as being better prepared socially and emotionally at the point they move on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A strength of the home is supporting children to receive specialist support and assessments to help to identify and meet their needs. Children attend routine healthcare appointments and staff are attentive to their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the availability of face-to-face training for staff, but this is improving. Additionally, there have been changes to staff over the last year. Staff have received training in adverse childhood experiences and consequently have an emerging understanding of attachment theory, trauma and loss. They are supported to consider how these issues affect children and can lead to difficult emotions and behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The organisation’s in-house therapy team provides valuable insights into how to respond to children in these circumstances to build resilience and positive self- esteem. Advice and guidance from therapists help the staff to be aware of and sensitive to underlying reasons for behaviour that challenges.

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

Safeguarding practice in the home is good. Staff understand how to keep children safe. Risk management plans are well written, and they provide staff with clear guidance about how to respond when risky situations arise. However, the children’s Inspection report for children’s home: 2590522 4 files contain a lot of information, some of which is out of date. This poses a risk as staff may not be working with the most up-to-date information.

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

Staff have a good understanding of why children behave the way they do. They know each child well and can identify their risks and vulnerabilities. This is supported by access to the organisation’s in-house therapeutic resources and a developing ethos of positive, therapeutic parenting.

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

Staff use behaviour management strategies effectively to promote positive behaviour. This reduces the need to use physical intervention to defuse heightened situations. Staff strive to provide children with consistent daily routines and boundaries.

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

Staff undertake meaningful direct work with children. This has included direct work about keeping safe at home and in the community, and contextual safeguarding. Staff work closely with placing authorities to expedite children’s care plans and help them to become safer.

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

Communication with social workers and placing authorities is good. This means that children are collectively supported to make progress.

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

Incidents of children going missing from the home have reduced, but when children do go missing, staff follow agreed missing-from-care plans. They play an integral part in ensuring children’s safe return to the home.

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

The home is situated in a very rural location, and while this contributes to children feeling safe and being safe, the environment brings its own risks. The home’s safe area report addresses this well, but at present, lacks effective consultation with stakeholders.

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

The management team ensures that the physical environment of the home is safe and maintained to a good standard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has gone through a period of change since the monitoring visit took place in March 2021. The home’s registered manager and responsible individual left during 2021. During this period, there was also a high turnover of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new manager came into post in November 2021. She is suitably qualified and experienced. She has started the application to register as the home’s manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is staffed and resourced to meet the children’s needs. The use of agency staff has been necessary at times but has been kept to a minimum to ensure continuity of care for the children. However, a number of vacant posts have now been successfully recruited to. Inspection report for children’s home: 2590522 5 The new manager has effective monitoring systems in place. She is supported by three deputy managers and roles and responsibilities have been established. She is ambitious and wants to ensure the best possible care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have received training in therapeutic parenting approaches, and they are in the process of cascading this learning to the team. The staff team benefits from the support of in-house therapeutic practitioners. Staff are supported to develop a better insight into children’s needs and are helped to understand children’s behaviour so that they can respond in the most effective and helpful way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. Management arrangements are becoming established, and the staff team is becoming increasingly confident in identifying and meeting the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals working with the home is very positive. Professionals speak positively about communication from the home and being kept informed about children’s progress. One professional praised the staff for ‘going the extra mile’ in relation to supporting a child’s increased time with his family ahead of returning home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Three recommendations were made at the home’s last visit, and they are now considered met. These recommendations related to the quality of staff recording, ensuring that staff receive training to enable them to meet children’s needs and the way in which staff respond to children who go missing from the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

At this inspection, a requirement has been made in relation to how staff at the home organise and file information about children. The home’s filing system is not yet up to date and not all information is relevant; this makes pertinent information less accessible for staff and other stakeholders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership team knows the home’s strengths and the areas for development. Its members recognise that recent changes in management, and in the way the home is run, need time to become embedded in practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2590522 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 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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the need to ensure that information in children’s files is organised so that it is up to date, consistent, relevant and easily accessible for staff and other stakeholders. 30 April 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2590522 7

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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: 2590522 8

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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

Corrinne Barker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2590522 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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