Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report for children’s home: 2537060 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is part of a large organisation. The home provides care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager in post. He registered with Ofsted in July 2021.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 10 January 2022

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2537060 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/01/2022 Full Good 18/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2537060 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are two children living in the home. Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home and one child has moved in.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming and has a family feel to it. There are photos of the children around the house. The children take pride in their bedrooms, which are personalised. One child said, ‘This is my home and I love it here.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have up-to-date care plans that reflect the local authorities’ aims and objectives. This means staff have all the information needed to provide good-quality care. The children’s aims and objectives are included in their care plans, which allow the manager to monitor their progress.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children make progress in their education. One child has an education, health and care plan and attends a specialist school. One child was not in education, and the manager and staff team worked well with external agencies to support the child in moving to a specialist provision. Not all children have personal education plans, and this hinders the manager’s ability to ensure children are working towards their targets.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to have hobbies and interests. A gym room has been created in the home, as both children are interested in fitness. The children have the opportunity to go on holiday and are both keen to plan for this.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff team have built positive relationships with the children’s friends and families. This allows the children to see people who are important to them and helps them maintain relationships. This supports children’s identity.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move out of or into the home, this is done in a planned way. The manager and staff team support children with this transition. Children are helped to develop their independence skills to assist them with the next stage of their lives.

p.3

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

Staff have a thorough knowledge of children’s risks. There are clear strategies in place to support children to keep themselves safe. The strategies are informed by specialist advice from the organisation’s therapist and are tailored to meet the needs of the individual children. This approach reduces children’s risks and, as a result, children are safer.

p.3

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

Children rarely go missing from this home. When incidents do occur, staff follow the missing-from-home protocols that include clear strategies. Staff actively search for children and encourage them to return to the home. Missing-from-home incidents have reduced for both children since living at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2537060 4 Staff manage challenging behaviour effectively and encourage children to reflect on any incidents. Inappropriate behaviour is challenged or de-escalated. Staff reinforce clear boundaries and provide daily routines and stability for children. This is supported by praise and recognition of their achievements . As a result, physical interventions do not occur in this home.

p.3

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

Staff use key-work sessions to educate children in staying safe. This includes discussions relating to online harm and how children can stay safe online. This is helping children to build their online resilience.

p.4

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

Safe recruitment processes for all staff are thorough. There is a robust checklist system in place to ensure all recruitment checks are completed. Consequently, only suitable adults can work in the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a registered manager in post. He is committed to the children and is well respected by the staff. He has built positive relationships with the children. Staff said that they feel well supported and that the manager is approachable.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a small, stable staff team, and when there are gaps in staffing, these are filled by existing staff. This provides the children with continuity and helps them build positive relationships with staff.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and managers have regular supervision. However, this is not reflective and is a missed opportunity to identity potential improvements and recognise good practice. Managers conduct appraisals with staff on an annual basis. These could be further improved by ensuring the views of the children are included.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff work well with the children’s wider care team, including families. Positive feedback was gained from one child’s social worker. One child’s family member said, ‘Each member of staff works fantastically with the children. I couldn’t have wished for a better place for [name of child] to live.’

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have received all mandatory training, as well as training specific to the children’s needs. Further training in the use of appropriate language to use in children’s records would ensure these records are child-friendly. A recommendation has been made.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s internal review and monitoring systems are effective. Managers follow-up and escalate concerns if responses from agencies are not satisfactory. This helps to ensure that children receive the right support and their needs are met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2537060 5

p.4

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to understand each child’s education and training targets. Staff should play a key role is supporting children in line with their personal education plan. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 26 paragraph 5.3)  The registered person should ensure that all staff receive supervision that allows

p.5

Recommendations

them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children in their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61 paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff appraisals include the views of other professionals who have worked with staff over the year, and the views of children who have been cared for at the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

p.5

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: 2537060 6

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

p.6

Children’s home details

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

p.6

Inspectors

Rachael Crook, Social Care Inspector Jennifer Quest, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2537060 7 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or

p.6

Inspectors

medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7