Children's Home run by A Wilderness Way Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: 2778885 1 Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home provides care for up to six children in up to four houses under this single registration. The home offers short-term intensive stays, typically lasting for 17 weeks in duration, for children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in January 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not safeguarded and their welfare is not promoted.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 30 September 2024

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2778885 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/09/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2778885 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children do not always have positive experiences during their time in the home. One child’s placement ended abruptly when they went missing from the home, and they moved to another placement after they were found. The complexity of the child’s care needs was not fully understood or explored before they moved into the home. The assessment made of whether their needs could be met by the team was not robust. This has led to poor outcomes for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

A lack of robust risk assessment and poor safeguarding practice has led to poor experiences for other children. One child was burned on a BBQ when staff did not fully assess the risks involved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s health needs are not well met. A child suffered a seizure when they were left unsupervised in their bedroom following an incident, despite staff being aware that a high level of distress and anxiety could lead to an episode.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The restrictions in the home have led to most children stopping vaping and smoking. However, where there have been concerns about children using substances, staff have not used room searches to remove items that would put children at risk.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There have been errors with the administration of medication. This led to one child being given twice the dose of their medication. Recordings are not clear and do not show whether children were offered prescription medications or whether they refused to take them. Medical advice was sought, and staff underwent additional training.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Most children who move to the home have not been in education for some time. They are supported to build relationships with their tutor and engage in educational activities to support their formal learning. Children are taking exams and looking at the next steps for further education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are engaging well in activities, which is supporting them to build their confidence and their relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are supported to spend time with the people who are important to them. The team received positive feedback from family members, who acknowledged the positive impact on children.

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

Inadequate assessment of risk and poor staff practice have led to children being unnecessarily exposed to harm. Strategies to minimise risk were not fully considered by the manager, and those in place were not adhered to properly by staff. There has been insufficient learning from earlier episodes to support improved practices in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778885 4 Risk assessments are not always updated in response to incidents. It is not clear when assessments have been amended, and there is no clear audit trail of these being read by staff or information being passed on effectively to agency staff. This has led to a lack of supervision, which has put children at additional risk of harm.

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

Room searches were not used by staff to safeguard children. Staff were not confident to challenge one child due to the fear of how they might respond. A child was believed to be in possession of inappropriate and risky items, including phones, lighters, cannabis, counterfeit money and makeshift weapons.

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

Staff were unable to support one child’s behaviours. The child was able to remove keys from a member of staff and access locked areas in the home. They were able to access items such as other children’s medication and personal records. The child also had access to resources that supported them to go missing from the home.

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

Children have gone missing from the home for extended periods. A child who was at high risk of going missing was allowed to sleep outdoors in a tent and subsequently went missing for a significant amount of time. While repair works were carried out in the home, another child was moved to a lodge without sufficient assessment of the property, and they went missing on two separate occasions.

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

A physical intervention was used to support a child during a time of distress. There was insufficient consideration of the environment at the time, meaning that both the child and staff were harmed due to broken items nearby. Another child burnt their hand on a disposable BBQ which was not being used safely by staff.

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

Fire extinguishers were not accessible in all the properties, meaning that children and staff would have been at increased risk of harm in the event of a fire.

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

There are maintenance issues with one of the buildings, and repairs are required. An external metal cover outside the front door is rusted and unstable. This poses a risk of injury to children and adults. Damage caused by a child to their bedroom walls is boarded over but was not yet decorated, leaving a reminder for the child of the incident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been poor decision-making on the part of leaders and managers, which has left children at risk of harm. Despite earlier incidents highlighting poor staff practice, improvements have not been made to prevent further occurrences. This led to repeated and more serious incidents taking place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been a lack of effective oversight of the home. This includes a lack of robust review of incidents and times when leaders and managers have been off work at the same time. While leaders have carried out internal investigations into serious incidents, there has been a lack of learning from these to prevent further occurrences. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778885 5 The manager has not always notified Ofsted of serious incidents involving children, including one where a child said they had been hurt. Other reports have not been made in a timely way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a qualified staff team in place. Feedback from staff was positive, noting that the manager is supportive, compassionate and approachable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

All staff have completed the provider’s mandatory training. Additional training has been completed in response to incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff are regularly supervised. Records of sessions show a basic level of detail is documented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff take part in their own specific ‘home’ meeting as well as wider service meetings. The content of meetings focuses on children’s needs. The manager has used meetings to reinforce rules and boundaries with the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Safer recruitment practices are followed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778885 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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they complete a robust assessment of the child’s care needs and risks and the ability of the staff team to meet these effectively. 6 July 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—

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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; 6 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2778885 7 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

risk assessments are detailed, up to date and staff understand them. This includes ensuring that assessments around the activities for children consider the risks in the context of their background and previous behaviours;

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Requirement Due date

children are supervised in line with their care needs and risk assessments. This includes staff carrying out the strategies to mitigate risk effectively;

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Requirement Due date

arrangements for the management of keys and access to staff offices and sleep rooms are effective;

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Requirement Due date

staff take effective action to remove items that present a risk to children or others;

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Requirement Due date

the administration of medication is robust and well recorded with any unnecessary medication being disposed of appropriately;

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Requirement Due date

fire extinguishers are stored in line with fire risk assessments. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778885 8 *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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 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)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and manager must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

there is robust review of incidents involving input from other professionals such as therapists or safeguarding leads where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

there is learning from incidents with clear plans as to how this will be implemented and monitored; 6 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2778885 9 there are clear arrangements in place for the presence of leaders and managers in the home to ensure appropriate oversight and support.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all notifiable incidents are notified to HMCI and done so without delay. 6 July 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 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: 2778885 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Stoneybeck, Penrith, Cumbria CA11 8RP

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Inspectors

Andrea Foreman, Social Care Inspector Suzanne Birchall, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2778885 11 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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