Children's home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 1 SC485540 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 children’s home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to seven children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were seven children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

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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: 10 October 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/10/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/10/2022 Full Good 23/02/2022 Full Good 10/12/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff and manager build relationships with children before they move into the home. This helps children to feel more at ease when they arrive. When children move on from the home, they maintain contact with staff and their peers. This includes visits which demonstrate the close relationships they developed while living at the home. The manager extended one child’s time in the home to ensure that they moved to the right home as their next step. This demonstrates the commitment from staff and the child- centred practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well presented and furnished for the needs of the children. All children have their own room, which includes personal items and themes of their choice. Children take pride in their home and help to keep their rooms tidy. A bedroom competition for the tidiest room helps to keep it fun. There are photos of the children on the walls throughout the home. Children have regular input about the home’s decoration and house rules. This contributes to the family atmosphere.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have developed positive and meaningful relationships with staff. This is because the staff show that they are committed to the children and keep them at the centre of their practice. One child said: ‘This is the best home I have ever lived in. I wouldn’t change anything about it, and I feel happy.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in their education and staff support them to attend school, meaning all children have 100% attendance. Staff work collaboratively with staff at the school by attending meetings and maintaining regular communication. This ensures that children’s education needs and any barriers are understood by everyone working with them. A family member said that their child is flourishing at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to take part in a range of hobbies, activities and days out. This helps children to learn new skills, develop their social skills and explore their talents and interests. Children have been supported by staff to complete the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge and host a coffee morning to raise money for a local hospital. This helps children to feel a sense of belonging in their local community. A professional said: ‘They go above and beyond and should be commended. It’s been incredible how much they have helped [name of child] achieve.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spend time with their family. The staff and manager recognise the importance of these relationships to children and will facilitate and supervise family time when necessary. This helps children to feel safe. One child who has moved on from the home was supported by staff to reunify with their family. Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 4

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

The children know how to make a complaint and feel confident in telling staff when they feel unsafe. Allegations are acted on, and staff and the manager take immediate steps to ensure that the children are physically safe. However, one complaint by a child has not been shared with the social workers of all children referred to in the complaint. This means children have not been given the opportunity to discuss the complaint with their social workers.

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

Positive behaviour is encouraged using a reward system. Children can earn financial awards and there is a record of their achievements displayed in the office. This encourages more positive behaviours. However, there are some behaviour management strategies that are not fully recorded to reflect actions taken by staff. This includes the use of time away from peers to consider behaviours. Records do not detail the start and end times for this or any reflective discussions. This does not help children to develop ways to understand and learn from their behaviours.

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

When children go missing, they are supported by staff to understand what may have led to the incident. Children are then provided with strategies to reduce risks. As a result, one child’s missing incidents have reduced while living in the home.

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

When children become distressed, staff support them by using de-escalation strategies. Sometimes, children need to be held by staff, to keep them and others safe. When this happens, it is necessary and proportionate. Incidents are clearly recorded and include management oversight. Staff have been creative in their approach to completing debriefs with children by devising a pictorial form. However, these forms would be enhanced by the inclusion of basic information such as date, time and person completing the debrief.

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

The risks and needs of children are well understood by the manager and staff. The staff and manager work jointly with partnership agencies and seek the advice of clinicians. This has led to a reduction in the risks for all children at the home.

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

The manager ensures that all new staff are checked and vetted prior to working in the home. Safer recruitment checks are completed. This helps to ensure that the adults working in the home are suitable to do so, thus keeping the children safer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children well and understands their experiences and how these may impact on them. The manager ensures that there is a therapeutic approach to children’s care and speaks warmly and positively about each of them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some staff have worked at the home since it opened. This provides consistency to children and helps them to establish stable and meaningful relationships with those staff. When staff come to work at the home, they are provided with an induction and are Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 5 subject to a probationary period. Staff say they feel supported by the manager and their peers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision which focuses on their practice and training needs. Supervision sessions are reflective and staff speak positively about the impact this has on the care they provide for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are taking place on a regular basis and are an opportunity for staff to discuss the children who live at the home in detail. Team meetings also give staff the chance to consider their learning and development needs and are an arena to enhance staff knowledge. This has included the delivery of sexually harmful behaviour and bereavement workshops. Staff are proactive in researching areas which will help children and share these at team meetings. This helps staff to meet the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has monitoring systems in place and undertakes regular audits to have oversight of daily records and incidents. However, there is no tracking or oversight of the use of some behaviour management strategies and practice is not consistently clear. This means that the effectiveness of staff practice and use of strategies is not being reviewed, measured or evaluated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been some difficult periods in the home, which has had an impact on staffing. The staff and manager have demonstrated resilience and supported each other throughout. This has contributed to the manager and staff sharing commitment to children and their home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

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

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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)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the local authority for all children named in any complaint are alerted to the complaint so that all children have the opportunity to discuss the complaint with their social worker. 31 January 2025

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; 31 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 7 help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; and

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation (11) (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that behaviour management strategies are recorded to include the length of time for any period of time away and ensure that children are provided with the opportunity to reflect on and learn from their behaviours.

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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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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; and

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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)(b) (2)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that they have oversight of all work being completed. They must ensure that work is evaluated to establish patterns and trends and identify areas of learning in order to make continuous improvements. 31 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 8

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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: SC485540 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

Kerry Chater, Social Care Inspector Julia Hagan, Social Care Inspector Sarah Jackson, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: SC485540 10 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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Inspectors

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