Children's Home run by Warrington Borough Council in Warrington

Inspection report for children’s home: SC442779 1 SC442779 Registered provider: Warrington Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties. One child was being cared for at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

Children were spoken to as part of the inspection.

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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: 1 February 2023

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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: SC442779 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/02/2023 Full Good 23/03/2022 Full Outstanding 23/10/2019 Full Outstanding 04/12/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC442779 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with the manager and staff. Staff are nurturing in their approach and care for children with kindness. Staff take time to listen to children, which supports children’s good progress and emotional well-being. Children said they feel happy living at the home and there is nothing they would like to change. Children have made progress in all aspects of their lives since living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress from their starting points. The manager has developed a children’s guide aimed at younger children. It contains lots of photos of the home and the staff members. It supports children who are moving into the home to feel welcome and conveys important information effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has recently come to live at the home. The child was welcomed sensitively, and the move was well planned. The child had a ‘sleepover’ in the home before moving in. One child moved out of the home into supported accommodation. Staff helped him to develop his independent living skills in cooking, shopping and laundry in advance of the move. The child has settled into his new home well and key staff remain in contact with him.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are supported to attend school. One child had 100% attendance in the last school term. Staff engage effectively with the children’s education providers and meet regularly with teachers to discuss the children’s progress. The registered manager has good oversight of children’s academic progress and predicted grades.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work in partnership with health professionals to ensure that children’s health needs are met and that they have access to necessary health services. There are robust health plans in place to make sure that children’s specific health needs are managed well by staff. Staff promote physical activities, such as football, tennis and badminton. A staff member brought his own tennis game to the home for one of the children to play with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have collaborated with the local authority and families to support the children to have positive, meaningful family time. The manager and staff welcome the children’s families to the home. One child’s mother was invited to the home for his birthday. Each month, the staff produce a newsletter about individual children which they send to the child’s parents, when appropriate to do so. One parent described communication with the home as ‘brilliant’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a calm and welcoming environment. Children take pride in their bedrooms and have been supported to personalise them to reflect their own tastes and personalities. This gives children a sense of belonging, as well as a space of their own. However, some of the communal rooms, including the dining room and stairwell, would benefit from redecoration. Inspection report for children’s home: SC442779 4

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

Staff have a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities in keeping children safe. They are trained in and have a good knowledge of safeguarding procedures. Children’s individual risks are assessed and updated regularly.

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

Before children move into the home, the manager assesses any known risks of the child to ensure that she is confident that the staff team can meet the children’s needs.

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

Staff understand children and why they may behave in certain ways. They support children’s behaviours in a positive manner, which children generally respond to well. Some staff are trained to use therapeutic approaches, which they apply effectively in their work with the children. Children’s meetings are held regularly, and the children make suggestions about the running of the home, which are listened to and considered. Good behaviour is encouraged and incentivised. One child has recently enjoyed going to a theme park as a reward.

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

Children do not regularly go missing from home. When missing-from-home incidents occur, staff follow children’s plans and protect their welfare. However, the process for ensuring that children who go missing are offered an independent interview when they return home is not sufficiently robust. Records in relation to actions taken when children go missing are not sufficiently detailed.

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

The staff are effective at de-escalating situations. They very rarely need to use physical intervention to keep children safe. When it is used, physical restraint is proportionate and necessary. There are differing definitions in the provider’s documents in relation to when it may be appropriate to use physical intervention. These definitions should be consistent to provide staff with clarity and to help ensure consistency of practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and holds a relevant childcare qualification. She has high aspirations for the children in her care, and she takes appropriate action and advocates for the children when the need arises. This ensures that the children’s views, wishes and feelings are heard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a stable staff team in place. The manager does not use agency workers, which means that the children are receiving consistent care from adults who they know and trust. Regular staff meetings take place and staff discuss the children and reflect on recent experiences with children. External speakers also attend team meetings to support staff development. Recently, an external speaker supported staff to reflect on their use of de-escalation and physical intervention techniques. Staff have received training to help them understand how to meet the specific support needs of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC442779 5 The manager and staff receive supervision in line with local authority policies and procedures and use this time well to reflect on the children and their practice. Staff said that they feel well supported by the manager and that they have the opportunity to discuss their professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children, professionals and parents talk fondly of the staff team. One parent said, ‘My child refers to it as his home.’ They described how their child has ‘come on in leaps and bounds’. One child’s social worker said that the home understands the risks relating to the child very well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and the manager notify Ofsted of significant events which occur at the home. However, these notifications are not always sent in a satisfactory time frame. This prevents the regulator from having immediate oversight of the actions taken by the manager when serious incidents occur.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal monitoring is not yet sufficiently effective in highlighting all shortfalls in the home. For example, during this inspection, some shortfalls were identified in the processes for ensuring that staff are aware of policies and updates to risk assessments. These had not been previously identified by the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has not updated the location risk assessment in the last year, which must be reviewed at least annually. This review is to ensure that any known risks in the community have been considered by the manager. Inspection report for children’s home: SC442779 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, 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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)(a)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that all staff are aware of policies and procedures and that records are accurate. 21 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

is instigated; or 21 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC442779 7 concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that notifications are submitted without delay.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that the location risk assessment is reviewed at least annually. 21 October 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. The registered person should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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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: SC442779 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Time Square, Warrington WA1 2NT

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Inspector

Steve James, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC442779 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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