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

Inspection report for children’s home: 1247560 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 operated by a private provider and provides care for up to 4 children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 4 children were living in the home. One child participated in the inspection and 3 declined.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted when the home was opened in June 2017.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1247560 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/07/2025 Full Good 20/08/2024 Full Good 13/02/2024 Full Good 14/03/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1247560 3

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Summary of findings

Children enjoy living in this home and say that they feel well supported. Children are making good progress with their education, and staff support them to overcome barriers to learning.

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Summary of findings

Staff respond to risks to children well, and there are clear strategies in place to manage these. Staff work in line with these strategies, and children can share their worries with staff, which helps to reduce risk for them.

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Summary of findings

There is a consistent staff team, which helps children to form positive and supportive relationships with staff. Managers provide good levels of support to staff, and there is good multi-agency communication and relationships between staff, external professionals and children’s families. This all contributes to well-coordinated and consistent care for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from good-quality and consistent care from staff. Staff understand how best to respond to children’s needs. A consistent staff team helps children to feel safe and build meaningful relationships with staff. Children feel increasingly able to talk about their feelings with staff, which helps to reduce risks for them. Children say that the staff are always available when they need them and they would recommend the home to other children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to make progress in different areas of their lives. All children are fully invested in their education. Staff support transitions when children move to a new school, and one child was helped to re-engage with education after being absent for some time. Communication between the staff and external professionals is consistent and supports the children to make progress. Absconding from school has reduced for one child due to collaborative working between staff and education professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with high levels of therapeutic support. Children benefit from an in-house therapist who supports them with any challenges or difficulties they may have experienced. This support is tailored to children’s individual needs, which helps children to access support at the right time for them. There is support available to staff to ensure they fully understand the trauma experienced by children and how to best support them. Staff also assist children to access specialist health services, such as occupational therapy or mental health support when this is needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and encourage children to learn new skills, which helps prepare them to live more independently. Key-work sessions with the children are reflective of their needs and are completed in a way that encourages children to engage in them, such as ‘walk and talk’ sessions. Inspection report for children’s home: 1247560 4

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

Staff have a good understanding of what to do when children are missing from home, responding promptly and consistently. Following an incident, risk assessments are reviewed and updated accordingly. Managers will request a strategy meeting if it is felt a child may have been exposed to significant harm during a missing episode. Children are supported to engage in return home interviews.

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

Staff respond well to incidents of self-harm. Support from the in-house therapist helps staff to ensure there is a trauma-informed approach to understanding self-harm behaviours. This helps children to feel supported and the behaviours to be understood. Dynamic risk assessments are in place, and staff formulate an action plan when risks increase. They work in line with these plans, helping to keep children safe.

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

Physical interventions are only used when necessary to keep people safe or to prevent significant property damage. Managers have effective oversight of these incidents, and feedback is sought from children. There has been a reduction in physical interventions, but reviews do not always reflect therapeutic consultations, which means there are missed opportunities to further reduce the risk of repeat behaviours.

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

There are positive behaviour support plans in place for the children, and these are reviewed monthly. Staff support children to manage unwanted behaviours on an individual basis and do not rely on more punitive consequences in response to any behavioural incidents. This helps children to avoid negative feelings about their behaviour and to focus on positive ways to improve this.

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

Staff monitor children’s access to technology to ensure they remain safe from inappropriate adult material on the internet. When there are worries around the use of technology or social media, staff respond with measures to keep children safe, such as removing mobile phones. They then work with children to help them understand risks so they can have their phones returned in a safe way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a suitably experienced and qualified manager. Staff feel well supported by managers and know where to go if they need advice and support in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established strong working relationships with professionals and families. This helps to create a collaborative approach to support children and keep them safe. Social workers have confidence in the care being delivered to children. One social worker described the progress of a child as ‘amazing’. Staff work well with children’s parents, who feel there are good relationships and support provided to children. Good communication and collaborative working help children to understand the adults are all working together to keep them safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 1247560 5 Managers and staff provide good support to children who are experiencing difficulties and advocate for them strongly. They offer solutions to overcome barriers they may be facing, such as in their education. External professionals say that the manager and staff strongly support and advocate for children and hold professionals to account

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

when required. This helps to ensure that children receive the support they need in different areas of their lives and supports them to make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The model of therapeutic care outlined in the home’s statement of purpose is not always evidenced in recordings or staff supervision records. Despite strong working relationships with a clinical therapist, staff knowledge and confidence in this area is not always evident in reflection on incidents and in discussion of children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training is completed and up to date for most staff. Some have not completed self-harm training, despite some children displaying self-harming behaviours. This could affect staff’s ability to support children effectively in this area. Managers have made arrangements for this to be completed. Managers support personal development and progression for staff and identify when there is a need to deliver additional or bespoke training in response to incidents. This helps to keep children and staff safe from physical injury. Inspection report for children’s home: 1247560 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. In particular, the staff must receive training in self-harm to ensure that they can meet all the identified needs of the children in their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure all staff provide a high quality of care for children living in the home. They must lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s statement of purpose. Specifically, staff should be helped to have an in-depth understanding of the home’s therapeutic model and use this to aid reflection on how effectively children’s needs are being met. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 6.4)

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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: 1247560 7

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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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Inspector

Shaun Martin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1247560 8 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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Inspector

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