Children's Home run by Aspris Care North West Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2550015 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately operated home provides care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in November 2019. The registered manager post has been vacant since 22 June 2023. The new manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in the home at the time of this 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 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2550015 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/03/2023 Full Good 23/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2550015 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a safe and welcoming home. One child said that this is a ‘home from home’. Another child said, ‘Since I’ve come here, I’m not the same; I’m way better.’ Children told the inspector that they are able to personalise their living spaces. This demonstrates that children feel a sense of stability, safety and ownership of their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use rewards and incentives to help children work towards their individual goals. These have been successful and have helped children to develop healthy routines. One child regularly enjoys attending a gym, which supports them to live a healthy and active lifestyle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s health and well-being. Children are supported to attend routine and specialist appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

External professionals say that staff communicate effectively with them and act as advocates for the children. One independent reviewing officer (IRO) said that the staff always keep them informed about any issues arising and celebrate any progress made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build positive relationships with the children in their care. Children’s views, wishes and feelings are taken into consideration, which allows them to make choices and inform decisions about their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The importance of children spending time with their family is understood and supported by staff. This means that children can keep in touch with the people who matter most to them.

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

Children say that they feel safe and well cared for. One child felt that the home would be outstanding if only it could be moved nearer to their hometown. Another child said that they feel safe and want to remain at the home until they reach the age of 18.

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

External agencies say that staff keep them updated on any concerns as they arise. One IRO said that the manager will often attend meetings alongside key workers. This means that the manager has regular oversight of multi-agency care planning.

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

When children go missing from home, they receive an effective response. Staff understand the protocols and procedures to be followed when children are missing and demonstrate a sound knowledge of safeguarding practice. One child has made good progress and has not had any missing-from-home incidents since arriving at Inspection report for children’s home: 2550015 4 the home, despite this being an issue previously. Another child has been supported to reduce the number of missing-from-home incidents.

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

Staff regularly review risk assessments for each child. While the risk assessments can appear to be difficult to read, they do have clear steps of action to take in each case. Staff take a proactive approach to managing risk.

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

Children are rewarded for positive behaviours. One child has recently received a speaker for positive school attendance. This has helped to increase the child’s attendance in school and improved the good progress the child has made with their education.

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

Recruitment procedures and practices are safe and effective. All staff are suitably checked and vetted before starting work. These checks ensure that only suitable adults are employed to work with children in the home.

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good

The current manager has applied to be registered with Ofsted. The new manager is passionate and child-centred in their approach and has high aspirations for the children.

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good

Supervision sessions with staff take place but the frequency is not always in line with the workforce development plan. Leaders and managers recognise this as an issue and accept that there are gaps in the frequency of staff supervision.

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good

Ofsted is not always notified in a timely manner about serious safeguarding concerns. In one case, Ofsted was notified about the incident late as the responsible individual had not identified that the child involved was at risk of harm.

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good

Children’s local authority care plans are not always followed. One child was allowed unsupervised contact with a family member despite this being contrary to their care plan. This means that staff are not always working in line with the local authority plans.

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good

The manager carries out a quality of care review every six months. However, the report does not consistently include or evaluate the opinions of the placing authorities. This means that the manager is unable to evaluate a full range of opinions to improve children’s care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2550015 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or 16 February 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2550015 6 harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii) (viii)(ix)(x)(xi)(xii)(xiii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, this relates to supervision being carried out in timescales that are consistent with the workforce development plan.

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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

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or 16 February 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2550015 7 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

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, subject to regulation 22 (contact and access to communications), contact between each child and the child’s parents, relatives and friends, is promoted in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, this relates to ensuring that placing authority contact plans are followed. 16 February 2024

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the quality of care review is evaluative and contains feedback from wider stakeholders. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraphs 15.2 and 15.4)

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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: 2550015 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited

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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

James Meeks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2550015 9 and inspects 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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