Children's Home, Residential special school run by Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 1 SC048552 Registered provider: Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered with Ofsted in August 2003 and is privately owned. It provides care for up to 50 children. It is a residential special school which is also registered as a children’s home. The home’s statement of purpose states that children may experience social, emotional and mental health difficulties. They may also have learning difficulties. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2020.

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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: 28 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: SC048552 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/02/2023 Full Good 15/11/2022 Full Inadequate 17/11/2021 Full Good 13/08/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, 38 children were living at the home. Children live in six different homes on the same site under the one registration. They have their own house manager and each house has a core staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, seven children have left the home. Six of these children moved out in a carefully planned way on to more independent living. One child’s placement ended due to the provider giving notice. This child’s risks increased, which placed other children and staff at risk of harm. This was a difficult decision for the provider as the child had lived at the home for a significant length of time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This inspection took place during the school holidays. Inspectors were able to speak to most children and time was spent observing the children interacting with each other and staff and taking part in enjoyable activities. In the evening, there was a Halloween party taking place at the home, and there was a real buzz of excitement as the children were getting ready and decorating the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wealth of activities and experiences. As a result, they grow in confidence. During the summer holidays, all children had the opportunity to go on a holiday of their choice. Some chose to go abroad, while others preferred to go away in the UK. Children speak positively about their travels and are already making plans for next year.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend school or college full time and are making good educational progress. This is a real strength as some children have struggled to settle in previous education provisions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work extremely well with professionals and family members to support improved relationships and emotional stability. Due to the trusted relationships children are able build with the staff caring for them, their outcomes are improving. One child spoke of a difficult time in their family life where the principal and care staff really helped them. They said this was something they will never forget.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have previously experienced a high number of placement moves enjoy placement stability. For some, this is the first time in many years. Some children say they do not want to leave the home when they are 18 due to the positive relationships they have with staff and the positive experiences and happy memories they have made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy. They understand the expectations of the manager and staff and how they help them. Children say that the staff care about them and help them. Targets are achievable and support children to attend school, work towards goals and use their interests to support success. Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 4 Since the last inspection, improvement has been made to the outdoor space. Children were consulted before the work was carried out and their views were acted on. They now enjoy an additional play area and a new multi-use football pitch.

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

Children live in a safe environment and are cared for by staff who understand their individual needs.

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

When children go missing from the home or the local area, this is managed well. There are clear plans in place for staff to follow. There have been many occasions when staff have managed to talk children out of going missing and supported them to return home instead.

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

When children return home after being missing, they do not always have the opportunity to have an independent return home interview. When they do, relevant information from the interview is not shared with the provider. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that that such information is considered when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect children.

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

Appropriate staffing ratios are in place to keep children safe, and they allow for flexibility should children need additional support. During the inspection, one child needed to be supported to go to hospital unexpectedly. The child was fully supported by a staff member who they have a good relationship with.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s risks and strengths and their short- and long-term goals. This helps to reduce children’s risk-taking behaviours and has led to children being able to return to their birth families and maintain improved outcomes.

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

Risk assessments are in place for all children and give a good overview of their risks. However, some risk assessments do not clearly outline if risks and behaviours are current or historical.

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

Children told the inspectors that they sometimes get ‘sent’ to their bedrooms in response to negative behaviour. Inspectors found that this is not included as a strategy in their behaviour support plans, nor is it recorded as a consequence. During the inspection, senior leaders acknowledged that this is an area of work that needs to improve.

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

Although the provider has a safer recruitment policy, this has not been followed for one member of staff. A disciplinary investigation at a previous place of employment was not considered or robustly assessed for risk before she commenced work at the home. The member of staff only worked in the home for two weeks. Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and leaders are committed to achieving positive outcomes for children. The manager and staff team advocate strongly for the children in their care to ensure that their needs, safety and well-being are promoted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed to the children and the staff. There is strong and visible leadership in the individual homes and staff say that they feel supported by the managers and that morale is good.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some staff have worked at the home for a long time, which provides children with stability and consistent and predictable care. Children are consulted with regularly and their voice is heard and acted on.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Detailed staff handovers, weekly staff meetings and effective communication between the home and the on-site school ensures that there is consistent care for all children and staff’s roles and responsibilities are clear.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Relationships with external professionals are positive with good links to the local community. During the inspection, professionals spoke about the positive communication they have with the manager and staff. Staff routinely communicate with professionals and family members to share relevant information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The homes are well maintained and relaxing, and children’s bedrooms are personalised. Children are proud of their homes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive suitable training to meet the needs of the children as set out in their plans. This provides staff with the knowledge and skills to provide children with a good quality of care that meets their changing needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal monitoring systems are not sufficiently robust. Staff supervision is not consistently good quality. Additionally, staff rotas or visitor records do not capture when staff are spending time in the home when they are not on the rota. Rotas do not include the actual hours worked by staff, including managers. Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 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 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that risk assessments contain details of children’s current risks and the strategies to manage these, to ensure that staff have up- to-date information to help them keep children safe. 13 December

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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— 13 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 7 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, leaders and managers must ensure that monitoring systems are robust and identify shortfalls in the quality of records, including plans and risk assessments, and the quality of team meetings and supervision.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must have a robust system in place to capture when staff and managers are spending time in the home when they are not on rota.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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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

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

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

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(iii)(vii)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that all behaviour management strategies used are agreed in children’s plans and that all records include accurate information. 13 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 8 The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they verify and thoroughly consider references that identify that a member of staff has previously been subject to disciplinary action before the member of staff commences employment at the home. 13 December

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff rotas include details of all staff working at the home, their full names and their actual hours worked. 13 December

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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: SC048552 9

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 7, Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2FX

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Inspectors

Jessica Higginson, Social Care Inspector Nicola Clements, Social Care Inspector Sally Hallwood, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC048552 10 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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