Children's Home run by Castle Homes Care Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report for children’s home: SC060590 1 SC060590 Registered provider: Castle Homes Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company and provides care for up to three children. The provider states in their statement of purpose that they provide care to children who may have suffered from emotional, physical and sexual abuse, and who may have experienced trauma and rejection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s manager registered in June 2018. The registered manager is currently away from the home and the deputy manager is managing the home in her absence.

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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: SC060590 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/08/2021 Full Good 13/08/2019 Full Outstanding 22/01/2019 Full Good 24/01/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC060590 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a lovely home that provides high-quality care, nurture and stability. The secure attachment that children build with their carers provides a solid foundation for children to thrive and achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children live in the home. One child has lived in the home for nearly four years. She has made significant progress from her starting point. The child spoke to the inspector about her daily lived experience. She communicated confidently and was able to self-reflect and understand her actions and behaviours. The strong focus from staff to build emotional intelligence in children helps them to regulate their emotions and accept praise.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has made significant progress with his health and well-being. He is now a healthy weight that is proportionate to his age, height and development. Staff have adopted a sensitive approach to ensure that healthy eating choices and daily exercise are normalised, without creating a sense of shame or guilt for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When a child’s educational needs are not met, there is evidence of strong challenge to education providers by staff. The deputy manager pushed for an additional education planning meeting to ensure that one child could progress to a course in animal care at a reputable further education college. Staff read bedtime stories to another child to help him with his reading and play number recognition games using football cards to support his maths. Creative play helps children who are behind with their education to continue to learn and achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Complaints or concerns from children are taken seriously by staff and swiftly acted upon. Managers take the necessary action and ensure that children know the outcome of the concern. This provides reassurance for children that their voice is heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities that enhance their emotional and social well- being. One child has enjoys going to Scouts and another has applied for a job in a local dog sanctuary. One child is enjoying their new independence and has gained confidence in catching the local bus to meet friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although there has been a gap recently in children’s meetings due to one child not wishing to get involved, staff do ensure that individual sessions with children capture their views. A meal out with all the staff was used by staff as an opportunity for children to express their feelings and views about the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have detailed independence plans relative to their personal goals and expectations. Staff use additional resources, as well as booklets provided by the placing authority, to ensure that children have a realistic understanding of independent living. Inspection report for children’s home: SC060590 4 Children keep in touch with their family members where appropriate. When necessary, staff supervise family time to ensure that children have fun with their families and form happy memories. An advocate is recommended for a child to ensure that his wishes and feelings are clearly heard and understood by all professionals.

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

Children in this home do not present with risks relating to criminal and/or sexual exploitation. Two physical interventions have been noted as fair and proportionate to ensure the safety of one child. Mobile phone use is risk assessed and monitored in line with children’s age and vulnerability.

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

The quality of planned and unplanned key-work sessions helps to create openings for children to explore their feelings and emotions. The use of ‘how do you feel’ worksheets with a young child allows them to identify emotions by colouring in faces that best describe how they are feeling about a particular event.

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

Children who have struggled to express their emotions gain a better understanding of their feelings, and this helps them to build on their emotional resilience. One child with presenting mental health issues can now self-regulate, and incidents have reduced. The child uses strategies that help them, including walking away from the home to ‘cool off’, only to return shortly after.

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

Staff quickly and efficiently responded to a child who attempted to injure themselves with a ligature. The coordinated teamwork ensured that the child was safe. Several debrief sessions took place following the incident to ensure that the child was emotionally supported. Professional support from external agencies is in place to support the child’s mental health and an additional safety plan is in place. Risk assessments and risk management plans are detailed. However, a behaviour management plan following the serious incident has not been updated. A recommendation is made to address this matter.

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

There has been a significant reduction in incidents. However, staff have used police to manage incidents. Behaviour management strategies to manage incidents require evaluation of their effectiveness to ensure that an incident does not lead to a child becoming criminalised due to their heightened state.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been away from the home since June 2022. The deputy manager has stepped into the role with efficiency and assisted the inspection with ease, due to her previous knowledge of the children and her highly organised approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The commitment, passion and quality of care provided by staff to children provides a safe and secure environment for children to achieve and make progress. Some staff Inspection report for children’s home: SC060590 5 have worked in the home for over 10 years, demonstrating a high level of commitment and continuity of care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider has struggled to employ new staff. Several staff have recently left the home and recruitment of suitable staff has been challenging. This has had a negative effect on staff being available to attend important training. Staff training and development are necessary to ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge to support children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision is ongoing and the supervision template has now been adapted to incorporate reflection of practice. Supervision records sampled during the inspection were not signed by senior managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Local authority social workers report positive working relationships between staff and the placing authority. They say clear communication and the strong focus on nurture and care provided by staff to children has enabled positive progress and development by children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The lack of management oversight is evident. For example, documentation is missing from children’s files and important documents have not been updated, such as behaviour management plans following a serious incident. The review of the quality of care has not been submitted to Ofsted in a timely manner. A requirement is made to address this matter. Inspection report for children’s home: SC060590 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(d)(f)(g)(i)(h)) 31 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. 31 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC060590 7 In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all children have access to appropriate advocacy support, and where possible this should be provided by a person that the child chooses. Children are entitled to an independent advocate to advise them and ensure they have the support needed to express their views, wishes and feelings about their care and lives. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 23, paragraph 4.16)  The registered person should ensure that the behaviour management strategy should be understood and always applied by staff, and must be kept under review Inspection report for children’s home: SC060590 8 and revised where appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)

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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: SC060590 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Castle Homes Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Forge, Church Street West, Woking, Surrey GU21 6HT

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Inspector

Kamal Bhamra, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC060590 10 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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