Children's Home run by Castle Homes Care Limited in Cheshire West and Chester

Inspection report children’s home: SC032083 1 SC032083 Registered provider: Castle Homes Care 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

The home is privately run and provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in June 2002 and the manager registered in August 2020. There are plans for the home to close.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection the deputy manager was acting as an interim manager whilst the registered manager is on extended leave.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC032083 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/05/2023 Full Good 13/09/2022 Full Good 22/04/2021 Full Good 13/02/2020 Interim Not judged Inspection report children’s home: SC032083 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children moving in and out of the home have transition plans which are sensitive to their needs and experiences. One child contributed heavily to their planned transition to semi supported accommodation. This provided the child with a sense of ownership resulting in a successful transition and positive endings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are sought about their home. They individually plan their meals and activities. Children’s bedrooms reflect their interests and family and friends who are significant to them. Children who eat in their bedrooms do not always remove left over food and packaging. One child’s bedroom was untidy and unhygienic but this was addressed during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend education and encouraged by staff to see the value in learning. Their achievements are recognised and celebrated by staff. When children do not attend school, staff explore and introduce alternatives including home tutoring. However, the daily expectations of children not attending school is unclear as they are not provided with planners.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are healthy and with the support of staff they access universal health services. When children require specialist health support, staff are tenacious in their efforts to identify this and promote children’s attendance at all appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's relationships and time spent with their family and friends is promoted. Staff facilitate travel to ensure family time takes place regularly. Staff advocate so that children’s experiences can safely resemble those of other children. One child’s family joined the home for Christmas day celebrations and one child has regularly had sleepovers at a friend’s home. A social worker said, 'The staff are so flexible, they are truly child focussed'.

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

Children have trusted relationships with staff which ensures that they feel safe talking openly about their experiences. A social worker said, ‘They genuinely care about [name of child] and the child knows that’.

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

The home environment is safe, however, staff do not provide all visitors with information about the fire evacuation procedures. They should also ensure that the emergency lighting designed to support fire safety is not compromised.

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

Children have individual risk assessments which clearly detail strategies to mitigate risks. They are routinely updated following any incident. Staff understand the risks that children face and talk openly about risk management with children so they can take risks safely in line with their age and understanding. Inspection report children’s home: SC032083 4 Children have individual behaviour support plans and these outline strategies for staff to follow when children are becoming upset As a last resort physical intervention is used to keep children and others safe. Records of incidents are clear and detailed and children and staff have the opportunity to reflect on them. However, reflection is not always completed with an independent person who was not involved in the incident.

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

Children know how to complain. When formal complaints have been made, they have been responded to swiftly and thorough investigations are carried out. When investigations are concluded, children receive the outcome in written and verbal format.

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

When children go missing from home, staff understand the procedures they should follow and the action they should take. They look for children using known or emerging information. When children return home, staff take time to talk to them and understand any factors that may have contributed to the missing episode. This has led to a significant reduction in the number of missing episodes for one child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and knows the children very well. She is leading the home towards its closure and is focussed on ensuring that the children and staff team are kept informed and supported through change. The manager recognises the vulnerabilities that the closure may have on staffing and has contingency plans in place should any staff leave before the home’s closure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervisions take place regularly; they are reflective and written records are detailed. They provide staff with an opportunity to consider the impact of practice on children's progress. Staff benefit from single subject supervisions that focus on targeted areas of learning and development. Staff have annual appraisals. These include feedback from children. One child’s feedback about the manager said, ‘She is nice, she has fun and explains things well to me’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have completed the provider’s mandatory training. When additional child specific training is identified, this is delivered promptly. Examples of this have been pathological demand avoidance and autism training. Team meetings are well attended, and staff contribute to the agenda. Learning circles to share research are a regular agenda item.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of children's records and monitors practice in all areas of the home. She identifies learning from incidents and shares these across the staff team. Two social workers spoke positively about the quality of care provided and the manager’s commitment. Inspection report children’s home: SC032083 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, 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

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that children are spoken to following a restraint by a person who was not involved in the intervention. 19 July 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home complies with relevant health and safety legislations. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the home maintains a clean and well-kept environment which supports children’s physical, mental and emotional health. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 33 paragraph 7.3)  The registered person should ensure that there is a clear education plan for each child when not in full time education, and children are supported to complete educational activities in line with this. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 28, paragraph 5.15) Inspection report children’s home: SC032083 6

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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 children’s home: SC032083 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Castle Homes 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

Sarah Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC032083 8 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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