Children's Home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Wiltshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2680522 1 Registered provider: Witherslack Group Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is part of a national organisation. The home provides care for up to eight children with emotional and social difficulties. At the time of this inspection, six children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

This home is on the same site as a school and two other children’s homes that are all part of the same organisation. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision of this home on this site. The other two children’s homes on the same site were not part of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2024.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 6 February 2024

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2680522 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2024 Full Good 04/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2680522 3

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improvement to be good

An inspection of this home was completed on the 5 and 6 of November. On the 4 and 5 of December a further inspection was competed to gather more evidence.

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improvement to be good

Children who live in this home make progress. Three social workers and one family member said children’s relationships with their family have improved due to ongoing planning and support from staff. This supports children to develop and maintain a sense of their own identity and promotes their mental well-being. For some children, their ability to manage their emotions and recognise how their behaviours impact on others has improved. A focus on children taking responsibility for their personal care has led to positive outcomes.

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improvement to be good

The quality of children’s day-to-day experiences is mixed. They are encouraged to join clubs in the community, such as drama club, gymnastics, and football. This positively enhances their social and emotional development and improves their self-esteem. However, children live in a home where they are exposed to and drawn into regular incidents. Some children have been verbally and physically harmed by other children. Measures to protect children from incidents have not always been successful. These negative experiences have led to two children expressing a wish to move out of the home. Children’s social workers have been made aware of their views. Three children have said that this disrupts their sleep. Carers have provided children with ear defenders with the aim of blocking out the noise.

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improvement to be good

Staff regularly give children consequences for their behaviours. While some of these are proportionate, others are disproportionate and have exposed children to unwarranted restrictions on their activities, money and access to their personal items, such as their phone. These experiences are not supporting children to develop a good understanding of appropriate consequences. The registered manager is aware of this concern; however, as planning to improve the experiences of children following negative behaviours has not been formalised children may still experience unnecessary consequences.

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improvement to be good

There is a strong emphasis on children going to school and learning, which helps children to do well and achieve. Education is provided by an on-site school, and collaborative working between the school and home staff is effective. All children have made good progress from their starting points, and their school attendance is high. One child’s social worker commented that the child never attended school before, and now they do, and that this would not have happened anywhere else. Children spoke positively of their time at school as did their social workers.

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improvement to be good

Support for children to succeed in their futures is positive. Children are helped to write their CV, supported to complete application forms and given mock interviews. Local businesses are invited into the home to offer careers advice, and children can visit their Inspection report for children’s home: 2680522 4 place of work, do work experience and learn about future job opportunities and apprenticeships.

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improvement to be good

Children have been physically restrained 206 times since the last inspection in February 2024. Two children have shown increased ability to manage their emotions. This means that they have not been restrained for several months. On several occasions restraint has not been necessary or proportionate. When children have said that they are hurt during a restraint, this is not always followed up with children and staff afterwards to determine whether children have experienced harm. Children who were spoken to during the inspection did not want to talk about their experiences of being restrained but said that they did not like it. Management oversight of the child’s experience and staff’s actions is poor and does not fully consider the actions of carers or the experiences of children. Most conversations with staff and children following the use of restraint are brief and lack reflection and learning. This has meant that chances to improve practice

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improvement to be good

Allegations are managed appropriately, and a proportionate response is taken to concerns raised about practice. Complaints are managed well and investigated, with appropriate responses given.

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improvement to be good

Children can talk to staff and share their thoughts and worries. Staff take time to listen to children when they express concerns and promptly take action to reassure them. Staff can discuss delicate and sensitive topics with children. They use one-to-one conversations to help them gain a better understanding of their emotions and behaviours and teach them how they can keep themselves and others safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a good understanding of each child’s unique vulnerabilities, the risks they could be exposed to and how this may negatively impact on their behaviours. Risk assessments are thoroughly recorded and regularly reviewed. This ensures that information is up to date and clearly sets out exactly what action staff need to take to address the current risks and help keep children safe.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment practice is followed for all newly recruited staff. Appropriate and robust checks are in place to enable the registered manager to determine the suitability of staff to work with vulnerable children and protect children from harm.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been several changes in the leadership and management team running the home. This has negatively impacted the effectiveness of the managerial oversight and the monitoring of the quality of care provided. The registered manager has returned to manage the home full time, and a new deputy Inspection report for children’s home: 2680522 5 manager has been recruited. The registered manager is committed to achieving the best outcomes for children. She is reflective and is aware of where improvements need to be made; however, planning for this is in its early stages.

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

Some records about children clearly detail the children’s everyday lives and identify each child’s individual needs. They offer praise, highlight children’s achievements and show the progress children are making. Children are supported to be involved in some decisions about the care and support they receive, together with making improvements to the environment they live in. The registered manager and staff place a strong emphasis on children’s aspirations and work with the multidisciplinary team to support children to achieve them. However, care planning for children is not detailed or joined up. For one child this has led to delays in the implementation of positive support and routines.

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

Staff expressed their passion and joy in working at the home and were proud of the children they support and the progress they have helped them to achieve. Staff value the support of leaders and managers and praised the in-house therapies team for the support it offers with their own development and well-being. Staff are encouraged to gain qualifications to continue their professional development, and internal promotion is common.

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

Leaders, managers and staff have established good relationships with external agencies and professionals. Feedback from professionals was positive, praising the progress children were making from their starting points. A social worker said staff have helped the child they support to improve their self-esteem, confidence, family time and independence since being in the home. They praised the staff for all the work they have done.

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

Leaders and managers ensure that the physical environment is maintained to a high standard. Damage to the property is promptly repaired to ensure that a safe and secure home is provided for children. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and spacious. Inspection report for children’s home: 2680522 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

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child);

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Requirement Due date

serious damage to the property of any person (including the child).

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b) (2))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all restraint is necessary, proportionate and used as a last resort.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that planning for children clearly states when restraint should be used in line with the regulations. 5 January 2025

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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— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; 5 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2680522 7 understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children are protected from the behaviours and actions of others and that children are not drawn into incidents and are not hurt or injured in the process.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that children and adults receive full and reflective conversations following incidents and the use of restraint. These should fully consider the child’s experiences, the actions of staff, what went well and what could have been done differently.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that any concern raised by a child in relation to being hurt is fully explored. This should include providing an outcome of that exploration to the child.

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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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that care planning for children has clear and relevant aims and is explicit. Progress made in relation to aims should be clearly analysed. 5 January 2025

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2680522 8 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: 2680522 9

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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

Gary Turney, Social Care Inspector Stacey Pellow, Social Care Inspector Carla Simkiss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2680522 10 regulates 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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