Children's home run by A-Triangle Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 1 Registered provider: A-Triangle 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

This is a privately owned home that provides care for one child with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager were registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 23 January 2024

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/01/2024 Full Good 01/08/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 3

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outstanding

Staff excel at prioritising the well-being of the child. Staff build trusting and meaningful relationships with the child, which ensures their emotional, physical and mental health needs are met. This is clear through the feedback from the child, who says that they feel this is their home and they could not envision living anywhere else. The child also said that staff consistently work with them, to help ‘fix’ things that they need support with.

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outstanding

Staff practice is constantly reviewed to ensure that it exceeds the standard of good through unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional care. The staff’s dedication goes beyond meeting children’s basic care needs, as they use innovative and creative ways to enhance the child’s experiences and outcomes. The registered manager ensures that this care is consistently reviewed to ensure it meets emerging or changing needs. This includes involving the child in developing and self-evaluating his experience using trauma-informed frameworks. This helps the child to be at the centre of the care provided.

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outstanding

The home provides significant evidence of positive change in the child’s behaviour. This is achieved through a highly individualised and trauma-informed therapeutic approach. The child is able to reflect on their actions and develop healthy coping mechanisms as a result of staff consistently reinforcing positive behaviour. The child has made exceptional progress from their starting point, and all their initial risks have reduced significantly.

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outstanding

The child’s education has been a key priority for staff. The child had been out of education for a significant period. Staff are able to identify the child’s individual needs and build plans around these. The child is now making excellent progress. Without staff identifying these additional needs, it is likely that the child would have struggled to remain in education. The child has been able to complete three qualifications earlier than his peers. One teacher said the child has gone from ‘not achieving’ to being ‘one of the best academic children in the school’. This has given the child an enormous sense of well-being.

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outstanding

The child’s existing and emerging health needs are met. The child has attended all review health meetings. The child had not been to the dentist before moving into the home and has now had full dental treatment. When the child initially struggled to access the dentist, the manager worked with the local dentist to ensure they were able to support the child effectively. This meant the child was able to return to the dentist to complete the work needed.

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outstanding

The registered manager has demonstrated exceptional success in reducing the risk of harm to the child in the community. Through a combination of targeted interventions, Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 4 strong multi-agency work and highly skilled staff, the child is better equipped to make safer choices and avoid harmful situations. The child is now making a positive contribution to his local community through baking for the neighbours and completing a sponsored bike ride for a local charity. This is significant progress from the child’s starting point as there was clear evidence that the child struggled to stay safe in his local community.

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outstanding

The child has lived at the home since it opened alongside many of his key staff. This means the child has been given stability and consistency and staff have got to know them exceptionally well.

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outstanding

The child lives in a home that is safe and child focused. The child has photos proudly displayed on the walls, which makes the environment feel welcoming and homely. The child’s bedrooms reflect their individual likes and interests. However, the home would benefit from some additional painting and upgrade. Despite this, the child told inspectors they are able to make any change to their space if they desired.

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outstanding

The child’s experiences are enhanced from living in the home. They take part in activities that they would not have had the opportunity to do before. This includes their having first time abroad, being a member of a football team and having regular sessions in the gym. The child said that when they first arrived, they would not leave their room and would play computer games all through the night. This shows remarkable progress for this child and has raised their aspirations and opened up the world for him.

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outstanding

The manager ensures that practice is informed by research. This ensures that the service is evolving in line with emerging theoretical approaches and best practice. This includes developing trauma-informed environments, language and evaluation. This has ensured that the child has made exceptional progress from their starting point. The registered manager is disseminating this practice across the service due to the success for their child.

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outstanding

Staff demonstrate exceptional practice in managing risks to ensure that the safety and well-being of the child are paramount. Detailed and dynamic risk assessments are consistently reviewed and tailored to meet the individual needs of the child. The child is actively involved in understanding and managing their own risk, empowering them to make safe choices. As a result, the child says that they feel safe, valued and supported.

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outstanding

Staff use proactive and creative practice to enable the child to work through his significant and complex trauma. The registered manager has ensured that the child has access to consistent and highly trained staff to help them work through and share their lived experience. This has been instrumental in helping the child understand his past trauma. Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 5 The child has a strong sense of safety in the home. They have built strong and stable relationships, and as a result, they do not go missing from home. When the child needs time out of the home, they are supported to do so in a safe and appropriate way. Despite there being no missing-from-home incidents, the missing-from-home protocols are comprehensive, regularly reviewed and child-focused.

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outstanding

Physical interventions are not needed in the home. This is due to an overall philosophy that physical intervention is a last resort only. This is also clear from the staff’s management of the child’s significant behavioural needs that were displayed when they moved in. This could have justified the use of restraint practices to avoid harm to themselves or others. However, staff ensured that they worked tirelessly to ensure that all de-escalation and distraction techniques were in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers are inspirational, ambitious and lead by example. Team morale is excellent, and staff say that they feel a sense of pride in the efficacy of the care provided which helps to drive improvement. Leaders and managers are held in exceptionally high regard by staff, the child, family members and external professionals. The child recently nominated a key worker and the registered manager for national industry awards. This gives an example of the child’s satisfaction and respect for the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers create an environment where staff are enabled to work confidently and consistently in their work and also have high levels of autonomy. This means that staff also have high aspirations for their development and the work they do with the child. This drives a culture of professionalism and exceptionally high standards of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers ensure that all paperwork is up to date and received in good time. When paperwork is not made available, the registered manager escalates their concerns. In one case, they raised a complaint due to the time taken by one agency to provide adequate assessments in time. The registered manager reviews all the paperwork regularly to ensure that it meets trauma-informed guidelines. This means that the records are of high quality, are written to the child and use language that is trauma informed. These principles run throughout the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers know the strengths and weaknesses of the service well. The registered manager has created a learning environment where practice is constantly scrutinised to ensure that it meets their high standards. There is clear evidence when paperwork or processes are amended in a proactive way, which shows that the registered manager anticipates change rather than simply reacting to issues as they arise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff have access to a wide range of mandatory and additional training, which ensures that they care for the child safely and consistently. Staff training is specific to Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 6 the needs of the child living at the home. Staff are trained in trauma-informed language and practice. This demonstrates that staff consistently develop their knowledge and skills to help them in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team is stable, and there is a high number of qualified staff in the home. Those who do not have the relevant qualification are completing this. Staff work collaboratively together and feel well supported by managers and each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager works exceptionally well with partner agencies to gather information about the child from those professionals who also know the child well. One teacher said that the manager has helped the school to amend their own behaviour support plans based on the support from the home. This has ensured that the child receives seamless support across all areas of their life. As a result, the child is now settled at the home despite having previously moved home a number of times. This is remarkable progress for the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home is maintained to a high standard and any decoration is updated regularly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2712048 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: A-Triangle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5 Crescent East, Hardhorn Road, Thornton- Cleveleys, Lancashire FY5 3LJ

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Inspectors

James Meeks, Social Care Inspector Nicola Forrester, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 9 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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