Children's home run by Northern Community Pathways Children’s Residential Services Ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 2664326 1 Registered provider: Northern Community Pathways Childrens Residential Services Ltd

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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 three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home and all three were spoken with.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2023.

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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 outstanding

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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: 2664326 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/07/2024 Full Good 30/08/2023 Full Good 12/10/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2664326 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress at this home. They experience very well-planned moves to the home and the staff provide a warm and friendly welcome. This helps children to settle in quickly and promotes stability. Staff encourage children to make themselves at home and personalise their rooms to their liking and in their own time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff represent good parents and positive role models to the children. Nurturing and caring relationships help children to build trust, and staff offer children a range of fun activities. Children have enjoyed a holiday abroad and plan to go away again. Photos of children past and present participating in various activities adorn the walls in the home. Fun events, such as Halloween with spooky decorations around the home, make lasting memories for the children. These are then stored in children’s memory books, which they take with them as keepsakes when they move on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to see their families and friends, which promotes the children’s sense of identity. Children’s views are listened to and acted on as appropriate, which gives them confidence to raise any concerns with leaders, managers and staff. Key-work sessions, conversations and chats with children provide them with opportunities to work through and discuss their individual care plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote equality, diversity and inclusion to help children to understand the importance of embracing difference and treating people with respect.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by the staff to attend their education provisions. The effective links between the staff team and education providers ensure that children who are not in school continue to learn at home until they can access a suitable provision. These bespoke plans support children to overcome barriers to children’s learning. They also provide them with opportunities to enhance their future life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s access to primary and specialist healthcare services are appropriate to their physical and emotional health needs. Staff are responsive to any new issues that develop for children that require further investigation. Children are encouraged to live wholesome lifestyles through healthy, balanced diets and exercise. This has greatly benefited one child who has lost a significant amount of weight.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children currently live in the home. Since the last inspection, two children have moved in and they are settling in well. Three children successfully moved out of the home and most remain in touch with the staff, with whom they have strong and long- lasting relationships. Despite the stickability towards one child and intended planned transition, the increased risks became too high and unmanageable, which resulted in the child moving out of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2664326 4

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

There have been no serious incidents for several months. This is due to changes in the group dynamics, which are now settled, and risks have significantly reduced.

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

Staff understand the children’s vulnerabilities and they invest time and effort getting to know the children and build trusting and positive bonds with them. This helps staff to care for children and manage their risks effectively. While there are no concerns currently about child exploitation and bullying, staff talk with children about these matters to help to keep them safer.

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

Children say that they feel safe. One child rated their safety as 10 out of 10. Staff practice is guided by the children’s individualised risk assessments. Safety plans, when needed, are kept under regular review, and professionals spoken with consider children to be effectively safeguarded. The multi-agency and partnership working between the home and other professionals promotes children’s safety and well-being.

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

Children benefit from clear and consistent boundaries. Staff talk to children about any presenting unwanted or socially unacceptable behaviours. This helps children to reflect on and regulate their behaviours over time, with or without the involvement of specialist services. Since the last inspection, physical intervention has been used as a last resort to keep children and others safe. The offer of positive incentives gives motivation for children to achieve their individual goals, which outweigh the number of consequences that children have received.

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

There has been one missing-from-home incident in this period. This was properly acted on in line with the child’s missing-from-care protocol and procedures. Children are offered opportunities to talk about the reasons for going missing, and staff work with children to prevent further incidents.

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

Safer recruitment practices are well embedded in practice. This reduces opportunities for unsuitable adults to care for vulnerable children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers are extremely ambitious for children to make progress while in their care. The expectations regarding the standards of children’s care are high, yet sufficiently realistic to meet each child’s individual needs and risks. The strength and support of the motivated staff team work exceedingly well and support the service delivery.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has an impressive understanding of the children’s unique characteristics, and they are visible and available to the children. The manager upholds the ethos and values of the home’s statement of purpose to make each child’s experience the best it can be. The manager oversaw the ending of one child’s stay with sensitivity, meeting with the child to explain the reason they had to move on from the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2664326 5 Leaders and managers reflect on practice, which helps them to consider any lessons learned and implement any changes to avoid a repeated incident. The manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home. They use established internal and external monitoring systems to continuously improve. The property has been decorated to a high standard since the last inspection. Plans are in place for further improvements to ensure a consistently well-maintained environment throughout.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff benefit from working in an exceptionally supportive culture. Staff feel well supported by leaders and managers. Newly appointed staff receive a thorough induction and probationary period. All staff receive regular, reflective supervision sessions that address any practice matters and focus on staff progression. Regular team meetings keep children at the heart of staff discussions. These meetings display the staff members’ strong knowledge and skills and demonstrate how the manager listens to and values the opinions of staff. The practice issues discussed during these meetings also promotes consistency. Daily handovers ensure that the team are up to date with the children’s progress as well as what is going on in their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive mandatory and specific training that enriches their practice and equips them with the skills and knowledge they need to carry out their roles effectively. This included research and training prior to one child’s admission to the home, which helped the staff to understand the child’s specific needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Feedback from professionals about the quality of care was consistently positive. Professionals said that staff have children’s best interests at heart and this contributes to children’s experiences and progress. Leaders and managers follow up matters with professionals if they do not get what they need to care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers have met the two recommendations raised at the last inspection. These relate to the quality-of-care review report and written care plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

No requirements or recommendations were raised following this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2664326 6

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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: 2664326 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Northern Community Pathways Childrens Residential Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 321 Red Bank Road, Bispham, Blackpool FY2 0HJ

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Inspector

Jacqueline Malcolm, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2664326 8 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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