Children's Home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2710409 1 Registered provider: Witherslack Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to eight children who have complex needs and may experience a range of difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

This home has a school on the same site, which children living at the home attend. The school was not inspected during this visit.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the home opened, two children have moved into the home and one child has moved out. At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2023.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2710409 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2710409 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the first inspection the home has received since it registered in January 2023.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves into the home are well planned. The registered manager visited both children and made sure that they had all the information they needed about the home before moving in. One child visited the home and chose their bedroom and told staff how they wanted it to be personalised. This helped children to understand what was happening and feel part of the decision-making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend the on-site school. Staff work closely with professionals from the on- site school to encourage children to engage in their education. As a result, both children, who struggled to attend school before moving into the home, have attended full time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Where it is part of a child’s plan, staff make sure that children keep in touch with their family and friends. Staff encourage children to contact their friends and family and will take them to visit them, even if it is a distance from the home. This helps children to maintain a sense of belonging with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to take part in the activities they enjoy. For example, staff took one child to the skate park where they were able to show off their skills and flair for the sport. Another child, who has a love of board games, was taken to a games cafe so that they could play with others with a similar interest.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to be as independent as possible. One child has a love of cooking, and staff have helped the child to develop their skills. The child’s newfound independence is celebrated by providing opportunities for them to show off their new cooking skills to staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to children and care about their views. Staff encourage children to express their views and feelings about their care. When children move into the home, they are able to choose a bedroom and say how they would like it decorated. Staff ask children what meals they would like and which activities they would like to do. This helps children to understand that their views are valued and enables the staff to get to know them better.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have begun to form positive relationships with children. However, this was hindered by the unexpected behaviour of one child and the impact this had on the other child. In response to these concerns, the manager made the difficult decision to end the child’s time living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the child has left, the child who remains has begun to settle and is continuing to develop their relationship with staff. The child’s social worker told the inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2710409 4 that she has observed positive interactions and that the child is happy and says that they like living at the home.

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improvement to be good

Managers did not receive all the information about one child prior to admission and they did not fully explore why the child’s previous placement ended. This means that managers were not able to fully assess whether the home’s newly formed staff team had the knowledge and skills needed to work cohesively to respond effectively to children’s risks and behaviours. This resulted in behaviours which impacted on the child already living at the home.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and the manager have recognised these shortfalls in staff practice and have taken action to improve staff’s response to children’s behaviours. This included support from the organisation’s behaviour support team and clinical team. Staff have received additional training and guidance on how to support children with their behaviours. However, despite staff becoming more confident and responding to incidents appropriately, their responses were not effective in helping one child to settle in the home. As a result, this child’s time in the home was ended by the manager.

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improvement to be good

Staff use positive and negative consequences to help children learn about acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. However, on occasions when negative consequences have been used, staff have not always recorded these appropriately. This hinders the manager’s oversight of consequences to determine their appropriateness. As a result, the manager has not identified or acted on some consequences that have been punitive rather than a learning opportunity for children. This does not encourage more positive behaviour.

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improvement to be good

Staff use physical interventions to keep children safe. These interventions are only used when necessary. Staff record in detail what has happened following all incidents. This helps the manager to have a good overview of physical intervention practice in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children have raised concerns about the use of physical interventions and when they have felt staff have hurt them or felt the hold was unnecessary. These concerns have been reported and investigated appropriately with social workers being encouraged to visit and talk to children about their concerns. On one occasion, there was a delay in a staff member reporting a concern to managers. This delay had the potential to leave the child feeling like staff had not taken their concerns seriously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have acknowledged that it has been a challenging period since the home opened. They have reflected and reviewed the admission and assessment process. They have identified learning and areas for improvement and have changed the Inspection report for children’s home: 2710409 5 assessment process so that they can, as far as possible, obtain all the relevant information needed about children prior to agreeing any admissions to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has used his monitoring systems to develop the service further. He has identified learning from one child’s placement breakdown so that future placement breakdowns can be avoided. He has also identified that direct work by staff with children could be improved by greater planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that staff are supported during challenging situations and that they are able to develop their knowledge and skills. Managers have used the skills and expertise of other teams in the organisation, such as the behaviour support team and clinical team, to support and mentor the staff team. This has helped the staff team to have a better understanding of children’s behaviours and how best to respond. Managers have also provided additional learning on topics such as early intervention and using therapeutic approaches. This has helped to upskill the staff team and improve the quality of care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a wide variety of training online and face to face. Learning is also provided by the home’s clinical team and behaviour support team. The induction for new staff is robust with staff receiving training and shadow opportunities before working directly with children. This means that staff are helped to have the skills and knowledge they need to work with children at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have also listened to other professionals. For example, one social worker has asked about the number of incidents where physical intervention has been used. The social worker has no concerns about appropriateness but has asked about how the home is trying to reduce the use of physical intervention. Managers have taken this on board and are taking action to help the child understand why staff may need to use physical intervention. They are also supporting the child to recognise emotions and how to manage them appropriately. Inspection report for children’s home: 2710409 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that staff understand their roles in safeguarding children and take prompt action when concerns are raised. 16 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those 16 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2710409 7 expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that when staff use consequences to help children learn about unacceptable behaviours, they are a learning opportunity and not punitive. Consequences should be recorded so that managers have oversight of their appropriateness.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. Specifically, the registered person should use professional curiosity to determine why a previous placement ended. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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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: 2710409 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Witherslack Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Witherslack Group, Lupton Tower, Lupton, Carnforth LA6 2PR

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Inspector

Debbie Bond, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2710409 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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