Children's Home run by Northridge Care Group Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2699790 1 Registered provider: Northridge Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a private organisation. The home provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. The home’s statement of purpose reports that this is a home where children and young people are listened to, their wishes and feelings are acted on and they learn to believe in themselves.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2699790 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2699790 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a highly nurturing environment where their needs are prioritised and consistently met. Children form trusting relationships with staff and say that they are happy in this home. Because of this, children make progress in most areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with one-to-one educational tuition in preparation for a return to full-time education. Children engage with tutors and are on target to complete formal examinations. A tutor said, ‘The staff support is incredible. The child has bloomed and is now engaging really well.’ However, managers have not effectively escalated their concerns over delays in the local authority updating the education, health and care plan (EHC plan). This has hindered the process of identifying an appropriate school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with family members via video link, telephone and face-to-face visits in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to begin to understand their lives and make sense of their past experiences. A child said, ‘I really like the staff; they help me a lot.’ Overall, children are taking time to reflect on the choices they make and the impact on themselves and others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children with court-ordered restrictive measures are appropriately supported to safely access recreational activities. Children enjoy trips to the beach and trampolining, swimming and attending the cinema. Likewise, steps are taken to make suitable arrangements for children to join community groups, such as the police cadets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with opportunities to prepare and cook food from different countries and celebrate festivities such as Chinese New Year. However, work to explore and develop an understanding of equality and diversity has not yet taken place.

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

Children’s safety and well-being are prioritised. Care is taken to ensure that court- ordered restrictive measures are consistently adhered to. This means that children with a history of significant risk are safe.

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

Staff are aware of the potential risks to children and others. Staff have clear strategies to manage and reduce risk and are aware of the actions to be taken should a risk to a child increase. Inspection report for children’s home: 2699790 4 There have been two recorded incidents where children have been held to protect them, or the staff supporting them, from harm. However, one child had been held a number of times throughout one day. This being recorded as one incident reduces the transparency and the opportunity for the effective review of patterns and trends.

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

Children with a history of causing harm to themselves receive an elevated level of support. Children are provided with personalised distraction boxes and safe alternative strategies to manage their complex emotions. The work undertaken with children has resulted in a significant reduction in self-injurious behaviours.

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

On most occasions when children have caused harm to themselves, a room search has been conducted to ensure that items that have the potential to cause harm are removed. However, it is not clear from the records whether this has happened after every incident.

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

Staff are employed to the home under safer recruitment guidance. This means that staff working with children are safe to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has resigned from her position in order to undertake the role of the responsible individual. A new and experienced manager has been appointed to the post and has stated that she is preparing to submit an application for registration.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager is receiving a management induction from the previous manager. This helps to ensure that the ethos and culture in the home are sustained. Two experienced team leaders support the manager to ensure that there is consistent management oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff have an individual training package. One staff said, ‘The training is great; it really makes you think about the children’s experiences and how this impacts them.’ Staff training is routinely monitored through supervision, and additional support and training are offered to staff when necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they are extremely well supported and receive consistent supervision. One staff said, ‘This is a lovely place to work. We are all like one big family and support each other. We all want to do our best for the children.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, the manager’s oversight of the quality of work completed is good. Records demonstrate that the manager regularly reviews and comments on all aspects of the children’s care. However, the manager has not identified some of the weaknesses in the records, as detailed in this report.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the needs of children who come to live in the home. She leads the team in developing bespoke packages of care that enable children to make progress and develop strong, trusting relationships with staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2699790 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the manager of the home submits an application for registration with Ofsted. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 60, paragraph 12.1)  The registered person should ensure that plans for a child to resume full-time education are actioned. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14)  The registered person should ensure that EHC plans are updated in line with each child’s progress. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 25, paragraph 5.1)  The registered person should further develop how equality and diversity are promoted in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.6)  The registered person should ensure that the records enable the registered

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Recommendations

person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly when any issues or trends of concern arise. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that all records are kept up to date. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: 2699790 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Northridge Care Group Limited

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Inspector

Maria McGranaghan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2699790 7 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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