Children's home run by Fullwood Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: SC066916 1 SC066916 Registered provider: Fullwood Care 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 which provides care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2011.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were four children living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 11 October 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC066916 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/10/2022 Full Good 21/06/2022 Full Inadequate 15/03/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/02/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC066916 3

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improvement to be good

Children’s views inform their care plans. Children have regular house meetings. These meetings are a useful forum to share their views and ideas. Staff involve children in planning their daily care.

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improvement to be good

Staff take children’s concerns seriously. Children can identify a member of staff whom they trust to share their worries with. There is a clear complaints process for children. When children have raised issues, a thorough investigation takes place. This means that children feel listened to.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health and well-being are a priority. Staff understand and promote children’s health needs. When moving into the home, staff immediately register children with health services. When children have mental health needs, staff work well with specialist services. This ensures that children’s health needs are being met.

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improvement to be good

Staff build good relationships with people who are important to children. One parent said: ‘They [staff] always have time for me. I feel like they always want to listen and get to know the real me, not just what’s written.’ Children’s relationships with their families improve because of the support provided by staff.

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improvement to be good

Children do not all attend education, training or employment. Staff have tried various approaches to encourage children and help them to learn. These approaches have not always been successful. One child has not been accessing any education or training for a long time. Children’s experiences of education and learning are inconsistent.

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improvement to be good

Children do not have good routines. Children wake up late and spend a lot of time in their bedrooms on their own. Staff check on children but have not established consistent daily schedules. Children do not have regular times for meals, sleep or education. Children do not all take part in structured or enjoyable activities.

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improvement to be good

Children have moved out of this home in an unplanned way. Before children come to live at this home, the manager completes an assessment of their needs. These assessments are not always effective. One child had to move out of the home after a short time as staff could not meet their needs. The initial assessment shows that these needs were known at the point of them moving in. Other children have had a well-planned experience of moving out of the home. Staff have supported them into semi-independence. Children’s experiences of moving into and out of this home are inconsistent. Inspection report for children’s home: SC066916 4

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improvement to be good

Managers are improving risk management processes. However, children’s plans do not provide clarity to staff, particularly to provide clear strategies for staff to manage identified risks. Risk assessments are not clearly updated after significant incidents. As a result, staff are not provided with the information that they need to keep children safe.

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improvement to be good

Children have effective missing-from-home plans. Staff understand what to do when children do go missing. Children receive a coordinated response and safely return home.

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improvement to be good

Staff share information with other professionals about children’s needs and emerging risks. This helps to ensure that all professionals are working together to keep children safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff are having regular, helpful conversations with children. After safeguarding incidents, staff talk with children on relevant topics. This is useful learning for children. The quality of the records of these sessions varies considerably. Some staff include full details about the child’s views and opinions and an analysis, whereas some records are very limited and fail to show that children receive consistent staff support.

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improvement to be good

Children have been physically held to keep them safe. Children’s records do not provide full details of these holds. This is a missed opportunity for management oversight of practice and learning.

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good

A qualified and experienced manager leads this home. She communicates well with parents and provides regular feedback on children’s progress. Parents feel supported.

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good

Leaders and managers have monitoring and review systems in place. However, they are not used effectively to improve the quality of care for children. Concerns, patterns and trends are not identified and addressed quickly. As a result, children are not fulfilling their potential.

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good

Leaders and managers build good relationships with most professionals. In the main, social workers report that communication is regular and useful. On one occasion, accurate information about the end of a child’s placement was not shared with all members of the multidisciplinary team. This led to confusion for a child.

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good

Managers use regular team meetings as a forum for staff to share their knowledge and discuss current issues. There is good communication between staff members. Inspection report for children’s home: SC066916 5 Staff receive regular supervision and appraisal. The registered manager sets useful targets for staff, which encourage professional development.

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good

Staff attend regular training courses. Managers prioritise training that is specific to the individual needs of the children. Staff have the opportunity to learn the skills and knowledge to meet children’s needs.

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good

Leaders and managers actively promote tolerance, equality and diversity. Staff challenge discrimination and take incidents of racial abuse seriously. Inspection report for children’s home: SC066916 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must have a clear plan for how all risks identified by the local authority at the point of referral will be managed by staff.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered manager must update children’s plans after any significant incidents to make sure that staff have the information they need to prevent or manage similar incidents and keep children safe. 30 November

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 20 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC066916 7 within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(vii)(b)(c))

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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

In particular, the registered manager must use systems of oversight which are effective at identifying and addressing shortfalls in staff practice. 20 December

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study; 20 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC066916 8 understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment; help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(viii)(ix)(x))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure effective communication with all professionals to gather a proper understanding of a child’s needs before they come to live in this home. 20 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC066916 9 In addition, the registered manager must communicate transparently and consistently with all professionals about children’s needs.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(v)(vi)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there are clear boundaries, routines and expectations in place around the day-to-day care delivered in the home and that the staff team consistently follows these.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff make efforts to positively engage children and promote the development of positive relationships. In particular, children must be encouraged to spend less time in their bedrooms and more time participating in structured, positive activities. 20 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC066916 10

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Recommendation

 The registered person should make sure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. Records of important conversations which take place with children should provide useful details, including the child’s views. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 63, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC066916 11

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Inspector

Nicola Shaw, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC066916 12 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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