Children's home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report children’s home: SC485540 1 SC485540 Registered provider: Witherslack Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private organisation owns and manages this home. The home provides care for up to seven children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Seven children were living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered in 2015. The registered manager left the home in March 2022. A new manager is in post and has applied to registered 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 requires improvement to be 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

Date of last inspection: 23 February 2022

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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: SC485540 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/02/2022 Full Good 10/12/2019 Full Outstanding 13/11/2018 Full Outstanding 30/01/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children have lived at the home for a long time. They are settled and happy. Staff build trusting and nurturing relationships with children. These relationships help children to make progress in different areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have the opportunity to improve their educational outcomes. All children attend the on-site school and their attendance is good. Staff work closely with school staff to ensure that there is a coordinated approach to supporting children’s learning and education. This helps children to make good progress in this area of their development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s healthcare. Children are registered with local health services and staff support them to attend their appointments to maintain good health. Children access therapeutic support provided by the clinical team. A nutritious and balanced diet is provided for the children. In addition, children benefit from an active lifestyle. All of these actions promote good health outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build their confidence and self-esteem through engaging in activities in the home and the wider community. These activities include playing football, swimming and raising money for charity. One child is involved in the ‘Children in Care Council’ for their placing authority. This gives them a voice about their care and about the care of other children. These opportunities help children to develop their independence skills and positive relationships with their peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have quality time with their families and other important people in their lives. This helps children to build and retain their own identities and develop a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend regular house meetings and make decisions about their day-to-day care arrangements and the routines in the home. They know how to make a complaint and feel confident that their concerns will be listened to. This means that their views remain central to the care planning process.

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improvement to be good

Staff regularly update and review children’s risk assessments and behaviour support plans. These documents detail the actions for staff to take to protect children and to manage and reduce risks to their safety. However, approaches to managing children’s behaviours are not consistent across the staff team. These inconsistencies resulted in two significant incidents where staff did not follow physical restraint procedures. This does not ensure that the children’s safety and welfare are effectively safeguarded. Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 4 The manager has failed to notify Ofsted of one serious incident that placed a child at risk of harm. This hinders the regulator’s ability to monitor safeguarding practice.

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improvement to be good

Children start to learn how to keep themselves safe. This is because staff complete key-work sessions with children around relevant topics, including bullying and internet safety. This helps children to understand the potential risks to their safety and welfare.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers follow safer recruitment practices and ensure that staff are thoroughly checked before they work with the children. This process gives assurances that only suitable people are supporting children in the home. This helps to ensure that children are effectively safeguarded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is new in post and is in the process of registering with Ofsted. Although this has been a time of change, senior leaders have had oversight of the day-to-day running of the home to support the new manager. This has provided consistency for children and staff. The staff team speak positively about the support they receive from leaders and managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from reflective supervision and access to relevant training opportunities. Training programmes for staff include bespoke sessions with the clinical team and reflect the children’s individual needs. Regular team meetings are used as a forum to share information and learning. This helps staff to understand children’s needs and provides them with opportunities to reflect on and develop their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses a range of tools to monitor the quality of care provided by the service. For example, he undertakes audits and daily observations of how staff support children. He welcomes external scrutiny from the independent person. The manager utilises the regular feedback from the independent person to monitor staff practice and children’s progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers respond effectively to allegations against staff and safeguarding concerns. They follow the safeguarding procedures to inform the local authority designated officer and act promptly to safeguard children. This ensures that children are better protected from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works closely with children’s families and other professionals. Social workers and family members praised the good communication and dedication of staff. These positive relationships mean that children receive the help they need to achieve better outcomes. Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 5

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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 the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the actions of staff do not place children at risk of harm. 30 November

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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

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 30 November

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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: SC485540 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Witherslack Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lupton Tower, Lupton, Carnforth LA6 2PR

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Inspector

Evelyn Chafota, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 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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