Children's Home run by Appletree Treatment Centre Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: SC032838 1 SC032838 Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre 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. The home is registered to care for up to eight children, aged between six and 12 years, who have suffered early childhood trauma and are likely to experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2014.

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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: 8 November 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: SC032838 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/11/2022 Full Good 03/08/2021 Full Outstanding 12/02/2020 Full Outstanding 30/05/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC032838 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, seven children were living in the home. All children spoke with inspectors and said they were happy living in the home. Since the last inspection, two children have left the home, in positive moves for them. One child wrote they felt it was ‘home from home’ and that they would miss not living there.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are at the centre of this home. They receive age-appropriate hugs and cuddles which provides them with lots of reassurance. They benefit from care from a stable and consistent staff team. Children are supported to build trusting relationships with staff, who care about them. This helps children to develop a sense of belonging, which underpins the progress they make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children receive weekly therapy, which supports their emotional well-being. The therapeutic model used in the home supports staff to understand and respond to trauma-based behaviours. Formulation plans completed by therapists support children’s ongoing care planning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend the company’s independent school on the same site as this home. Good routines support children to have excellent attendance. The home has positive relationships with teaching staff and wraparound care is provided. One teacher told inspectors, ‘It feels that this is the best working relationship the school and home have had.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to lead healthier lives and improve their overall physical well- being, by providing healthy foods and encouraging exercise through a variety of activities. Children are involved in the local community, including learning about social responsibility through fundraising by going on fun walks and collecting bottle tops.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to develop their creativity and imagination by growing vegetables, having a fairy garden and having toadstools to sit on when toasting marshmallows. Children’s memories and experiences at the home are captured well in videos and memory books. Children were proud to show inspectors their memory books.

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

Safeguarding is highly effective. Risk assessments clearly identify risks and vulnerabilities and what actions should be taken to reduce risks. Risk management is supported by individual behaviour management documents. Staff understand these and use them effectively.

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

Staff give children clear and consistent boundaries that contribute to children feeling safe. Inspectors observed warm and nurturing relationships between staff and Inspection report for children’s home: SC032838 4 children. This supports children to share any worries or concerns they have. Some children have a blackboard in their bedroom as they prefer to share their feelings or worries by writing them down.

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

Staff use their positive relationships with children to de-escalate situations. This means that physical interventions are only used as a last resort to keep children safe. When physical interventions are used, staff complete a detailed report which includes evaluation and lessons learned.

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

Staff receive training to build their skills and knowledge, particularly around safeguarding so they can keep children safe. All staff need to be brought up to date with epilepsy training to ensure that they have the knowledge to meet children’s needs.

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

The physical environment of the home is safe and secure and protects children from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by a committed and dedicated manager. Her practice is embedded in a child-centred ethos and she and her team are committed to providing high- quality care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is fully staffed and has a stable staff team. The manager and some of the staff have worked in the home for many years. This means that children receive reliable, consistent and stable care. Staff morale is high. Children benefit from this positive environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The internal monitoring of the home could be improved in some areas. Some documents contain incorrect information. For example, a child’s risk assessment recorded that the child had made an allegation against a member of staff, which was not accurate. Verification of a reference had incorrect dates. A document showed that a child had an education, health and safety plan, which was incorrect. A requirement has been made to address these shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are benefiting from regular supervision. Records of supervision are of good quality and comprehensive. As well as focusing on staff’s ongoing development, they centre on supporting staff’s well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers advocate well for children. They build effective relationships with birth family members and external professionals. One parent said, ‘They keep me updated about everything and they send videos and photos so I can see my child grow and develop.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is achieving the aims and objectives set out in its statement of purpose. However, the registered manager should ensure that the statement of purpose is updated after any changes to the service or staffing and is sent to the regulator. Inspection report for children’s home: SC032838 5

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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, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure accurate information in documents. 1 September 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they develop and keep under review a statement of purpose. The statement of purpose should be updated after any changes to the service or staffing and sent to the regulator. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to meet children’s needs. In particular, ensure that the staff receive training to support children who have epilepsy. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.12) Inspection report for children’s home: SC032838 6

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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: SC032838 7

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Appletree Treatment Centre Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Meathop Park, Meathop, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6RF

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Inspectors

Nicola Clements, Social Care Inspector Helen Fee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC032838 8 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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