Children's Home run by Active Ark Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439956 1 SC439956 Registered provider: Active Ark Limited

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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 provider. It is registered to provide care for one child.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in post who has applied to register with Ofsted.

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This monitoring visit

This home was judged inadequate at the full inspection on 27 and 28 September 2022. Following this inspection, four compliance notices were issued under section 22A of the Care Standards Act 2000. These related to regulation 12, the protection of children standard, regulation 13, the leadership and management standard, regulation 32, fitness of workers and regulation 35, behaviour management policies and records.

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This monitoring visit

This visit was carried out to monitor the action taken by the provider to meet the compliance notices.

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This monitoring visit

Records of significant events have improved. The manager conducted a training session with the staff to improve their knowledge of how to record appropriately. The manager also discussed the importance of recording and reporting all significant incidents. She has also implemented a monitoring system to ensure that these reports are reviewed and evaluated effectively.

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This monitoring visit

The clarity of children’s risk assessments has improved. Risk assessments clearly identify individual risks for the child and the strategies that staff should follow to reduce these risks. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439956 2 Direct work has taken place to help the child understand the risks she may face and how to keep herself safe in the community and in the home. This has helped the child understand how to keep herself safe.

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This monitoring visit

The manager now completes staff supervisions. These are practice based, and they give the staff the opportunity to reflect on their practice and how this may impact the child.

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This monitoring visit

The manager has made improvements in the quality of her monitoring arrangements. The manager has greater oversight of significant events, including the actions taken following these.

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This monitoring visit

There are sufficient staffing levels to meet the child’s needs. The rota reflects that each shift has appropriately trained staff on duty. However, the manager does not always record the actual hours that she works.

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This monitoring visit

Staff have now received training in subjects that are relevant to the needs of the child that lives in the home, specifically in restraint training, first aid and fire safety. Since the last inspection, there have been no restraints. This demonstrates that new strategies and staff training are effective.

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This monitoring visit

The manager and responsible individual have completed training in safer recruitment. There have been no new staff recruited since the last full inspection. However, the manager has implemented a system to ensure that she checks and signs off all staff files before a new staff member works in the home.

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This monitoring visit

Previous requirements and recommendations were not reviewed during this visit. Therefore, these are restated below.

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This monitoring visit

Following this inspection, a case review was held. It was the decision of the case review that the provider has met the steps contained in the notice. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439956 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/09/2022 Full Inadequate 08/03/2022 Full Good 30/04/2019 Full Good 25/09/2018 Full Outstanding 25/10/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439956 4

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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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; 6 November 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439956 5 are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii)(ix)(x)(xi)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that they and staff have access to children’s relevant plans, such as local authority care plans and children’s looked after health reports. The registered person must ensure that staff understand children’s individual needs, as identified within these plans, and are addressing these. 6 November 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— 6 November 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439956 6 keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff are receiving supervision from an appropriate person who is in a position to support reflection on significant events and incidents so that staff are able to improve on their practice. 6 November 2022

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff rosters include the hours that staff and the manager work in the home. 6 November 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.

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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. 6 November 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439956 7 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) (4)(a) (5))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the quality of care report evaluates the quality of care that children receive and takes into consideration feedback from children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(c)(e)) 6 November 2022

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children. This specifically relates to ensuring that standards of decoration throughout the home are good, and that any damages are repaired quickly so that they do not detract from the home environment. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the

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Recommendations

quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439956 8

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439956 9

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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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Inspectors

Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Michelle Edge, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439956 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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