Children's home run by Aspris Care North West Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2596541 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd 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 provider. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in October 2020 and the manager registered in February 2025.

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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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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 for children’s home: 2596541 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/05/2023 Full Good 05/07/2022 Full Good 16/06/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2596541 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is settled and happy in their home. The child’s social worker said, ‘The child has settled well and is making good progress. Staff are understanding of their needs, and their risks have reduced. Staff include the child’s family in the decisions for the child.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s physical and emotional health needs are prioritised. Staff support the child to attend routine and specialist health appointments. This means that the child is in good health, and their positive well-being is promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is in education and is supported to succeed and continue in their chosen and core subjects. However, there is no progression plan in place for the child’s education to progress from part time to full time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the child to spend time with the people who are important to them. The child’s mother feels that staff keep them up to date about their child’s life. This means that the child is supported to maintain their identity and relationships with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the child to personalise their home. The child has helped to decorate the home with their chosen displays of their own artwork. However, there are parts of the home that require maintenance. One bedroom is full of dismantled furniture, the door is blocked by a wardrobe that the child accesses, and most areas of the home need cleaning. There is broken furniture in the garden that needs removing.

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

Risk assessments are in place and reviewed regularly. De-escalation guidance and risk assessments provide a comprehensive level of support to staff. This means the child has been able to work through their experiences in a safe and appropriate way. This has led to a significant decrease in the child’s exposure to risk situations.

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

Staff use positive behaviour approaches, supported by therapeutic training. This avoids the use of negative or punitive measures to manage the child’s behaviour. The child clearly benefits from receiving consistent praise and rewards for positive behaviour through incentives.

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

The child’s episodes of going missing from home have significantly reduced. The child has a clear and comprehensive missing-from-home plan and profile to ensure that there is a consistent and robust approach from staff should the child go missing.

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

Recruitment procedures and practices are safe and effective. All staff are checked and vetted before starting to work at the home. These checks ensure that only suitable staff are employed to work at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2596541 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals, staff and the child talk highly of the manager and the support they receive from him. A member of staff said, ‘I feel supported by the manager and my other team leaders. I think the team now are brilliant and staff are doing really well, everyone knows [name of child] and works together to support them.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A stable staff team provides consistency and stability for the child. Staff benefit from regular supervision and team meetings and regularly reflect on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have their practice appraised annually. However, appraisals do not fully consider feedback from professionals working alongside the member of staff or from the child living at the home. This is a missed opportunity for the manager and member of staff to further reflect on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have effective monitoring and review systems in place. This helps the manager to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the service and the care that staff provide to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager welcomes independent scrutiny of the home, and an independent person visits monthly. The manager actions any recommendations made. This supports the development of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirements raised at the last inspection have been met. Inspection report for children’s home: 2596541 5

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Recommendations

 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)  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 staff appraisals take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: 2596541 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Barton Close, Grove Park, Enderby, Leicester LE19 1SJ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Penelope Rafferty

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Inspector

Deborah Turner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2596541 7 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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