Children's home run by Westmorland and Furness Council

Inspection report for children's home: 2732719 1 Registered provider: Westmorland and Furness Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted on 1 April 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, four children were living in the home.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2732719 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop positive relationships with staff, who provide a high degree of nurturing and therapeutic care. Children are able to express their individuality through the decoration of their bedrooms. Furthermore, all children had an individual summer holiday which was tailored to reflect each child’s diverse interests. This helps children to feel they are important and encourages them to explore their uniqueness.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children are making good progress in their education and are settled at an education provision that meets their needs. However, one child recently disengaged from education after struggling with the transition from school to college. It is not clear what consideration was given in advance to the child’s barriers to learning, given their specific needs. The staff team is supporting this child and another child to consider the education options available to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop their interests and hobbies. Staff are supporting one child with a love of sport to engage in sporting activities. This involves significant travel to training and games each week. They are also helping the child to raise funds for a sports trip abroad. The child said he feels supported and the car journeys give him a chance to talk to one of his favourite members of staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been a structured and well-considered transition for one child’s move to semi-independent living. Staff have agreed with the child how they will continue to support her. There has been positive progress for the child in managing their routine and attendance at college. However, some of the work described by staff in planning the transition is not reflected in the child’s records.

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

Children feel safe living in the home and they regularly share their experiences outside the home with staff members. Staff work proactively with outside agencies such as the police to support children’s understanding of how they can keep themselves safe.

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

Staff understand children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities. Detailed risk assessments are in place which are updated regularly and provide guidance for staff to follow. However, there is no evidence to demonstrate that staff have read and understood the risk assessments. However, key safeguarding issues are shared appropriately, with positive communication at handovers to ensure that staff are up to date about any concerns.

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

There has been a recent increase in one child’s challenging behaviours. Staff are aware of the need to balance the child’s developing independence with keeping them safe and are working in partnership with professionals to consider the best Inspection report for children's home: 2732719 3 strategies to support the child. The child has trusting relationships with some staff members, which means she has been able to talk about her experiences and share her views openly. Appropriate referrals have been made to outside agencies to support the child with issues such as online safety and the child also has access to an independent advocate.

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

There are clear rules and boundaries in the home which children understand, including positive practice around internet downtime at mealtimes and bedtimes. However, one child being given a mobile phone has had a negative impact on their behaviour. Furthermore, the expectations around the use of the phone are unclear and require review.

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

The frequency of missing-from-home episodes has recently increased. Staff follow the missing-from-home protocols and there is thorough recording and communication throughout episodes of a child being missing. The manager has good oversight of these incidents and has worked proactively with professionals to put safety plans in place and ensure that there are referrals to specialist support.

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

There have been a small number of incidents of physical restraint involving one child to prevent them from causing harm to themself and others. The holds used were for a short amount of time and staff used other techniques to help calm the child. The manager has reviewed and reflected on the incidents with staff to support improvements in practice.

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good

Since the home was registered, the manager has prioritised the experiences and care of children and developing the staff team. The manager has high aspirations for the children in her care. She has taken time to understand their early experiences and speaks passionately about her work.

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good

The manager has received positive feedback from staff about her open and supportive approach and how she brings out the strengths of the team. Staff are encouraged to contribute to the development of the home. For example, proposals to improve children’s paperwork and files are being developed by one of the assistant managers.

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good

The manager has good oversight of children’s care but she acknowledges that there are gaps around her oversight of management tasks. This is particularly evident when she has relied on the support of centralised services within the local authority which has not been consistent.

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good

The training matrix shows gaps in staff’s completion of key and mandatory training, which means it is not clear if they are fully trained to meet the children’s needs. Training is discussed in supervision and team meetings, but mainly around staff requests. Staff say they have completed training which has developed their skills. Inspection report for children's home: 2732719 4 There are gaps in the frequency of staff supervision which means that staff do not have regular focused time to reflect on their practice. When supervision does take place, the actions agreed with staff members are not detailed, there are no timescales set and there is a lack of review to ensure tasks are completed.

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good

Team meetings are held fortnightly but notes are not available for all the meetings. While staff can watch online recordings of the sessions, the lack of notes means the agreed actions are not followed through and progressed. Children’s care is the focus of the content, but children’s views are not discussed and when actions are agreed they are not detailed.

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good

Childrens meetings take place regularly and include discussions with outside agencies to develop children’s understanding of the support they can access independently. Children are supported to share their views, but it is not clear how these will be and are then responded to. Complaints made by children are taken seriously by staff and action is taken to investigate them. Children are informed of the outcome of complaint investigations in a timely manner.

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good

There are safer recruitment practices in place which ensure that new members of staff do not present a risk to children. Inspection report for children's home: 2732719 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 registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to supervision of staff being carried out within the timescales set out in the provider’s statement of purpose. The registered person must ensure that supervision allows staff to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. 30 November 2023

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications, and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that training records demonstrate that staff have completed relevant training that enables them to meet the needs of the children in their care. 30 November 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure children participate in education or training until their 18th birthday, with children choosing how they participate. The registered person should support children, with the help of other agencies, to look at opportunities to continue their education or training, taking into account their specific needs and any barriers to learning. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.16)  The registered person should support children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. This relates specifically to supporting children to understand the need to carry out checks of their mobile devices where risk assessments and safety plans require this to keep Inspection report for children's home: 2732719 6 them safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should ensure that children understand how the views they express during consultation will be responded to, by who and when, to make sure children see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that notes from staff meetings are made available to all staff in a timely way. They should also ensure that any actions identified during meetings are clear and recorded so they can be regularly monitored to ensure outcomes are met. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

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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: 2732719 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Westmorland and Furness Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Westmorland and Furness Council, Town Hall, Duke Street, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 2LD

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Inspectors

Andrea Foreman, Social Care Inspector Lisa Summers, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2732719 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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