Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report for children’s home: 2523028 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 owned and managed by a private company.

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Information about this children’s home

It is registered to provide care for one child with social and emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 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

Date of last inspection: 13 January 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: 2523028 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/01/2022 Full Good 03/03/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2523028 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the child well; they listen to them and invest time in them. When the child has any worries, they said that they can speak to the staff, who will listen to them. The child said, ‘This is the best home that I have lived in. The staff really care about me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff support the child’s education. When the child has faced difficulties with education, the manager and staff have worked proactively to support them. As a result, their attendance improved, and they were able to able to sit their exams and achieve GCSEs in mathematics and English.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff always place the well-being of individual children at the centre of their practice. All of the child’s achievements are celebrated and appropriately rewarded. However, these achievements are not always recorded.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the child’s health needs are met and that they have access to local health services. The child is provided with therapeutic care and support, which is informed by the company’s therapist. This means that staff are able to support the child’s complex needs effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported and encouraged to develop their independent skills to help prepare them for adulthood. This is done in a way that is compatible with the child’s age, ability and emotional needs. This targeted work helps to prepare them for adulthood and independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to take part in activities and hobbies that they enjoy. They are also supported to spend time with friends. This means that they have age- appropriate social interactions and can build skills and strategies to form and maintain relationships and gain a sense of their own identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time is supported in line with relevant plans, ensuring it meets the individual needs of the child and enables them to maintain relationships that are important to them.

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

The manager and staff have worked proactively and in partnership with external professionals to support and reduce the risk of exploitation. As a result, the number of missing-from-care episodes has significantly reduced for the child. When the child does go missing from care, there are clear and comprehensive plans in place for staff to follow. The manager and staff work collaboratively with external professionals, such as the local police and missing-from-home team, to ensure well- coordinated responses to missing-from-home episodes. Inspection report for children’s home: 2523028 4 Incidents are managed well and are recorded appropriately. The manager has good oversight and has added their evaluation to each report. However, the actions that are taken by staff are not reviewed as part of the manager’s oversight. This means that learning is not identified following significant events.

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

Direct work takes place on relevant topics, such as sexual health, self-harm, education and emotional well-being. This helps the child to learn how to keep themselves safe. These sessions are proactive and are also delivered in response to new risks that arise.

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

There have been no occasions when restraint has been used. This demonstrates that the strategies that are detailed in children’s plans and staff training are effective.

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

Room searches are carried out when necessary. These are done sensitively and are appropriately recorded, including the reasons for the search and efforts to seek the child’s consent and involvement in the search.

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

The child’s individual risks are detailed in their plans. These plans are robust documents that are updated following significant events, and they give clear guidance to staff to ensure that there are consistent responses to children’s behaviours. Staff understand these documents and put them into practice. However, plans do not include current strategies in response to self-harm behaviours. Despite this oversight in the plans, staff have supported the child appropriately, and as a result, the number of self-harm behaviours has reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an experienced manager in post. The manager shows an ambitious vision with high expectations for what the child can achieve. The manager has a good understanding of the child’s progress and needs, and they instigate appropriate action when required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a consistent staff team that provides stability for the child, which means that the child is always cared for by staff who know them well. Staff are suitably trained in mandatory subjects and attend sessions that are tailored to meet the child’s individual needs. Staff said that the training is beneficial for the day-to-day care they provide to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are well attended and occur monthly. They cover topics that are relevant to the current matters arising in the home. They are used as a development opportunity for the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. However, this is not always practice-related, and this is a missed opportunity to review staff practice following significant events and help staff to understand how their feelings affect their responses to children’s behaviour. Inspection report for children’s home: 2523028 5 There are systems in place for the effective monitoring and review of the home. These ensure that the leaders and managers have good oversight of the home and are able to identify and address any issues. However, the quality of care review does not include a plan of actions to improve or maintain the ongoing quality of care provided for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the home environment is maintained to a high standard, meets the needs of the child and feels and looks like a family home. It is a nice place for the child to spend time. The child said, ‘I love my bedroom, and the staff make sure the house is really cosy and homely.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2523028 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 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk management plans contain up- to-date strategies to minimise risks to children’s safety, specifically the strategies to manage self-harm behaviours. 26 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff practice is reviewed following significant events. 26 February 2023

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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

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children; 26 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2523028 7 the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand the factors that affect children’s motivation to behave in a socially acceptable way. Staff should encourage an enthusiasm for positive behaviour through the use of positive behaviour strategies in line with the child’s relevant plans. (‘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 for children’s home: 2523028 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: 49 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool FY3 9DG

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Inspector

Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2523028 9 regulates and inspects 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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