Children's home run by Aspris Care North West Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2582337 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle 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 children’s home that provides care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in March 2020, and the manager registered in April 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living at the home at the time of this inspection and were spoken to by the inspector.

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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: 2582337 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/10/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 08/11/2022 Full Good 13/04/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2582337 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children currently live at the home. One child has moved into the home since the last inspection. The move was well planned and in line with the child’s wishes and feelings. The other child has lived at the home for more than four years.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children both attend education. The registered manager and staff encourage the children to fully engage in education. There is effective communication between staff and the children’s education providers. This approach supports the children’s educational attainment. When children are not in education, the manager and staff advocate on their behalf to support their return to education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are in good health and the staff support the children to attend all health appointments. The children are helped to overcome any barriers to addressing their health needs. As a result, on occasion, children make their own health appointments and attend them on their own.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are helped to develop their independence skills. For example, they are helped to understand how to use the washing machine, budget and how to cook. When the children are ready, they are supported to develop further independence skills, such as using public transport independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to spend time and remain in contact with their family. This encourages the children to stay connected with the people who are important to them and supports their identity and sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a welcoming and relaxing environment, with photos of the children and staff throughout. Bedrooms and communal areas are personalised, which gives the children a sense of belonging. However, the conditions in the bathroom and kitchen are not up to the same standard as the rest of the home and require attention.

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

The children say that they find the staff approachable and feel that the staff and the managers care for them well. This enables the children to share any worries or fears they may have with staff. Both children said, ‘We feel safe living here.’

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

The staff understand the children’s risks and vulnerabilities. They take time to talk to the children and educate them about risk. Staff support the children to find alternative strategies to de-escalate situations, reduce risk and improve their ability to stay safe.

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

A therapist visits the home weekly, working closely with staff to understand the needs of the children. The staff apply strategies learned from the therapist to respond to the children in a way that supports them to manage their feelings and behaviour. Inspection report for children’s home: 2582337 4 Consistent rules and boundaries are in place, which are tailored to the children’s age and stage of development. Staff work hard to support the children to understand the impact of their behaviours through focused work and reflection.

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

The home has a nurturing environment, where the children’s views are acknowledged and understood. The children participate in direct work sessions with the staff to explore and express their wishes, views and feelings.

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

Recruitment practice of new staff is safe, and all new staff undergo relevant checks and scrutiny. However, ongoing safer recruitment practices of staff are not as robust as they should be. For example, DBS checks and records are not up to date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager speaks passionately about her role and the care provided to the children. She has a stable team of staff who feel supported personally and professionally. Staff provided overwhelmingly positive feedback about the ethos and values held in the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff team have good working relationships with professionals and share significant events with relevant authorities appropriately. Appropriate and proactive challenge is used when needed to achieve better outcomes for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring and review systems are in place that help the manager to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the service. Scheduled reviews include annual staff appraisals. However, completed appraisal forms are insufficiently detailed, while the proforma itself does not provide opportunities to identify and reflect on best practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision and team meetings occur monthly. Reviews are undertaken in response to specific incidents, which enables the leaders and manager to take swift action to address and develop staff practice and improve the care provided to the children. However, there is no evidence of professional reflection in staff records, including team meetings and supervision. Inspection report for children’s home: 2582337 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, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may permit an individual to start work at the home despite the fact that the requirement in paragraph (3)(d) has not been met if—

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information in respect of the individual has been obtained in relation to the matters in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 2. Regulation 32(1)(3)(d)(7)(b)

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the manager must ensure that all safer recruitment checks are up to date, including regular DBS update checks.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that DBS checks are up to date for all staff in line with their safer recruitment policy. 31 March 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is well maintained throughout, specifically the kitchen and upstairs bathroom need refurbishment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.3)  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. Specifically, team meetings and supervision should provide the opportunity to reflect on their professional practice. (‘Guide to the Inspection report for children’s home: 2582337 6 Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff’s performance and fitness to carry out their role is formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should include

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Recommendations

performance management and poor performance should be addressed by a timely plan to bring about improvement. Specifically, appraisals should be completed in full and an opportunity to reflect on performance provided. (‘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: 2582337 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited

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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

Debbie Dawson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2582337 8 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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