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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC480422 1 SC480422 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 operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to eight children who experience emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 27 August 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, eight children were living in 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

Date of last inspection: 3 September 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: SC480422 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/09/2024 Full Good 16/11/2023 Full Good 17/01/2023 Full Good 26/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC480422 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live at the home make good progress that enriches their lives and improves their outcomes. Most children have lived at the home together for more than three years. Children say that they have friends in the home and enjoy spending time together. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and their interests promoted. This stability helps children to feel happier and develop a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Therapeutic care is embedded in staff practice. Lead therapists are based in the home a minimum of two days a week to support children and staff. The therapists’ interventions bolster the emotional resilience and well-being of children through direct work and by raising staff awareness of children’s therapeutic needs. The multidisciplinary clinical team works with staff and education professionals. They hold regular meetings to review children’s progress. As a result, children receive timely responses from adults in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children attend the school operated by the provider. Children have good attendance and make progress towards their individual targets. Children have ambitions for their future, such as further education or apprenticeships. When children are struggling to attend school, there is a swift and collaborative response between education, clinical staff, and staff at the home to address any barriers to learning. The headteacher provided positive feedback about communication and collaborative working relationships with staff at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children move into the home in a planned way. Children visit the home and meet staff and children. The clinical support team contributes to children’s assessment of needs, which helps to ensure that staff can meet children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children maintain relationships with people who are important to them. Staff support children to travel to various parts of the country so that they can build or maintain these relationships. This promotes children’s identity and family ties. Parents say they feel involved in their child’s life and are complimentary about the staff and manager. However, on occasions, staff do not always ensure that one child is prepared for family time, for example ensuring they have footwear on. As a result, there have been times when the child has not been able to enjoy planned activities with their family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to have a healthy lifestyle and diet. Children attend routine health appointments. When one child refuses to attend important dental appointments, staff talk to them and provide reassurance. However, staff continue to use the same strategies that are not effective. Staff do not explore alternative methods that might help the child to attend. This compromises the child’s dental health and future engagement with health services. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480422 4 Children enjoy various activities and staff take photos of special events and occasions. However, children do not have memory books that capture their time and experiences at the home. This means children cannot contribute to their life-story work and is a missed opportunity to show children that their experiences are valued.

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

Children can identify more than one staff member whom they trust and feel able to speak to. Children say that they feel safe at the home. Staff know the children and their individual vulnerabilities well. Children have robust support plans that are reviewed regularly and give staff clear actions to respond to children’s needs.

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

Positive behaviour is promoted in the home. Children enjoy incentives and some children are motivated by ways of earning extra money. When incidents occur, staff use de- escalation techniques and physical holds are used as a last resort. Following incidents in which children are held, they are given the opportunity to share their views. Discussions about any behaviour incidents include the clinical team. This considered approach helps staff reflect and learn new strategies to help children.

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

Staff help children to understand and identify risks. Staff use creative resources and information leaflets to engage children in conversations, for example around electronic cigarettes. This helps children to understand the risks and make informed choices.

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

Children who go missing from the home receive a well-coordinated response to ensure their safe return. When children are missing from home for a continuous period or refuse to return to the home, staff keep in touch with the child and liaise with safeguarding services. This persistent approach has resulted in children returning to a safe environment.

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

Staff ensure there is a robust and consistent response when children make threats to self-harm. Staff ensure the environment is safe and help children to understand their feelings, which has prevented children from physically harming themselves.

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

Children are helped to develop independence skills, for example self-care skills or using public transport. However, staff have not provided sufficient help for one child to prepare for a significant life event. The manager acknowledged this during the inspection and provided a plan of action of practical and emotional support for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is supported by an experienced long-standing deputy. Together they are ambitious and passionate about improving children’s lives. Effective monitoring means that aspects of the home, such as staff practice, the care and progress of children and the home environment, are regularly monitored. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480422 5 The leadership team provides a supportive environment through staff supervision and team meetings. This helps staff to reflect on their performance and improve their practice. The manager encourages staff progression and staff are promoted to team leader positions. Staff say that they feel well supported by the leadership team. Staff say they benefit from the cohesive teamwork and positive morale in the home. This helps to maintain a stable staff team and avoids the use of agency staff. Therefore, children know the adults who are caring for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the strengths and areas he wants to develop within the home. This includes integrating into the local community, which broadens children’s experiences and enhances their social skills. The manager updates a workforce development plan regularly and reviews actions set. This creates accountability and commitment to improve the quality of care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals report positive and effective relationships with the manager and staff team. Professionals say that they receive regular updates and that communication is good. The manager knows how to professionally challenge other agencies and escalates requests, for example when statutory documents are not received. However, there are occasions when the manager has not used this process effectively. On one occasion, the manager did not escalate requests to the child’s placing authority for consent for dental treatment. Additionally, the manager was unsure what parental responsibility is delegated. Furthermore, the manager has not challenged one child’s placing authority, or the authority where the child lives, about support available to help them prepare to become a parent. On these occasions, the children have not received the service that they are entitled to. The manager took action during the inspection to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of safeguarding concerns in the home, including allegations. When there are concerns identified about staff conduct, the manager acts quickly and communicates with safeguarding professionals. However, on one occasion when multiple allegations were made, the manager did not show sufficient curiosity and oversight to evidence his decision-making and any concerns about staff practice. The manager recognised this could have implications for the staff member and has a plan to correct this. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480422 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)) 31 October 2025

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that management oversight includes a clear rationale and decision-making around all allegations made, specifically when multiple allegations are made at the same time by one child. 31 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC480422 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when family contact is promoted and facilitated for each child, the child is prepared for the contact. In particular, the registered person should ensure that children have all practical items, such as appropriate footwear, to help the child enjoy family contact. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 28, paragraph 11.18)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of life- story work. In particular, ensure that children have a record of their time at the home, for example memory books that children can contribute to now and in the future. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 16, paragraph 3.14)  The registered person should ensure that staff use effective strategies to encourage children to attend necessary health appointments. In particular, the

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Recommendations

registered person should ensure that staff explore alternative strategies that could help children to engage with services. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 34, paragraph 7.11)  The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and the ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being. In particular, help children to prepare emotionally and practically for life-changing events, such as becoming a parent. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 35, paragraph 7.18)

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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: SC480422 8

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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

Cat Makel, Social Care Inspector Karen Karlsson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC480422 9 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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