Children's Home run by Partners in Care Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children's home: SC035049 1 SC035049 Registered provider: Partners in 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 operated by a private organisation and provides care for up to three children.

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Information about this children’s home

An acting manager is currently overseeing this home. They have applied to register with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 26 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Two compliance notices were served on 1 February 2022, following the home’s last full inspection. A monitoring visit on 16 March 2022 confirmed that these had been met. Inspection report for children's home: SC035049 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/01/2022 Full Inadequate 22/10/2019 Full Good 30/10/2018 Full Good 27/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC035049 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making notable progress while living at this home, although this is slow progress in some respects. They share trusting and meaningful relationships with staff and say that they are happy living at this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the needs of the children and are familiar with their current plans. Staff show interest in children’s talents and interests and actively encourage these. This helps their relationships to grow and develop. One child has a thirst for reading and collecting memorabilia. Staff have successfully promoted these interests as good learning opportunities and areas of shared interest.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children are not currently attending school or college. However, they are beginning to engage with alternative education provision that has been found to support them until they can return to formal education full time. Staff are committed to supporting children’s education within the home, helping with online learning and practical skills, but understand that this is only a short-term measure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have also been successful in encouraging children to keep and then follow up their own health appointments. Staff understand the importance of supporting children’s emotional well-being as well as their physical health. For one child, staff have been creative in developing a self-soothing box of sensory items. This is proving helpful in providing comfort and assisting the child to manage personally stressful situations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to follow healthy lifestyles, by promoting good nutrition and regular exercise. Children have their own individual activities they enjoy, such as horse riding and cycling, and have also enjoyed days out together with staff at the beach.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents and professionals are satisfied that the home is meeting children’s needs and that there are clear signs of progress being made. One social worker commented, ‘[Name of child] has turned a corner over the last few weeks. Staff have made good efforts and managed to get her to go to college. She appears to be enjoying the tutoring and is proud of the work that she is doing. Staff are encouraging her friendships in the community. The manager of the home has gone over and above to promote family contact.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s interior has benefited from redecoration. Children’s bedrooms have been redecorated and arranged to their own personal choice and communal areas are being repainted to lighten the interior and achieve a homelier feel. There are plans to replace windows to give the home’s exterior a fresher look. Inspection report for children's home: SC035049 4

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

Children say they feel safe and well cared for. Their vulnerabilities are well understood and staff are familiar with their risk assessments. These provide staff with comprehensive guidance to keeping children safe and promoting their well- being.

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

Staff are active in making sure that the home remains a safe place for children to live. Staff ensure that potential hazards are identified and minimised. For example, a potential trip hazard identified in a child’s bedroom has been remedied.

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

Children enjoy spending time with the manager’s dog that regularly visits the home. The dog clearly has therapeutic value for some children and is loved by all. A risk assessment for the dog’s visits to the home has been completed and is kept under review to ensure children’s continued safety around the dog.

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

Although the children appear to have little in common with each other, they generally accept living with each other and sometimes enjoy each other’s company on arranged and shared activities. Despite their lack of common interests and occasional bickering, children do not complain of bullying in this home.

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

Children’s positive behaviour is largely influenced by the positive relationships they share with staff. Staff have recently implemented new incentives to promote positive behaviour. This has proved successful with one child so far. Since the last inspection, staff have not had any need to use restraint or sanctions.

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

During this inspection, the home failed to demonstrate that visitors are routinely advised about the home’s fire safety arrangements, in particular the procedure for evacuation in the event of a fire. This may compromise a visitor’s safety. For this reason, a requirement has been made.

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good

During this inspection, Ofsted was able to confirm that the manager’s application to register with Ofsted has now been submitted. This was of concern at the last full inspection, as the home had been without a registered manager for well over six months and lacked good managerial oversight.

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good

The manager is gaining confidence in her role and has the confidence and support of her staff, who speak highly of her commitment to the children and the home. Staff feel well supported in their roles, receiving regular professional supervision, training and practical support.

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good

Internal and external monitoring arrangements have been successfully maintained since the home’s the last full inspection. Reports are accessible to staff, who have a good understanding of the home’s ongoing performance and children’s progress. Inspection report for children's home: SC035049 5 Ofsted has regularly received reports from the home’s appointed independent person within the agreed timescale, promoting good transparency between the home and Ofsted.

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good

The home’s development and workforce plans are regularly informed and updated by internal and external monitoring arrangements, providing the manager and staff with a clear mandate for continuous development.

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good

Previous requirements made at the last inspection and a recent monitoring visit have all been met except that relating to the education standard. This requirement is carried over as it is recognised that more time is required to show tangible progress in children’s education attendance and achievement. Inspection report for children's home: SC035049 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(vii)(viii)(x))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 14 July 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC035049 7 After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of a fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that visitors to the home are aware of the arrangements should the fire alarm sound. 14 July 2022

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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: SC035049 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Partners in Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

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Inspector

Gillian Walters, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC035049 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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