Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report for children’s home: 2638390 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home. The provider states in the home’s statement of purpose that it provides care for up to one child with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since June 2021.

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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 Outstanding

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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: 2638390 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2638390 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in the home have built trusting and secure relationships with staff. Staff invest time in children, they listen to them, protect them and promote their welfare. Staff are proud of children’s progress and achievements. As a result, children can develop a sense of permanence and belonging. Children are also able to name trusted adults that they can speak to if they have any worries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend school full time and have excellent attendance. Staff are ambitious for children and their educational development. The manager ensures that their liaison with schools is effective. Staff recognise, celebrate and reward achievements, and children also enjoy their time at school. A teacher said, ‘[Name of child] has progressed massively. This goes hand in hand with the therapeutic work completed at the home. They [staff] are nurturing; they nurture children and support them with their emotional regulation.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The service supplies therapeutic care and support. The staff are guided and supported by a qualified and experienced therapist. The staff receive training and weekly consultation with the home’s linked therapist. Children have individual plans that are implemented by the therapist. These plans are embedded within children’s plans. Staff ensure that these plans are followed and, as a result, children are being helped to understand their emotions better and are making considerable progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between family and friends are promoted. Children are supported to see their families in line with their plans. Staff recognise that seeing family members can sometimes be difficult for children, so they ensure that children are supported to work through any feelings they may have. Children are supported to spend time with their friends in the home and feel confident to do so. Friends often come to visit and stay for dinner or play games. As a result, children are developing and are having positive social experiences.

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

The manager and staff team know the children’s risks and understand them. Together, they identify and appropriately assess new risks. The manager and staff ensure that there are individual and up-to-date risk management plans in place. However, some risk management plans lacked detailed strategies. The manager did recognise this during the inspection and it was quickly resolved.

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

Holding a child to keep them safe is used as a last resort in conjunction with the home’s policies and procedures. Documents completed contain the relevant information, and the recording of holds has improved since the last inspection. However, some records are not objective or easy to understand. Conversations always take place with children following the use of a hold, but the use of physical holds is not always explored. Inspection report for children’s home: 2638390 4 Children have access to the internet; they access social media and online gaming. The staff are knowledgeable and understand the risks posed to children online. There are clear plans and strategies in place to support staff to manage the risks to children and to keep them safe. Staff have completed e-safety training. Direct work is regularly completed with children to support them to recognise risks and how to keep themselves safe online.

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

All staff have completed first-aid training. Accidents are recorded in line with the home’s policies and procedures. Reports are detailed and evidence that first aid has been administered and if any medical intervention was required. However, on one occasion, a child had banged their head, which left a red mark. Staff provided first aid, but did not seek additional medical advice or guidance.

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

There have been occasions when children have displayed self-injurious behaviour. Records of these incidents are detailed and evidence what steps the staff have taken to support children when in crisis. Staff effectively manage these risks and ensure that children are kept safe. Following any incident of self-injurious behaviour, staff complete a screening tool. This tool assesses the risk and provides additional guidance for staff to follow. The tool also alerts the home’s linked therapist, who will then contact the staff and provide further guidance. A social worker said, ‘The incidents are managed well. [Name of child] trusts the staff in the home and they are good at getting through to [Name of child]. They are good at responding to incidents of self-harm.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager leads by example. He is inspirational, confident and ambitious for children. He has high expectations for the staff team and its development. As a result of this, the staff work extremely well together to provide a consistent and stable home for children. Staff speak very highly of the manager and feel supported by him. They value his knowledge and experience, which they find supportive of their own professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is very well organised and ensures that staff training is regular and up to date. All staff have completed mandatory training and additional training to meet the needs of children. The manager ensures that all staff complete reflection following training sessions. This provides him with an opportunity to assess staff learning. The manager is innovative and has created additional in-house training for staff. The training is bespoke and provides staff with additional knowledge to help them better understand children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive supervision monthly, and this is in line with the home’s statement of purpose. The supervisions are well planned and structured. Those who receive supervision do so with a suitably experienced manager or lead practitioner. Supervisors make excellent use of research and resources to support individual learning and development. The supervisions are reflective and provide a safe environment for staff to reflect on their practice, development or performance. The Inspection report for children’s home: 2638390 5 manager ensures that he has oversight of all supervisions and will provide additional comments and feedback. Appraisals are completed annually. These are reflective and provide feedback on performance. However, they do not contain feedback from children or other professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is maintained to a high standard and meets the needs of the children. Although it is a small home, it is homely and feels like a family home. The manager ensures that routine checks and fire drills are completed, which helps to keep the building safe for children. Children are happy with their bedrooms, which they can personalise according to their interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager works closely with the local community. A concern had been received about noise coming from a child’s bedroom. This was dealt with promptly and managed appropriately. The manager arranged for the child’s bedroom to be soundproofed. The staff and children often help to complete shopping for a neighbour. This helps to provide children with a sense of community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has developed positive working relationships with professionals, including parents and family members. The manager understands the importance of effective partnership working and how this contributes towards children’s positive experiences in the home. A teacher said, ‘I can’t speak highly enough of the home. Communication is amazing, and the manager and staff are approachable.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2638390 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

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when conversations take place with children following the use of restraint, that the use of restraint is explored with the child. 17 February 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when children are injured, additional medical advice is sought. This is in relation to head injuries. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)  The registered person should include the views of the children and other professionals when completing appraisals with staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should ensure staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Specifically, this is in relation to clearer recording when completing restraint records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2638390 7

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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: 2638390 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sandcastle Care Ltd, 49 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool FY3 9DG

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Inspector

Kimmy Feeley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2638390 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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