Children's Home run by Guidance Care Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report for children’s home: 2558681 1 Registered provider: Guidance Care Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to three children who may be experiencing social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2022.

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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: 8 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: 2558681 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/02/2023 Full Good 11/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2558681 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living in a welcoming, well-maintained environment. Children’s photos are displayed around the home and children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms. Children’s surroundings reflect the good-quality care they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care and support. Staff spend time building positive relationships with children. As a result, staff know the children well and understand which care approaches will work best for each child. The distinct character and personality of each child are also reflected in their written plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use trauma-informed, caring approaches. Staff have completed training in relation to attachment and trauma. As a result, they understand what children’s behaviour means. Children receive consistent, nurturing care that helps them feel cared for and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children’s emotional and physical well-being. They ensure that children attend all necessary health appointments and they find expert input when needed. Staff support children to make healthy choices and to understand the long-term benefits to their health. Children are making good progress in relation to their physical and emotional health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s progress in relation to education is inconsistent. Two children have made some progress from their starting points, but their attendance at school remains variable. For another child, there is no clear plan for their education, employment or training. When children are not in school, staff are not always successful in their attempts to engage them in alternative forms of learning. Staff have not established a routine that encourages learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff always celebrate children’s achievements. Children regularly receive praise, incentives and rewards, even for little things. Staff have nominated one child for a local authority award to recognise his progress. Children’s confidence and self- esteem are being boosted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to gain important independence skills. Staff encourage children to carry out age-appropriate tasks around the house and to gradually build their abilities. Children who move on from this home are well prepared for their next steps.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with family and friends. Staff get to know people who are important to children and build good relationships with them. One parent said, ‘I feel like [name of child] is understood for the first time.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2558681 4

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

Children are kept safe because of the care they receive. Importantly, children also said that they feel safe and know that staff have their best interests at heart. The risks for each child have reduced since moving in, in some cases significantly.

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

There are good safeguarding arrangements and protocols in place to protect children and promote their welfare. Information about new or emerging risks is regularly shared with professionals and family members. Children receive a well- planned approach to risk.

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

Staff know what to do to keep children safe in a range of situations. Staff have completed training in relation to safeguarding. Staff also regularly share their wealth of experience about child protection issues in team meetings. Staff understand the signs that would suggest an emerging risk, including from exploitation. Staff understand their role in keeping children safe and try hard to reduce risks.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff continue to look for them until they return home safely. Staff regularly talk to children about their reasons for leaving the home without permission. This helps professionals to gain useful insight into children’s risks. Incidents of children going missing from the home have significantly reduced.

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

Staff manage challenging situations and children’s behaviour through clear and consistent boundaries. Children’s behaviour support plans provide staff with all the information they need to help each child remain calm. Children know the rules and feel secure.

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

There have been no instances when staff have had to physically hold children. Staff use effective de-escalation strategies to prevent the need for physical interventions. Staff know when it would be appropriate to hold a child and view this as a last resort. Positive relationships between staff and children are protected.

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

The manager operates safe recruitment practices. Staff are safe to work with children and have the necessary skills to deliver high-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager leading this home. The manager clearly knows the children well and has high expectations for what they can achieve. He leads the team in providing high standards of child-focused care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers understand the progress each child is making in respect of the plan for them. Children’s progress is tracked in the children’s files through a variety of useful documents. Children can easily see how far they have come.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has systems in place to maintain an overview of the quality-of-care children are receiving. However, management oversight of records relating to Inspection report for children’s home: 2558681 5 missing-from-home and safeguarding incidents is inconsistent. This is a missed opportunity for reflection and learning from significant incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An independent person visits the home each month and provides an assessment of the quality of care. However, their report rarely includes feedback from children or those important to children. This limits the quality of the independent person’s assessment. This issue was discussed and addressed during the inspection, so no requirement is being made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision sessions and appraisals are taking place, but their quality is inconsistent. Some are child-focused and reflective, but the quality of records is inconsistent. Some are child-focused and reflective, but others contain little detail. In some cases, targets for staff are rolled from one meeting to the next and no timescales are added. Managers are missing a chance for formal review of staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular, helpful training. The training plan is designed to meet the specific needs of the children who live in this home. Staff said that training is informative and useful.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers build good-quality professional relationships. Professionals describe staff as going 'above and beyond' for children and said that children receive the best possible all-round support. Inspection report for children’s home: 2558681 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 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, ensure that there is sufficient monitoring of incidents and useful, evaluative management oversight. 30 April 2024

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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, 30 April 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2558681 7 where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

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

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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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. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vii)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children attending education. Where children are on a reduced timetable, staff should ensure that they are supported to access educational activities.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is repeated from the last inspection.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice within the timescales set out in the home’s own policy. Supervision sessions should be useful and allow staff to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2558681 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8, Sovereign Court, Wyrefields, Poulton-le- Fylde, Lancashire FY6 8JX

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Inspectors

Nicola Shaw, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Lisa Summers, His Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2558681 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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