Children's Home run by Appletree Treatment Centre Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 1 SC033268 Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It provides care for up to 12 children, irrespective of gender. Children living at this home may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

This company also runs a school, which is registered with the Department for Education, within the same grounds as the children’s home. All children from the home currently attend this school.

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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 children’s home: SC033268 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/04/2021 Full Good 04/06/2019 Full Good 17/05/2018 Full Good 07/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living at this home receive nurture and care which are relevant to their age. For example, staff brush children’s hair, offer age-appropriate hugs and cuddles and provide children with lots of reassurance. This nurturing ethos is also reflected in the home’s environment, where children have access to different toys and games and have personalised bedrooms. As a result, children enjoy living here and receive the one-to-one attention they deserve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children regularly attend the organisation’s on-site school. The structure and routine this provides helps to ensure that attendance levels are high, and children make progress from their starting points. Inspectors observed a reduction in the support required for one child, and progress above and beyond that related to the child’s natural development for another.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met because staff are creative in supporting children. Approaches are personalised to individual children and help them to attend and engage in appointments and receive any required assessments and support. One child no longer requires a pacifier, no longer takes medication to aid sleep, and has achieved a healthier weight.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s interests are promoted, and children have opportunities to engage in positive activities inside and outside of the home. For example, one child is having skiing lessons. Other children engage in football clubs and Brownies. Staff and managers have also created ‘badge books’ for children who may not be ready to participate in activities outside of the home. Children have enjoyed earning badges for activities such as walking, camping and exploring, and for completing independence-related tasks. This ensures all children have access to enjoyable and positive activities which develop their individual interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from regular time with their families in line with their plans, and children’s identities are well promoted. For example, one member of staff is learning Polish to support a child’s learning in respect of their first language. This maintains children’s identity and supports relationships with those who are important to them.

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

The home is a safe and nurturing environment for children. Children say that they feel safe, and inspectors observed children to be comfortable and confident in their home. However, there are some restrictions imposed on children at the home that are not fully understood by staff or regularly reviewed. Children do not always have access to the kitchen, even when this is not being used. The rationale behind this is unclear to staff and inspectors and does not ensure that all restrictions in respect of the environment are fully necessary or proportionate. Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 4 Children’s risk assessments are brief, clear and effective. Generally, children are not exposed to risk situations and there are few serious incidents. There are some risks posed by the external community, including a large building site with machinery and vehicles next door to the home. The risks posed to children in respect of this have

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

not yet been assessed. A requirement was made to address this.

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

There are a high number of physical interventions completed with children in this home. These occur only when necessary to protect children or others around them and are usually of a low level and of short duration. Children are offered the opportunity to reflect on incidents and raise any concerns. Positively, there has been a small decrease in the number of interventions required over the past six months, demonstrating learning from incidents and improved behaviour management.

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

Children’s positive behaviours are recognised and celebrated. Staff acknowledge and praise both small and significant achievements for children and present them with certificates, rewards and trophies. This gives children a sense of achievement and encourages positive behaviours and progress.

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

Children do not often go missing from home. Since the last inspection, there have been two occasions when one child has been reported missing. Both occasions were for short periods, and on one occasion the child remained within the home’s grounds. Although incidents are rare, staff are fully aware of the procedures to follow. They were proactive in their responses to these events, which ensured the child was located quickly. This improves children’s safety and well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has excellent monitoring systems in place to review trends and patterns, which helps them to understand and reduce incidents in the home. For example, recent analysis indicated that physical interventions were more likely to occur in the hallway around the time when children have finished school. New routines and adaptions to the home’s environment, such as softer lighting and time together at the end of the school day, were implemented to reduce these incidents. This demonstrates effective and meaningful monitoring and review, which serve to improve children’s experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior team members have not always recognised all potential triggers for children’s unsafe behaviours. This means that these are not clear within children’s behaviour management plans. It would be beneficial to children if potential triggers were identified, shared with others, and used to support the reduction of incidents and restrictive physical intervention.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children have not yet needed to use the complaints process, although they feel comfortable discussing concerns with staff or managers. A robust complaints system is in place, which has been utilised by staff on two occasions. These complaints have been managed appropriately and transparently and have served to improve the Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 5 service. This shows that staff feel confident in raising concerns or issues with management and that concerns are listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervisions and routine appraisals, and these are of good quality. Actions identified within these are utilised to develop staff and improve practice. This means that staff are helped and encouraged to learn and develop in their roles. This supports the consistent good-quality care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders, managers and staff know children well. They recognise and understand children’s individual needs through multi-agency working and building effective relationships with those external to the home. As a result, the feedback from children, professionals and those important to children is complimentary. One professional said, ‘Staff work in excellent partnership with me and family members. This shows their commitment to all areas of my child’s life, including his life before and outside of the home.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 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 privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, review the necessity of the restrictions posed on children in respect of access to the kitchen. Ensure necessary restrictions are frequently reviewed in line with children’s needs. 8 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2)) 8 January 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 7 Specifically, assess the risks posed by the building site adjacent to the home.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand factors that affect children’s motivation to behave in a socially acceptable way. Staff should encourage positive behaviour through the use of positive behaviour strategies in line with the child’s relevant plans. Specifically, ensure the context and the environment in which incidents occur with children are fully considered to inform children’s plans and support the reduction of restrictive physical intervention. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.13)

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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 children’s home: SC033268 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meathop Park, Meathop, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6RF

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Inspectors

Natalie Bennett, Social Care Inspector Nicola Clements, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC033268 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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