Children's Home, Residential special school run by Amberleigh Care Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC448209 1 SC448209 Registered provider: Amberleigh Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private company and provides long-term specialist therapeutic care for up to 13 boys. At the time of this inspection, 13 boys were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

The provider also has a school on the same site, which provides education for children living at the home. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision on this site.

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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: 24 October 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: SC448209 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/10/2023 Full Good 09/11/2022 Full Outstanding 22/02/2022 Full Good 01/08/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC448209 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, 13 children were living in the home, 12 of whom were present and spoke with the inspectors. Since the last inspection, one child has moved in, and no children have left the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make very good progress because of the care they receive in this home. They have developed good relationships with staff, which are built on trust and respect. The important people involved in children’s lives feel that children are safeguarded and settled in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children feel valued and happy living in the home. Their feedback is mostly positive. One child said that they rate the home ‘10 out of 10’ and feels that the home has changed his life. Another child said that living in the home is the best thing that has ever happened to them. Children’s involvement in their own care is a strength.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The approach of the therapeutic community and specialist model of care is evident in every aspect of the home. Through regular consultation with the clinical team, staff fully understand the therapeutic approach and embed this into their practice. Staff are proud of children’s achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to make very good progress with their education. For example, some children who have missed a significant amount of education before moving into the home are now attending school regularly and are engaged with their learning. Care and education staff work closely together to provide specific and direct support. As a result, children achieve and have high aspirations for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff sensitively support children with their health and well-being. Staff seek specialist help when necessary and work with a range of professionals to meet children’s needs. One child has learned to lead a healthier lifestyle and has lost a significant amount of weight in recent months.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s family time significantly improves. This is because staff have good relationships with children’s family members, and they promote the importance of family time. This is particularly important for children whose families live some distance away. One parent said, ‘[Name of child] has come on amazing. I can’t praise them enough. Staff have helped me, and I now get to see [name of child] unsupervised and more often.’

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

Children become safer because of the support they receive in the home. Staff provide children with good structure, clear routines and boundaries. There have been some incidents between children, which staff have managed well and successfully de- Inspection report for children’s home: SC448209 4 escalated. Also, staff work with children to educate them about bullying, risks and making safer choices. This work helps to reduce children’s risks and keep them safe.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. On occasions when incidents have taken place, staff have followed children’s plans well and taken effective action to work with the police to return children safely to the home. These actions not only reassure children that staff care about their safety but mean that children often return to the home within one hour of going missing.

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

Staff only use physical restraint as a last resort to manage serious incidents. Staff ensure that any holds used are reasonable, proportionate, and the least restrictive option. The registered manager ensures that children and staff are spoken to after every incident. In addition, he evaluates the suitability of the restraint and provides staff and children with opportunities to learn from their experiences, sometimes using restorative meetings. In contrast, some consequences used are not restorative in nature and are not always relevant to the child’s actions or behaviour.

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

Staff support children to take age-appropriate risks as part of their development and preparation for independence. For example, children who have historically required high supervision levels now enjoy the freedom to go on shopping trips and spend time independently in the community. This approach helps children to become more independent and grow in confidence.

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

Leaders’ responses to allegations and staff practice concerns are good. For example, leaders ensure that the relevant external professionals are notified in a timely manner. Internal investigations are carried out, and leaders take effective action to address any concerns. However, there have been some delays in staff reporting some significant safeguarding concerns to senior leaders in a timely manner. These delays have the potential to compromise children’s safety.

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

Overall, children live in a home that is homely and well decorated. Regular safety checks are carried out, and staff and children regularly practise evacuation procedures. However, there have been delays in addressing issues with some of the home’s fire doors and not all actions identified in the fire risk assessment have been completed in timescales. This has the potential to put children at risk of living in an unsafe environment. Some action was taken to address these shortfalls during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well led by the registered manager. He knows the home well and is a supportive presence. He has very good oversight of children’s plans, progress and outcomes. An experienced deputy manager supports him. Together, they ensure that children receive good care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager’s oversight of the home is robust. He carries out quality of care reviews that are thorough, thoughtful and reflective. They include a child-centred Inspection report for children’s home: SC448209 5 analysis of the care and support available for children. Managers and senior leaders continually plan to improve the care and support for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The team of staff are suitably qualified, experienced and committed. Several staff have achieved the level 3 diploma in residential childcare, and others are working towards it. Furthermore, staff feel valued and described how the management team supports them with their development in team meetings, supervision sessions and appraisals. As a result, children are cared for by committed staff who feel well supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff undertake a varied and comprehensive range of training and development courses. This allows them to develop and progress into more senior and leadership positions in the home. In addition, staff receive training that is relevant to the needs of the children. Consequently, staff and leaders are suitably skilled to meet the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A strength of the registered manager is his ability to work in partnership with a range of professionals. He is not afraid to challenge professionals and hold them to account to ensure that children receive appropriate support. One professional said that their communication with the manager has been excellent. Another professional said that their child has made excellent progress since moving in, both in home and social life, as well as with their education. Inspection report for children’s home: SC448209 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that all staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities and report important safeguarding information in a timely manner. 10 July 2024

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that the home provides children with a safe environment and that action is taken to ensure that fire doors work correctly to keep children safe. 10 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC448209 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address children’s behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases, it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour, and the staff in the home should be skilled to support children to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: SC448209 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Amberleigh Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Amberleigh Care Limited, Golfa Hall, Golfa, Welshpool, Powys SY21 9AF

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Inspectors

Dean Wilton, Social Care Inspector Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC448209 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 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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