Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Kirklees

Inspection report for children’s home: 2526992 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider owns and runs the home. The home provides care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection one child lived at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

A manager is in post since but is not yet 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 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: 11 January 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: 2526992 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/01/2023 Full Good 02/03/2022 Full Good 26/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2526992 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children visit the home before they move in. The carers encourage the children to read and ask questions around what life will be like in their new home. These efforts reduce the children’s anxieties, and give the children every chance of succeeding in their new home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been significant changes to the organisational structure and the management of this home. Despite this, the carers stay focused on meeting the child’s needs. This has reassured the child and supported them to manage these changes well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The carers understand the importance of recording important events that occur in the children’s lives. The carers write in the children’s documents with empathy and care. The carers capture the context to a variety of situations. This means that when the children reach adulthood, they will have the opportunity to read and remember their experiences of living at this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The carers are skilled at developing the child’s informal support network. The child experiences high-quality visits with their various family members. In doing so, the child’s relationships with their family members have improved. Additionally, the staff have pursued an independent advocate for the child. These efforts show that the carers understand the importance of nurturing meaningful relationships for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager respectfully challenges the children’s local authorities when their intervention is needed to plug gaps in the children’s access to education. This ensures that the local authority avoids unnecessary delay. Additionally, the carers contribute their ideas of suitable schools from their understanding of the children’s needs. This enables a collaborative approach to meeting the children’s educational needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have supported the children who move on from the home into semi- independent living well. The carers supports the children to accumulate savings and get important documents, such as passports and a provisional driving licence. Additionally, the staff work well with the professionals who are involved in the children’s life. This means that the children are well prepared for significant moves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to personalise and keep their bedroom tidy. This teaches the child how to better manage a degree of personal responsibility. Although the wider home environment is homely and well furnished, it lacks resources for the children. There is no place for the children to access a home computer, nor are there many board games, or sufficient reading material for the children to use and engage with their carers.

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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2526992 4 The carers build substantial relationships with the children. When the children are agitated and in crisis, their carers support them to calm. There has been no use of physical interventions. Neither has it been necessary to seek the help of the police to better manage the children’s behaviour. This is testament to the meaningful relationships that the carers have with the children.

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

The organisations therapist is effective at supporting the child and their carers. The therapist has better enabled the carers to apply the organisations model of care. This has influenced the carers recording and reflective skills. Additionally, the therapist makes prompt referrals to the organisations clinical psychologist. Cumulatively, these efforts better promote the child’s mental health.

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

The carers are confident and knowledgeable about how best they can support the child to navigate the internet, and better manage their smartphone safely. This equips the child to have access to the benefits of the on-line world and be safer when doing so. Additionally, there are clear boundaries around the child’s use of their smartphone. This supports the child to have a healthier sleep pattern.

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

Although the manager has reviewed the location risk assessment for the home, the manager has not clarified some of the information that the police have shared. This has reduced the manager’s ability to better evaluate the known risks in the local area. Although there has been no impact on the children, the manager has not acted on all the information at their disposal to better protect the children.

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

Although compliant with the Fire Regulations, the children’s bedroom doors are fitted with weight bearing self-closure systems. The manager recognises this as a potential risk factor for the children and is seeking alternatives to prevent the children injuring themselves.

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

The organisations therapist and manager compile clear risk assessments and safety plans for the children. These documents provide the carers with clear direction on how they can better manage the known risks associated with the child’s behaviour. However, there is a lack of planning, and no clear agreement between the child’s family and the social worker, for extended family visits. This has resulted in a delay reporting one child as a missing person to the police.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new manager has been employed following the recent departure of the registered manager. The incoming manager has immediately learned about the child and the pressing issues that need resolving, such as the child’s access to education. Furthermore, the manager has been thorough in learning about the needs of the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager puts the welfare of the children at the centre of his practice. He has alleviated some staff challenges by using a consistent bank of agency carers to ensure that the children receive consistent care. The manager has been meticulous Inspection report for children’s home: 2526992 5 around checking the credentials of these staff. When the manager has noted issues with the agency carers profile, he has sought assurances from the agency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is good scrutiny around the overall functioning of the service from the independent visitor. Their reports are thorough and give an objective overview of the children’s life in the home. This improves the transparency around the care of the children and supports the manager in remaining compliant with the regulations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The child’s social worker values and uses the information that they receive from the carers. This information is succinct, informative and helps the child’s social worker to have a clearer overview of the child’s care. This has helped the social worker to progress important areas in the child’s life, such as planning visits with the child’s family members.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are flaws in the organisation’s safer recruitment processes. Carers have been re-employed to the organisation without the necessary level of suitability checks, and carers qualifications have not always been checked. Although the manager has revealed some of these issues, this was after a period of inaction from leaders and managers. This increases the risk of unsuitable individuals working alongside vulnerable children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2526992 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 registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. (2) The registered person may only—

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must take reasonable steps to ensure that any individual who is working at the home and who does not fall within paragraph (2)(a) and (b) is appropriately supervised while carrying out the individual’s duties.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d) (8)) 1 January 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression in the home. The registered person should consider the use of other self-closing door mechanisms concerning the children’s bedroom doors. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should create an ethos in the home that support each child to learn, emphasising the value of independent study and reading for enjoyment. The home must make available suitable facilities, equipment and resources for learning and ensure that the home’s routines do not form barriers to children wishing to use the homes resources to study. Staff should be creative to promote children to read and learn about their wider world. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.18)  The registered person should take reasonable precautions and make informed

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Recommendations

professional judgements based on the individual child’s needs and developmental stage about when to allow a child to take a particular risk or follow a particular Inspection report for children’s home: 2526992 7 course of action. Staff should discuss the decision with the child’s placing authority where appropriate. In particular, when the children have extended visits with their family. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7)  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: 2526992 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

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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

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2526992 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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