Children's Home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Darlington

Inspection report for children’s home: 1159763 1 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 home is privately operated. It provides care for up to eight children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were eight children living at the home at the time of the inspection, and three children were spoken with.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2025.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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good

Date of last inspection: 29 October 2024

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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: 1159763 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/10/2024 Full Good 06/03/2024 Full Good 30/12/2022 Full Good 15/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1159763 3

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improvement to be good

The overall experiences of children and young people have been affected because of decisions made by leaders and managers. This means not all children have made progress. One child said that at times they have felt unsafe. This means children do not always have a positive experience of living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always listen to the views of children. One child wanted to make a complaint about another child, and this was not followed through. Furthermore, staff do not always gather the views of children, such as when a room search was carried out by staff but children were not consulted. This leaves children feeling excluded and not listened to.

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improvement to be good

Children’s records are not maintained effectively, and the language used by staff is not always child centred. The manager is aware that this is an area for development. This can impact on children negatively and leave gaps in information about important times and events in their lives. This means children will not have a true representation of their time in the home if they look back on their records in the future.

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improvement to be good

The home is mostly warm and welcoming. It is a large property that offers several communal spaces for children. This includes a games room that the children can freely access. There are pictures of the children throughout the home, which helps children to feel a sense of belonging. Children have their own bedroom and bathrooms. There is some damage across the home, including damage to walls and broken furniture. It is important that any damage in the home is resolved in a timely way, which would help children to live in a safe and pleasant environment.

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improvement to be good

When children come to live at the home, they are well supported. This is corroborated by a professional who commented, ‘It was a positive experience for the child.’ This helps children to feel more settled during a period of change. Some children have moved on from the home due to their placements being ended. When these decisions are made, this is done in consultation with all involved agencies.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to take part in a range of activities, including trips away, days out and activities in the home. Some children attend clubs, such as football, and another child is supported to take part in a group for children in care. This means children can develop new skills and talents as well as developing their friendship groups. Inspection report for children’s home: 1159763 4

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improvement to be good

There are care plans in place for children. However, they lack important information regarding the individual needs of children. Some plans do not align with the information from the multi-agency group. This means children’s plans do not reflect their needs and can negatively affect the care provided to them.

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls were identified in managing risks for children. There are failures in identifying patterns in children’s behaviour, meaning children have been placed at risk of harm. Risk assessments are not clear, and strategies for managing individual risks are not reviewed.

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improvement to be good

There are high levels of supervision for children in the home. Children are unable to be alone together without staff supervision. The reasons for this level of monitoring are unclear, meaning this is not individualised to the needs of each child. This can lead to a risk averse culture in the home, where children are not given space by staff.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from the home, staff follow the correct procedures. Staff search for children and contact the relevant authorities. When children return home, they are supported by staff. Return home interviews are arranged, which helps staff to understand the needs of the children and what the pull factors are to them going missing.

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improvement to be good

Some children in the home are vulnerable to self-injurious behaviour. When this occurs, staff respond appropriately by providing emotional and practical support to children. This helps children to feel safe and cared for.

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good

There has been a high turnover of staff at the home, which means there are inconsistencies for children. Some children have been affected by this and found it difficult to adjust to the changes. Staff have raised concerns around staffing levels and the effect this has on meeting the needs of children. The manager has made attempts to cover shifts using staff from across the organisation. This helps to provide some familiarity for children.

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good

Several staff working in the home are not qualified. This means staff do not always have the relevant skills and training to be able to meet the children’s needs. This was particularly relevant in one incident where a member of staff held a child and had not had the relevant training to enable them to do so safely.

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good

The manager has identified some areas that require further work in the home. An important area is staff development to ensure that they are equipped with the skills and knowledge so they can provide the best care to children. This has included Inspection report for children’s home: 1159763 5 implementing routines for children and strengthening boundaries in the home. However, these are not clearly communicated to staff, which means inconsistencies with boundaries and routines prevail.

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good

When important documents are missing from children’s files, staff are not following the home’s escalation policy to ensure they have the most up-to-date information for children. This means staff may be missing critical information from the multi-agency group to meet the needs of children.

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good

Staff are supported with regular supervision sessions, and these are recorded on each staff’s file. However, staff do not discuss the children during their supervision sessions. Supervision sessions lack meaningful discussions, which leads to missed opportunities to have important discussions with staff. This impacts on the quality of care the children experience.

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good

The manager is qualified and experienced and speaks positively about the children. The manager advocates on behalf of children with the multi-agency group. An example of this is a child’s phone usage and the manager challenging the local authority’s decision-making. This led to changes for the child, which reduced the child’s anxiety. Inspection report for children’s home: 1159763 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

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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)) 16 October

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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

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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 16 October Inspection report for children’s home: 1159763 7 ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(iii)(v)) 16 October

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)) 16 October

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is maintained to a good standard. In particular, that the home is clean and well appointed. Unused and Inspection report for children’s home: 1159763 8 broken items should be disposed of, and any items which are tired and worn should be replaced. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should 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. In particular, supervision should be reflective in nature, enabling staff to explore any impact issues. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff record information on individual

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Recommendations

children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 1159763 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 (lead) Laura Roberts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1159763 10 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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