Children's Home, Residential special school run by Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 1 SC048552 Registered provider: Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to 50 children. It is a privately owned residential special school which is also registered as a children’s home. The home’s statement of purpose states that children may have social, emotional and mental health needs. They may also have learning difficulties. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision at this school.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 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: 15 November 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

During a full inspection on 15 and 16 November 2022, inspectors identified significant shortfalls in safeguarding practice and leadership and management. As a result, two compliance notices were issued under Section 22a of the Care Standards Act. These related to regulation 12 (the protection of children standard) and regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard). Ofsted has monitored progress made and found that the steps in both notices are now met. Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/11/2022 Full Inadequate 17/11/2021 Full Good 13/08/2019 Full Good 12/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, 37 children were living at the home. The inspectors spent time talking to children individually and in small groups. Inspectors also had lunch with the children and observed children interacting with their staff over the two days. Children told the inspectors they were happy, they trusted the adults caring for them and they enjoyed a wide range of enjoyable activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in six separate houses. Each house has a manager and a core staff team who work together with the registered manager to stabilise and support each child’s placement. One of the houses had locks on doors in communal areas and a storage cupboard containing snacks for children, which were kept locked away. This is restrictive practice and detracts from the family feel of the house. Action was taken during the inspection to remove the locks and move snacks to the kitchen to be stored in an unlocked cupboard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage well once they have settled into the houses, and they make good progress from their individual starting points. Although for some children progress may be slower than for others, all achievements are recognised and celebrated by the staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spoke positively about their care and experiences, and the difference that living in the home had made to their lives. One child has made significant progress and is now being supported to transition to a foster family local to the home. Another child is completing their A levels and is on target to do well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good relationships with staff and benefit from the family atmosphere in the houses. They develop attachments to the staff teams. This enables children to build trusting relationships in which they can be confident that their needs will be met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are warmly welcomed into the houses, and positive endings are celebrated. One child told the inspectors that when she arrived the other children had welcomed her and made colourful posters. The child also said that one particular member of staff greeted her with a big smile, and this made her feel safe and eased her worries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy activities which are exciting, educational and enjoyable. They have opportunities to take part in a wide range of physical activities which make use of the home’s rural location. These include canoeing, climbing, cross-country running, swimming and mountain biking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All 37 children are in full-time education. They thrive on the structure and routine. Education is promoted for all children. Communication between school staff and staff at the home is excellent. This supports children in their educational outcomes. Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 4 Children are supported to lead healthy lifestyles. Their emotional, psychological and physical health needs are met. Meetings are held with the home’s therapist and nurse on a regular basis to review the needs and progress of each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time for children is actively encouraged, in line with each child’s care plan. Staff work closely with children and families to promote family time and re-establish relationships that may be fractured. This is a real strength of the service. One family member told inspectors, ‘[Name of child’s] progress has been exceptional. Nowhere else could meet her needs. I can’t thank the staff enough.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In all the houses, children are at the heart of practice and achieving success is consistently promoted. As a result, children feel safe, valued and respected.

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

Children in each of the houses told the inspectors that they are happy, safe and well cared for. They said that this is because they know staff care about them.

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

Children become safer because of living in the home. They benefit from stability and, over time, the care provided for them by their staff is very effective in breaking the cycle of risk-taking activity.

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

External professionals told inspectors that they feel staff provide safe and nurturing care and promote transparency in their relationships. When allegations are made, safeguarding procedures are followed in a timely way. Managers provide good- quality information about incidents and the difficulties experienced by children, to enable external professionals to assess the quality of safe practice in the home.

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

Children have detailed risk assessments and risk management plans in place. These typically include measures that encourage children to identify risks themselves and work to manage them safely. However, for one child, it was not clear how current the identified risks were.

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

Children rarely go missing from home. When this occurs, staff are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities, and they implement the missing-from-home procedures immediately. The staff work very closely with parents, carers, out-of-area police forces and social workers to ensure the swift and safe return of the child. Detailed records are maintained.

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

The provider employs staff using safer recruitment processes that help prevent unsuitable adults from working in the home. Continuous supervision and feedback from managers underline the importance of open, reflective and transparent practice, to help keep children safe.

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

Staff use restraint rarely. All incidents are monitored and reviewed by the manager and senior managers to ensure that children are spoken to afterwards and all incidents are thoroughly reviewed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced and suitably qualified manager who has been registered since December 2020. The manager is supported by the head of care and deputy head of care. Together, they have high expectations of staff and are focused on improving outcomes for children. Effective monitoring systems ensure that they have robust oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff respond enthusiastically to the leaders and managers’ expectations that they deliver good care to vulnerable children with complex needs. Training and development opportunities are provided for staff to develop their knowledge and skills. They use this knowledge well so that they can assess the risks posed to individual children and create strategies to minimise them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been some changes in the staff team. These changes have been well managed. Recent recruitment drives have been successful and the need to use non- permanent staff in the home has now reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Despite the staffing changes, staff say they feel supported and that morale is high. New staff members feel welcomed into the team. Staff benefit from a robust induction programme, effective team meetings and relevant training to meet children’s needs. They also have access to support from the in-house therapy team to further strengthen their practice and knowledge. Regular supervisions take place for all staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Communication with partner agencies is highly effective. Placing authorities are regularly consulted about children’s progress and any emerging concerns. Feedback from children and stakeholders is used to continually develop the service. Development plans clearly identify the home’s strengths, alongside areas for further development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, improvements have been made to the oversight and monitoring of the quality of care provided to children. This oversight focuses on children’s relationships, managers’ audits of all six houses, more frequent manager meetings and more robust handovers. There has also been an increase in staffing ratios. This has ensured that staff’s roles, expectations of them, and responsibilities are clear. However, some documents are not signed and dated by the author, making it unclear who has updated records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider has employed a former resident of the home as a support worker. He is now an adult and care leaver. The children look up to him and see him as a role model. One child said, ‘It gives us hope that we can do well in life too.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Parents and professionals who are involved in the children’s lives said that the home exceeds their expectations for the quality of care provided. Managers and staff are extremely supportive of parents and external professionals, and always contribute to a holistic approach to meeting individual need. Placing authorities were equally Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 6 complimentary about the home and said that staff are highly skilled in offering safe and individualised care to children. One child’s social worker said, ‘[Name of child] has made phenomenal progress. She now loves education and is achieving targets that were set for her. She is now engaging in activities out of the home. She is attending Scouts. She has progressed massively. She can now verbalise her feelings.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 7

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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

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises. (Regulation 21 (b)) 5 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1) (c)) 5 April 2023

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Recommendation

 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, ensure risk assessments detail if risks are current or historic. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC048552 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: Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8, Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2FX

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Inspectors

Jessica Higginson, Social Care Inspector Nicola Clements, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 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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