Children's Home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2718968 1 Registered provider: Witherslack Group Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to five children with complex needs and who may be experiencing a range of difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

This home has a school on the same site, which children living at the home attend. The school was not inspected during this visit.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since 1 December 2023. A new manager has been appointed and has applied to register 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 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: 2718968 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/05/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2718968 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four children were living in the home at the time of the inspection. Since the monitoring visit in February 2024, one child has moved from the home to another home within the organisation. Managers worked collaboratively with professionals and the placing authority to identify the most suitable home for the child. Managers and staff prepared the child for the move and ensured that the child’s wishes were acted on. Staff ensured that children living at the home had an age-appropriate understanding of the reasons why the child moved from the home. This practice helps children to have a positive experience of moving on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress from their starting points. Children have good attendance at school and are making progress within the curriculum. One child, who previously experienced several exclusions, now has excellent attendance and they are achieving age-related expectations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers are committed to promoting children’s health and well-being needs. Children enjoy a balanced diet and have access to all primary care health services. Children are supported to engage in different activities, which they enjoy. This helps them to have a healthy lifestyle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to specialist therapeutic support to meet their needs. Therapists contribute to assessments and risk management plans, as well as providing weekly sessions for children. Children benefit from multi-agency support. For example, each month, staff from the home, the on-site school, and the clinical team meet to discuss children’s progress and develop plans to further support children. Clinical staff also deliver training and reflective discussions to support the staff team to reflect on their practice and understand children’s behaviour. These strategies help staff to provide individualised care to children, which helps children to make progress and achieve good outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are developing trusting relationships with the adults who care for them. This is achieved through shared interests and staff investing time to get to know and understand children. Children said they liked living at the home. One child scored the home as 10000 out of 10 when asked how much they liked living there. During the visit, positive, nurturing, and affectionate interactions were observed between staff and children. This creates a nurturing environment, which helps children to feel settled and to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, staff are committed to ensuring that they provide care that is consistent with children’s ethnic and cultural backgrounds. One child’s plans do not identify their views of their ethnic background. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that the child’s diversity needs are thoroughly considered. Inspection report for children’s home: 2718968 4

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

Children say that they feel safe living in the home. Children have developed good relationships with staff, which have contributed to a reduction in incidents.

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

There have been improvements in safeguarding practices in the home. Incidents involving physical restraints have reduced in recent months. Restraint records are clear and detailed. This enables managers to review incidents effectively, and consider whether practice was safe and proportionate. However, staff continue to restrain children in their bedrooms and on their beds. Staff and managers have not reflected on the impact that this practice has on children. Managers have not supported staff to develop alternative strategies to manage children’s behaviours when incidents occur in their bedrooms.

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

Staff and managers use a range of behaviour management strategies to promote positive behaviours from children. These strategies, alongside children’s relationships with staff, have supported children to begin to manage their emotions positively. There was one occasion where staff raised their voice at a child to deter a behaviour. This practice is not effective and can cause emotional distress for children.

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

Staff educate children about their behaviour and help them to learn from difficult experiences. This promotes children’s self-awareness and helps them to respond more positively during incidents when they become angry or frustrated.

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

Managers take appropriate action to ensure that follow-up work is completed with staff and children after an incident. When children raise concerns about staff, prompt action is taken to investigate their concerns. The manager shares information with the regulator, designated officer, and local authority. This gives children the opportunity to share their experiences of the incident and offers them reassurance that their concerns are taken seriously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There have been three managers at the home since the last inspection. The current manager has worked at the home for three months. Changes in leadership have not provided staff with consistent support. For example, staff have not had regular supervision. This practice limits the opportunity for staff to reflect on their own practice and discuss safeguarding concerns and children’s progress. This also limits the opportunities for managers to identify support for staff and areas for practice development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

A variety of reviewing and monitoring systems are used by the manager. However, they are ineffective in identifying shortfalls. The independent visitor’s report is submitted to the regulator every month. The report does not consistently include the views of children. The independent person has failed to identify shortfalls found at this inspection. Similarly, the quality of care review did not include the views of children, professionals, or parents, and the report was submitted to Ofsted late. This practice limits opportunities Inspection report for children’s home: 2718968 5 for leaders and managers to learn from the experiences of children, professionals, and parents, to improve the quality of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The current manager reviews all safeguarding incidents. The manager’s review of some incidents lacks an evaluation and fails to identify and challenge poor practice. This lack of challenge does not support continuous improvement in care practice. The lack of oversight means that the manager cannot be assured that all incidents are managed safely and effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager ensures that children are given the children’s guide before they move in to the home. The document requires a review to ensure that the language is age- appropriate for the children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers now ensure that training, development, and induction activities are effective and tailored to the specific needs of children. Regular meetings are held with staff, such as team meetings, group supervisions, and child-focused meetings. These are focused on children’s needs, safety, and welfare. This practice ensures that staff can meet children’s therapeutic needs and keep them safe. This contributes to children making progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager and deputy manager are supported by a responsible individual, who is a consistent presence in the home. Leaders and managers acknowledge the shortfalls identified in relation to the leadership and management of the home. The leaders have ensured that resources are available and implemented to address shortfalls. These actions, with the support from senior leaders, have contributed to an improvement in the progress and experiences of children and safeguarding practices in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2718968 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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring the following:

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Requirement Due date

that staff receive regular practice-related supervision as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

that the manager understands the impact on children of being restrained by staff in their bedrooms, and develops alternative strategies to manage children’s complex behaviours;

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Requirement Due date

that the manager ensures that poor practice is identified and challenged when safeguarding incidents are reviewed; 28 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2718968 7 that the quality of care review is sent to the regulator within timescales; and

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Requirement Due date

that independent visitors consistently ascertain the views of children.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure children are provided with personalised care which meets each child’s needs and promotes their welfare, taking into account the child’s ethnicity, cultural background, previous experiences, and any relevant plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.2)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the capacity and competence to actively promote positive behaviours, and staff have the skills necessary to manage conflict, maintain constructive dialogues, and react appropriately if challenged by a child in their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.14)

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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: 2718968 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Witherslack Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lupton Tower, Lupton, Carnforth, Lancashire LA6 2PR

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Inspectors

Nateisha Cardoza-Evans, Social Care Inspector Mark Dickinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2718968 9 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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