Children's Home run by Aspris Care North West Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report for children’s home: 2582250 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

The home is privately run and provides care for up to two children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2020.

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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: 2582250 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2582250 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is modern, warm and welcoming. There are many photos on the walls which display positive images of the children. This gives children a sense of belonging and ownership. One child said, ‘It’s all good here, the home is great.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children living in the home are in education and are making good progress. One child has aspirations to go to university. A member of staff at her school said, ‘She is one of our top students and she is really settled now. She has made good progress.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage in a broad range of activities. They recently went abroad on holiday and regularly attend events in local towns and cities. This enhances children’s interests and experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote opportunities for children in the community. This includes participation in fundraising events, volunteering in charity work and engaging with local youth clubs. However, the manager and staff are not aware of the local offer that sets out the support available for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This is a missed opportunity to access additional resources for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work collaboratively with parents and maintain regular contact with them. This helps to strengthen relationships between children and their parents. One parent said, ‘[Name of child] has his ups and downs but they are great with him. I’m really happy with his support.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children carry out life-story work. They regularly update their memory books with pictures, photos and comments. This helps children to reflect on and understand their life history.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to share their wishes and feelings. Sometimes, children write letters to staff and to one another, to express their feelings. This helps children to communicate in different ways and promotes their health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build positive and long-lasting relationships with children. Staff are passionate and compassionate about their work in caring for children. They persevere to meet all children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff do not encourage children to regularly access and understand their care records. This means that some children may not understand their plans or agree with them. This is a missed opportunity for children to influence their plans. Inspection report for children’s home: 2582250 4

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

In-house therapists help staff with strategies to understand and respond to children’s behaviours. As a result, staff are more confident in de-escalating children’s behaviour. This reduces the need for physical intervention.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs and respond appropriately if they are at risk of harm. One social worker said, ‘They have an incredible relationship with [name of child] and he tells them how he is feeling. This is huge progress, and they know him inside out.’

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

The manager actively pursues a multi-agency response to safeguarding concerns. This promotes information-sharing and reduces drift and delay. As a result, children say that they feel safe and cared for by staff.

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

Staff use an online safety app to manage and monitor children’s social media access. Furthermore, staff use key-work sessions to educate children in relation to online risks and how to stay safe online. This is helping children to build online resilience.

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

Staff follow clear and robust strategies when responding to children’s missing-from- home incidents. This means that staff are clear about the expectations of them if a child is missing. This helps to reduce the number of missing-from-home incidents.

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

Managers use door alarms in one child’s bedroom as a safeguarding measure. However, managers do not regularly review or evaluate the need for the alarms. As a result, this may unnecessarily limit children’s privacy and access in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well managed by an experienced and qualified manager. They continue to develop a nurturing environment in which children feel safe and make good progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the physical environment is maintained to a high standard. They respond quickly to ensure that any damage or wear and tear are repaired and to maintain a safe environment for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses systems for monitoring and management oversight. This helps to maintain standards while reviewing and learning from incidents. It also helps to track children’s progress and improve general practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they enjoy their work and feel part of a family. Staff also say that they feel supported by their manager and each other. This means that very few staff leave, which provides stability and continuity of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide regular supervision for staff. This focuses on children’s needs and helps managers to review staff performance. In addition, staff attend an annual Inspection report for children’s home: 2582250 5 appraisal to reflect on their performance and to set targets for the year ahead. The manager includes children’s feedback in this process to help with staff development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that the staff team is fully trained to meet children’s needs. Staff are skilled in specialist subjects and share their knowledge with the wider team. One member of staff said, ‘I have had so much support from [name of manager] basically taking me under their wing, making me feel so valued, supported and part of the team. I couldn’t have asked for a better manager, team and young people.’

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are encouraged to view their files on a regular basis and to see their records as ‘living documents’. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19)  The registered person should ensure that any limits to a child’s access in the home must only be for safeguarding reasons. Decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of the child’s needs, be properly recorded and kept under regular review. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should make sure that managers and staff are aware of the local offer, setting out the support available for children with special education needs or disabilities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.4).

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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: 2582250 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Mark Woodbridge, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2582250 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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