Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2527860 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home. The provider states in its statement of purpose that the home provides care for one child who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

A manager has been appointed but is not registered with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2527860 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2022 Full Good 03/03/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2527860 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is one child living in the home. Their transition into the home was planned, and the child was fully involved. They were able to contribute to the home decor and choose their bedroom before the move. The child has moved from one of the provider’s other homes. The staff from that home have transferred with the child. This has helped the child to maintain their positive trusting relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is promoted for the child, and they have a high level of attendance. The child has been supported to continue to attend the school in their home area, which is some distance from the home. Staff take the child to and from school. This ensures good communication and supports the working relationship between the staff at the home and at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have a good understanding of the child’s health and emotional well-being. The child has access to a therapist who provides them with one-to-one support. The therapist also gives staff advice and support on how to care for the child effectively. The therapist input has had a positive impact on the child’s emotional and social needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Friends are regularly invited to the child’s home and have stayed for tea and enjoyed sleepovers. The child’s interests are understood and promoted by staff. The child has attended horse-riding lessons and local football matches and enjoyed visiting a theme park. These opportunities ensure that the child has fun and gets to spend time with their friends and make new friends.

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

When safeguarding incidents occur at the home, they have been managed well by staff. Risks are escalated appropriately, which enables good multi-agency working with partner agencies.

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

When a child has been missing from home, staff have followed procedures and been proactive. Return home interviews have been requested for the child by staff. This allows an independent person to speak with the child and provides an opportunity to understand the reasons for the child going missing from home.

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

There is a positive behaviour management plan in place. This is effective, and the child understands the expectations of the home. When consequences are put in place, they are reviewed by the interim manager and, on occasion, alongside the home therapist. This ensures that consequences are in line with the child’s emotional needs.

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

The interim manager has established good links with the local police community support officer, who has been visiting the child at the home. This has also resulted in Inspection report for children’s home: 2527860 4 the child being able to access a service within the community. This is reducing risks around criminalisation for the child.

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

Staff understand safeguarding and what processes to follow. They have received additional training when new risks have been identified for the child. This means that staff are skilled to meet the child’s needs and risks have reduced.

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good

The home was closed between January 2023 and April 2023. Since the home reopened, there have been two interim managers in post. The current interim manager has not applied to Ofsted to be registered.

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good

The current manager has provided stability to the home. Staff have been positive about the support and leadership provided. One member of staff told the inspector that the manager has been approachable and supportive to all the staff team.

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good

The supervision of staff is taking place monthly. Supervision provides an opportunity for staff to reflect on their practice, and feedback is regularly recorded from the supervisor. Supervision is meaningful for staff and of good quality.

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good

There is a consistent staff team supporting the child. When vacancies have arisen, the manager has used staff from other homes who already have supported the child. New staff coming into the home are suitably experienced and recruited safely. Staff are supported through an induction programme.

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good

The manager needs to improve the effectiveness of monitoring within the home. The manager does not consistently ensure that all documents and plans for the child are kept up to date. This has the potential to reduce staff’s understanding of how to meet the child’s needs.

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good

Before the inspection, the manager had not received copies of the child’s local authority care plan and education, health and care plan. These were obtained during the inspection.

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good

The manager has not made use of feedback from the child and relevant professionals when completing a quality of care review. In addition, the review lacked analysis and therefore was not a helpful tool to help improve the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2527860 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(s) 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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that they quality assure and review documents and plans for the child. Review documents for the home, such as the quality of care review, should provide a thorough analysis. Feedback from partner agencies and children should be gathered and updated for plans and documents for the home. 11 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— 11 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2527860 6 include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to local authority documents and plans being requested and added to the child’s home file following looked after child reviews and educational review meetings.

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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: 2527860 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Forge, Church Street West, Woking, Surrey GU21 6HT

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Inspector

Tracey Sykes, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2527860 8 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 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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