Statement of Purpose · Willow Bank – Statement of Purpose Our Aims and Outcomes Quality and purpose of care 1. A statement of the range of needs of the children for whom it is

Statement of Purpose December 2018

Appletree Treatment Centre, Natland, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 7QStel: 015395 60253 email: [email protected]

Willow Bank is a children’s home and special residential primary schoolfor children between 6 and 12 years old.Appletree provides excellent care and educationfor up to 5 boys and girls with emotional, social,mental health and associated/specific learningdifficulties.

Willow Bank helps children whose familycircumstances have led them to requirestructured support throughout the year. Ourchildren may have experienced trauma in theirearly years and failure in their schools,community and/or homes.

At Willow Bank we help our children and youngpeople to change so that they can experiencehappiness in their lives. In order for this healingto occur they need to experience stable,nurturing and thoughtful adults upon whom theycan rely. They need to be loved and respectedand cared for and educated. They need to behelped to feel happy about themselves andmake sense of what has happened to them.

The overall experiences and progressof children and young people - GOOD

How well children and young peopleare helped and protected - GOODThe impact and effectiveness of leaders andmanagers - GOOD

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Willow!Bank!!!!Statement!of!Purpose!!!!!17!December!2018!

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Statement of Purpose

Our Aims and Outcomes

17 December 2018

Appletree Treatment Centre, Natland, Kendal. Cumbria LA9 7QS Tel: 015395 60253 Fax: 015395 61301 email: [email protected] www.appletreetreatmentcentre.co.uk

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Willow Bank – Statement of Purpose

Our Aims and Outcomes Quality and purpose of care

1. A statement of the range of needs of the children for whom it is intended that Willow Bank is to provide care and accommodation.

Willow Bank – our children Willow Bank is a children’s home and special residential primary school for children between 6 and 12 years old. Willow Bank provides excellent care and education for up to 5 boys and girls with emotional, social, mental health and associated/specific learning difficulties.

It is not our intention at this time to accommodate children with physical disabilities.

Willow Bank helps children whose family circumstances have led them to require structured support throughout the year. Our children may have experienced trauma in their early years and failure in their schools, community and/or homes. These experiences have led to a range of difficulties, which may include the following:

• Relationships with adults characterised by over reliance or emotional detachment • Isolation from or high incidence of conflict with peers • Deep and intense sadness and/or anger expressed destructively • Lack of awareness of the impact of their actions on others • Little sense of self preservation • Specific and moderate learning difficulties • Poor attention span and difficulty concentrating • Difficulty engaging in education • Little belief in their ability to learn and hence many work avoidance strategies • Fear of being perceived as ‘stupid’ by peers • Poor social, communication skills • Attachment Disorders

Outcomes: Our children are able to: • Develop appropriate attachments

• Develop friendships with peers

• Experience a safe and secure home

• Experience success at home and in school

• Understand the impact of their actions

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Quality and purpose of care 2. Willow Bank’s ethos, and the outcomes that Willow Bank seeks to achieve and its approach to achieving them.

Our core values - Privacy, Dignity, Independence, Choice, Rights, Fulfilment At Willow Bank we help our children develop and experience happiness in their lives. In order for this healing to occur they need to experience stable, nurturing and thoughtful adults upon whom they can rely. They need to be loved and respected and cared for and educated. They need to be helped to feel happy about themselves and make sense of what has happened to them. Our children have had such damaging and traumatic early childhoods that they are emotionally still like toddlers and as such have tantrums, which are violent, unpremeditated and without thought for consequences. We have to respond to keep them and others safe whilst we help them develop their own ways of self-regulating their behaviour. Willow Bank does not encourage the use of medication to control behaviour as this does not help children to develop their own strategies. If children come to us on medication we work with medical professionals to allow them to come off the medication as our philosophy begins to take effect. Inevitably there is a process of testing boundaries and seeing whether we will reject them. Safely holding some of our children is necessary. Our high staff ratios enable us to provide a structured, therapeutic, twenty-four hour programme which focuses on helping children to form positive relationships. These enable the children to increase their self-esteem, which in turn allows them to acquire the skills which they need to succeed at home and in school. Often our children need to return to play and role-play experiences of much younger children in order to progress developmentally. Our teams are trained and supported to help them to do this in a safe, caring and appropriately stimulating environment. Our clinical team helps this process in two ways. Firstly they provide direct therapeutic intervention with our children and, where appropriate, their families. Secondly they provide consultation to the teams working with the children. The aim of this consultation is to assist all the teams to make their interactions with our children and young people facilitate positive change. This is a hard task and requires the teams to use the ‘heart’, ‘hand’ and ‘mind’ approach advocated by social pedagogy. We use our hearts to genuinely care for our children and young people and they feel this. We use our hands to engage them in practical activity, sharing the fun and the learning alongside them. We use our minds to reflect on our emotions and experiences with the children and young people, to learn from this and to reflect it in our future practice. We consider how we can help our children in the eight areas of the Pillars of Parenting (Maginn and Cameron 2011), positive self-view, attachment, physical health, belonging, emotional resilience and emotional competence, self-management and social responsibility.

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Outcomes

Our children are: • Listened to by the adults who care for them

• Treated as individuals

• Can rely on the adults who care for them to keep them safe

• Experience ownership of/pride in their environment

With clinical support we are able to help manage feelings and behaviour. By standing in the child’s shoes we can support them to:

• Feel effective

• Build self-esteem

• Enjoy success and cope with setbacks

• Gain the confidence to explore the world around them

• Minimise the sense of difference

Willow Bank children’s home overall aims and the objectives for our children Willow Bank opened in 2009 with a mission to help support children and young people whose lives have been severely disrupted to grow socially and emotionally and learn to cope with school. We support them wherever possible to return to families and day schools before they reach their teenage years. Occasionally, to help a child make a successful transition we would extend their placement until the end of the school year. This would have to be agreed in advance as being in the best interests of the child at a Looked After Children review or Care Planning meeting. We are successful in our aims because our programmes provide and promote resilience. We remove the disruptive impact of placement change. We provide a stable environment and integrated therapeutic service and we engage our children in stimulating education. Outcomes

We measure our level of success against the following outcomes:

• A reduction in or elimination of problems as identified in each child’s Placement and Action Plan

• Engagement in therapy and reduction in trauma symptoms

• A reduction of difficulties and increase in strengths measured by

Strength and Difficulties Questionnaires

• An increase in self-esteem and empathy evidenced through regular, researched outcomes measures

• An improvement in achievement in school

• An increase in time children can spend with parents or carers

successfully as reported by the children and carers

• An eventual transition to full time carers and day school, either for special needs or mainstream

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The facilities and services we provide for the children at Willow Bank Our Service Our high staff ratios enable us to provide a structured, therapeutic, twenty-four hour programme, which focuses on helping children to form positive relationships. These enable the children to increase their self-esteem, which in turn allows them to acquire the skills, which they need to succeed at home and in school. Our children have individual therapy with About Children therapists. The therapists work closely with the care and teaching teams so that actions can be planned and recorded to support the therapeutic process. Two psychologists and one child and adolescent psychotherapist also provide clinical consultation to all the teams. This provides a safe space to address adult concerns/needs and ensure these have attention so that the children’s needs remain the focus of our practice. We work closely with family, social workers and other professionals to agree placement and action plans to promote the development of our children. Education is provided off site in a purpose built school with experienced and qualified teaching teams. If children are ready, they can also access mainstream education at our local primary school as part of their transition. We carefully plan and support our children to reintegrate.

Outcomes:

Our children: • Experience safety and stability

• Access early years’ experiences they have missed

• Have a positive experience of family style living

• Participate in the life of the local community

• Develop healthy relationships

• Form positive attachments

• Experience success

• Develop appropriate ways to express feelings

Quality and purpose of care

3 Accommodation offered by Willow Bank a) How the accommodation has been adapted to meet the needs of the children cared for at Willow Bank.

Willow Bank has five children’s bedrooms and three bathrooms with accommodation for the care team members.

Outcomes • Our children have a homely environment • Our children enjoy going to school and coming home at the end of the day • Our children are encouraged to have a healthy active lifestyle and to stay

safe

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Fire precautions and associated emergency procedures in Willow Bank children’s home.

There are smoke and heat detectors throughout. Additionally, there are weekly tests of the fire alarms. Fire extinguishers are inspected weekly and serviced annually by an approved contractor. When equipment has been used or damaged, arrangements are made for its immediate replacement.

Evacuations take place at least three times a year at various times including a night one. Young people and staff are included in fire drills and evacuations. When a new child is admitted we do a day and a night evacuation within their first week. The staff team also discuss the issues of fire and building safety with young people at regular intervals or when particular issues arise.

All staff receive fire awareness training, first aid training and basic health and safety training as part of their induction and this is updated within recommended time scales.

All staff are made aware of our comprehensive fire risk assessment and emergency plan, these are available to view. Health and Safety is discussed regularly in meetings Outcomes

• Our children are kept safe from risks of fire and accidents

• Our children learn awareness of risks of fire and importance of drills/evacuations

• Our children live and learn in an environment which is risk assessed and

reviewed regularly, where health and safety is taken seriously and issues addressed promptly

• Our children learn how to recognise risks in the environment and

to keep themselves safe from harm Quality and purpose of care

3 Accommodation offered by Willow Bank b) The age range, number and sex of the children for whom Willow Bank intends to provide accommodation.

Willow Bank is a children’s home for children between 6 and 12 years old. Willow Bank provides excellent care and off site education for up to 5 boys and girls with emotional, social, mental health and associated/specific learning difficulties. Occasionally, to help a child make a successful transition we would extend their placement by up to four months. This would have to be agreed in advance as being in the best interests of the child at a Looked After Children review or Care Planning meeting.

It is not our intention at this time to accommodate children with physical disabilities.

Outcomes

• Our children are able to develop appropriate attachments

• Develop friendships with peers

• Experience a safe and secure home

• Experience success at home and in school

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• Return to families and day schools successfully Quality and purpose of care

3 Accommodation offered by Willow Bank c) The type of accommodation, including sleeping accommodation.

Willow Bank is a detached house within its own grounds.

Kitchen The kitchen at Willow Bank is well fitted and fully equipped; here the children can get involved with food preparation and cooking.

Dining area We have a dining area in the lounge which allows the young people to have all their meals together in a family style setting. Lounge Willow Banks’s lounge is a large bright space, with a variety of seating and plenty of floor space for the young people to play together. There is storage for toys and games, bookshelves and a TV with DVD, and games console.

Second Lounge We also have a second lounge with sofa and TV, which gives our young people extra space to play with toys, dress up, play games, enjoy creative activities.

Bedrooms There are 5 bedrooms at Willow Bank. All are single occupancy rooms. We encourage our young people to make their bedrooms personal to them and consult them about decoration and layout whilst they are with us.

Bathroom We have 3 bathrooms upstairs.

Outside Willow Bank has its own garden with views of the river Kent. The home has a large planted front garden, an additional garden to the rear.

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Outcomes • Our children have a bright, clean and homely environment in which to grow

• Our children have privacy

• Our children make choices about their home’s appearance

• Our children have a primary school which delivers all areas of the

National Curriculum in attractive classrooms

• Our children have a garden which encourages play, sports and quiet reflection / story sharing.

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4. The location of Willow Bank

Willow Bank is located on the edge of Kendal town. Kendal is a vibrant town with many shops, businesses, churches, parks, playgrounds, theatre and cinema.

Our safe location area review concludes that it is an extremely safe place in respect to the risks of drugs, crime, gang activity or child sexual exploitation.

There are very few other children’s homes in the area and there are no probation hostels for sex offenders or drug related problems, no bail hostels, kerb crawling areas or known prostitution.

The children are registered with our local GP and dentist who are located in Kendal. We are well known to our GP and dentist and we work well together with our nurse to provide for our children’s daily health and dental needs.

We encourage the children to be part of local life. We encourage children at Willow Bank to join local clubs and make friends with neighbouring children. We enjoy a strong link with our nearby theatre and our children have performed in drama, music and dance productions to paying audiences.

Within a few miles of Willow Bank we have numerous skate parks and playgrounds, a swimming pool, bowling alley, beach and of course the joy of the beautiful Lake District is not too far away.

Outcomes

Our children: • Experience safety and stability

• Access early years’ experiences they have missed

• Have a positive experience of family style living

• Participate in the life of the local community

• Develop healthy relationships

• Form positive attachments

• Experience success

• Develop appropriate ways to express feelings

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Quality and purpose of care 5. Arrangements for supporting the cultural, linguistic and religious needs of the children accommodated at Willow Bank.

Supporting Children’s cultural needs We identify cultural needs before a young person comes to Willow Bank, often gaining valuable knowledge and help from their family. We work hard to meet these needs and will seek advice if we do not have knowledge of their culture.

We have adapted our menus to accommodate food from different cultures and celebrate our differences as well as our shared humanity. Supporting children’s linguistic needs If our children speak a language other than English we will endeavour to identify, along with their placing authority, other appropriate people who can help them maintain this language. This may be through family members, team members who also speak the language or other people in the local community. We would source a way to translate for them if this was needed and also provide books or magazines to help them read in their language and DVDs or CDs so they can hear it being spoken.

Many of our children who do speak English as a first language have difficulty with vocabulary or language processing due to early years’ neglect. Our Speech and Language Therapist assesses all children to identify any need and then either delivers or recommends a programme for team members to deliver. Supporting Children’s religious needs We help our children to maintain their faith and continue any religious observances which are important to them. We educate all of our children about the different religious faith groups which exist in the UK, and give them some knowledge about those belief systems. We encourage them to embrace Modern British Values and protect them from the risk of extremism. We also aim to instill in the children a tolerance and understanding of ways of life different from their own. In School, a key element of our R.E. teaching is to identify those value systems that are common across all religious groups. Children will also be given opportunities to explore and develop their own value systems. It will be made clear that having a value system is not dependent on a belief in God; values can also have their source in human nature.

Outcomes • Our children are supported to maintain their faith if they wish to

• Our children are helped to understand and respect other faiths

• Our children’s cultural needs are supported

• Our children’s linguistic needs are met

• Our children are protected from extremist views

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6. Who to contact if a person has a complaint about Willow Bank and how that person can access the home’s complaints policy.

Any complaint made by a child or adult at Willow Bank is taken seriously by the team. It is vital that children feel able to talk about concerns and are confident that they will be believed and helped. This is crucial to creating a safe and caring environment. Children can also ask any adult whom they trust to raise a complaint on their behalf. Adults can address complaints directly to the team, their Social Worker, Ofsted or anyone else they trust to act on their behalf. Written complaints which cannot be resolved informally are dealt with by a panel with at least one member who is not involved in the management of Willow Bank.

All parents or those placing children with us are encouraged to read Willow Bank’s full complaints policy and procedure. Open and honest communication is vital to providing the best care for our children.

Clear instructions are given in the children’s guide about how and to whom a child can make a complaint including Ofsted’s address and telephone number along with other independent contact numbers.

Clair Davies, Principal - Appletree Treatment Centre, Natland, Kendal Cumbria LA9 7QS email: [email protected] or tel:015395 60253

Ofsted – Piccadilly Gate, Store Street, Manchester M1 2WD email: [email protected] or tel: 0300123 1231

Complaints Policy is available from [email protected]

Outcomes Our children, families and professionals:

• Understand how to make a complaint

• Feel supported when they want to make a complaint

• Experience meaningful responses to complaints they make

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Quality and purpose of care 7. How those involved in the care or protection of a child at Willow Bank can access the child protection policies or the behaviour management policy.

Child Protection policies and Behaviour Management policy are available from [email protected]

Child Protection We have a dedicated Child Protection Team comprising of Principal and Head of Education. Any member of the team who is told of or suspects an incident of abuse occurring at Willow Bank, or to a child at home or outside Willow Bank, must report the information immediately to the Child Protection Team. If the allegation or suspicion is about one of the team the report should be made to one of the Directors ([email protected]). We then follow Cumbria LSCB procedures (http://www.cumbrialscb.com) this team meets to review patterns or concerns every six weeks or more frequently if there is a concern. The Registered Manager and Senior Teacher review referrals as part of their weekly meeting, minutes from this meeting are shared with the Management Team.

Safeguarding We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all team members to share this commitment. All appointments are dependent upon enhanced DBS disclosure. The Management Team have training in Safer Recruitment. Our Safeguarding and Safer Recruitment Policy are promoted on our website. The Principal and Head of Education have Designated Lead Officer training which is refreshed at appropriate time intervals.

Dealing with Bullying

Children at Willow Bank have a right to be happy, safe, feel secure and enjoy their childhood. We do our utmost to prevent bullying and act swiftly if there is an occurrence. No person deserves to be bullied.

From the first time we meet our children they are told clearly that bullying is not tolerated. Everyone is expected to ensure that bullying does not happen or go unreported.

At Willow Bank we provide a consistent and structured programme within a friendly and sympathetic environment where opportunities arise and incentives are given for children and young people to develop the caring, nurturing and co-operative sides of their nature. We encourage children to openly share their feeling or problems by:

• Talking to their individual assigned house tutor during individual sessions or at other

times • Bringing up issues at the daily meetings • Bringing up issues at the community meetings • Talking to any team member they can trust • Talking to the Principal or Management Team • Telling a friend • Talking to their Social Worker or Education Welfare Officer • Ringing the Independent Listener, Ofsted, the local Child Protection Team, Childline

or NSPCC (numbers on display at Willow Bank)

We take any complaints made by a child seriously and take action straight away. Any child who appears to be the subject of bullying or who has reported to staff that he or she is being bullied will be closely monitored by staff and strategies implemented to end bullying. Our anti-bullying policy is promoted on our website.

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Finally we never just talk to or give consequences to a bully for their behaviour. A bully usually bullies for a reason and this must be looked into and hopefully dealt with effectively. Bullying – we support the child’s voice to be heard.

Outcomes • Our children enjoy a safe and happy childhood

• Our children are able to approach the adults who care for them if

they have any concerns about their safety

• Our children understand what bullying is and that the adults who care for them will intervene if it occurs

Children missing from home The best protective factor for our children is our relationship with them and this is the foundation for all we do. We want Willow Bank to be a safe, homely and attractive place to stay. If one of our children runs off or does not return from home, we immediately search to find them. We will ask other children, neighbours and families to help and to suggest where they may be. We will inform parents and professionals what has happened. If we do not find the child with a brief search we inform the Police to assist us. Once a child has returned we try very hard to find out the reasons for running away and address any problems so that it does not happen again. All actions and decisions are recorded and copied to parents and professionals. We adhere to Cumbria’s Missing from Home Protocol. (http://www.cumbrialscb.com)

Outcomes • Our children are discouraged from running off and helped to understand the

dangers of doing so

• Our children know that if they are missing, no matter what the reason, we will be looking for them immediately

• Our children are encouraged to help us to understand the

motivation/circumstances surrounding their going missing in order to prevent a reoccurrence

• Our children know that we will involve parents and professionals with actions and

planning should they go missing

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Behaviour Management We help our children to learn about how to behave and how to treat others. Often the first step is to help them to learn to care about themselves and then gradually to care about others. We believe that each child is an individual and is entitled to respect, courtesy and full recognition of his/her individual rights and needs. We aim to praise and promote positive behaviour at all times. Unwanted behaviour is either ignored or consequences are given with time away from the activity/class, not being trusted to go outside of Willow Bank, repairing damage by doing small jobs or repaying time which has been wasted. At Willow Bank we look after children who exhibit unsafe behaviour and provide not only a good standard of physical care but also an environment which nurtures and develops the individuality, potential and self-worth within a climate of care designed to promote the development of self-management and social responsibility. Physical intervention is only used as a last resort where there is an immediate risk of serious harm to a child or those around them and where other means of intervening have not been successful. If a physical intervention does occur then great attention is given to analysing the event by the team member and their manager, reflecting on how it may have affected all involved and most importantly restoring the child’s relationship with the team members and the community. The child is never blamed, only helped to reflect, grow and re-integrate. Patterns are monitored weekly, monthly and six monthly and action plans created to address concerns. In the Children’s Guide we explain our approach in appropriate language. The ‘What is fair’ section gives details of:

• What we will stop the children from doing • Consequences our children can expect • Reassurance about the reasons for any physical intervention

Outcomes Our children • learn to manage feelings and behaviour

• feel effective

• build self-esteem

• enjoy success and cope with setbacks

• gain the confidence to explore the world around them

• experience less sense of difference

• develop tolerance, conflict resolution, social skills

• These skills help our children to gain understanding of themselves and others

and what it means to be part of a caring community

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Views, wishes d feelings 8. A description of Willow Bank’s policy and approach to consulting children about the quality of their care

How we listen to our children It is very important to us that our children feel cared for and respected. We involve them in day to day decisions about food and activities. We encourage them to make their bedrooms personal to them and consult them about decoration and layout. We also want our children to experience predictability and routine. We plan the day so that they know what will be happening and when.

We value our children’s views and seek to engage them in decisions about their lives in an age appropriate way. Each child is allocated a house tutor who meets with them weekly and seeks their views on any issue which is affecting their lives. A record is made of this meeting and any action which needs to be taken. This is then reviewed at subsequent meetings. If necessary, major issues are taken to the child’s six monthly review for discussion with all the people involved with the child.

In addition to these individual meetings all children take part in daily group meetings. The activities and plans for the day are discussed as well as any actions and consequences which the children have incurred and the reasons for these. Children are encouraged to bring up any concerns or ideas that they may have and these are addressed in the group.

In school the children have an active School Council, where ideas and suggestions are raised. In the home they have house meetings. Once a week they have their community meeting which involves the whole community coming together. This builds a sense of belonging and awareness that we all have a responsibility to take care of each other and Willow Bank. Crucial to all of these meetings is that the children are always given feedback about the outcome of any requests or discussions.

The Principal encourages children to tell her about the quality of their care when she spends time having lunch with them. Our children’s views are an important part of our records. They are asked to comment on their day and to give views on all areas of their care, health and education in their review reports.

Most importantly we create an atmosphere of openness and trust which encourages children to talk with any of the team about concerns or ideas. We believe that this is the foundation for genuinely child-centred care.

Valuing Children’s Views is available from [email protected]

Outcomes • Our children are involved in decision making in their home

• Our children are consulted about the quality of their care

• Our children feel respected and valued

• Our children feel they are listened to

• Our children can express their views and recognise that they are acted upon

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Anti-Discriminatory Policy

1. We are committed to a policy where no child, family member or team member is discriminated against in any way for their religious beliefs, sexual orientation, cultural heritage, disability, class, age or gender. Willow Bank work with children whom we feel able to help regardless of their religious beliefs, sexual orientation, cultural heritage, disability, class or gender. However Willow Bank does have some structural limitation to some physical disabilities which would have to be considered when placing a child.

2. We pride ourselves on treating everyone fairly and equally, and our “Promoting Equality, Valuing Diversity policy” is written to make clear our intention to eliminate unlawful discrimination, to promote equal opportunities and good relations in all aspects of school and home life.

Promoting Equality, Valuing Diversity policy is available from [email protected]

Outcomes

• All children, family members and team members are treated equally and fairly • We promote equal opportunities and good relations

• We celebrate and value our uniqueness and diversity as well our common

humanity Views, wishes and feelings

9. A description of Willow Bank’s policy and approach in relation to b) Children’s rights.

Willow Bank is committed to promoting children’s rights as outlined in the European Human Rights legislation and the Quality Standards and Children’s Home Regulations. Over the years we have worked together with children to identify particular rights which are easily understood by them.

We work with our children to help them to understand their rights, respect each other’s rights and learn that we have responsibilities which relate to each other’s rights. We encourage our children to speak up if they feel their rights are not being respected. If they cannot speak to us we display contact numbers for NSPCC, Ofsted, Child Protection, Police, Childline and our Independent Visitor. We also encourage and facilitate our children to meet with Social Workers and other professionals in private.

Children’s Rights policy is available from [email protected]

Outcomes

• Our children have the right to feel safe

• Our children have the right to learn

• Our children have the right not to be hurt

• Our children have the right to be heard

• Our children have the right to grow up and be ‘all they can be’

Views, wishes and feelings

9 A description of Willow Banks’s policy and approach in relation to

a) Anti-discriminatory practice in respect of the children and their families.

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Education

10. Details of Willow Bank’s provision to support children with special educational needs.

Children who live at Willow Bank go to school at Appletree Treatment Centre’s Appletree School in Natland, which is a short 5 minute drive away from Willow Bank.

Appletree School During the school day at Appletree School we provide an interesting and stimulating environment in which each child is appropriately challenged to reach their full potential in an atmosphere of care and trust. Our educational learning environment has a combined influence on the child’s social functioning, educational and emotional development. We provide an alternative to a concentrated mainstream education, which has failed our children in the past.

As they make progress, our children are taught the skills necessary to give them hope of one day returning to mainstream education. They are expected to work both independently and in groups. At Appletree School one of our first tasks is often to help the children to overcome their fear of failing at school. This can take some time and many children require individual support to help them settle into school routines. We work on the principle of gaining success in small steps with high incentives for achievement. During the school day at Appletree School, we provide an interesting and stimulating environment in which each child is appropriately challenged to reach their full potential in an atmosphere of care and trust.

We have children at Appletree School between the chronological ages of 6 to 12 years. Their emotional development is well below this and they have missed whole sections of progressive development. The children are under emotional stress and therefore do not interact easily with other children or adults. This inhibits their ability to learn.

Our programme provides early years experience, such as play and other expressive activities for children who have been denied them. This helps the children to build relationships and gain basic skills and confidence, which can be used to help them to study more formal educational work.

Education

11. Appletree is dually registered as a school. Details of the curriculum provided by Appletree School and the management and structure of the education.

Our children access all aspects of the National Curriculum, enabling those who are able to take National Curriculum Assessment Tests at age 11, along with their peers in mainstream. At Appletree School the curriculum is delivered by qualified Teachers, Teaching Assistants and a qualified Head Teacher as described in 19. The children go to school in the morning, break for lunch and then return for the afternoon. They have the same amount of time in school and the same number of school holidays as children in mainstream school. The role of the home team members is to support the children’s education as good parents would. They help with homework and attend school open days to meet with their child’s teachers. They are told about topics and subjects being taught so they can plan activities to support the formal learning or just talk about what the children have learnt during the day at mealtimes or playtimes.

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The care team members are also involved in supporting the children to dress up for cultural and charitable events such as World Book Day, Red Nose Day and Sports Relief. Once a year the whole community comes together for a theme-based Awards Celebration. Academic, sporting and arts achievements are celebrated along with awards gained from home based activities and achievements.

Outcomes

• Our children are educated in a school, separate to the home, by a qualified

and experienced teaching team

• Children’s home team members support our children’s education as good parents would

• Children live in an enriching learning environment • Children’s successes are shared and celebrated in all areas of their life

Education

12. If the home is not registered as a school, the arrangements for children to attend local schools and the provision made by the home to promote children’s educational achievement.

Not Applicable

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Enjoyment and achievement

13. Willow Bank’s arrangements for enabling children to take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

Our children’s leisure time We want to help our children to learn to socialise and integrate in the community. We aim to encourage children to foster interests they can pursue on leaving our care and learn how to make positive use of their leisure time and have fun.

We encourage our children to explore their creativity through arts and crafts based activities at home and externally, dance and drama and writing workshops including public performances.

We encourage our children’s intellectual development through extending their curriculum throughout the 24hr day, including developing a love of learning and curiosity about learning for life.

When they are ready, we support them to join local clubs that appeal to their interests. Our children have a choice of attending any of the following groups: football, brownies, cadets, gymnastics, street dance, drumming, Sunday School and swimming lessons, also offered is drama, gymnastics, majorettes, football and rock climbing. We enjoy cinema, bowling, walking, swimming, laser quest and trips to zoos, museums, play grounds and the beach. We also arrange visits to sporting events and rugby and football matches. We will try our best to encourage children to maintain any special interests they may have and try a variety of new ones.

We encourage our children to try different sports. Children play football, tennis, basketball and badminton locally. We encourage a physically healthy lifestyle for our children.

We also help make them aware of their potential talents, develop skills, self-motivation, and self-discipline. Most importantly, we want to give our children the chance to make friends and feel successful.

Outcomes Our Children

• Explore their creative ability in a wide range of creative activities

• Develop a love of learning inside and outside of school

• Play and have fun

• Join clubs and make friends locally

• Gain skills and interests which can last a lifetime

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Health

14. Details of healthcare or therapy provided a) The qualifications and professional supervision of the staff involved in providing any healthcare or therapy

Our Educational Psychologists Academic and Professional Qualifications include: Educational Psychology MSc PGCE (Mathematics 11-18) Psychology and Mathematics Joint Honours BSc 2:1 Statement of Competence in Educational Testing (Level A) M.A. Educational Psychology PGCE (Middle Years 7-14 BSc (hons) Psychology 2 B.Sc Psychology (1st Class Hons) M.Ed. Educational Psychology Advanced Diploma in SEN Professional Affiliations include: Graduate member of British Psychological Society Member of the register of Chartered Psychologists Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society Registered with the Health Professions Council Association of Educational Psychologists. AEP Health Professionals Council. HPC British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy

Supervised by: All have clinical supervision with Senior Psychologists at least once every half term.

Our Psychologists

Full details of the Psychologists, their qualifications and professional supervision are detailed in the Appletree Treatment Centre Healthcare and Therapy appendix, a copy of which can be obtained from [email protected]

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Our Therapists Art, Drama, Music, Play, Speach and Language, Occupational, Confidential Counsellor Academic and Professional Qualifications include: B.A. (Hons) Fine Art Post Graduate Diploma in Art Psychotherapy

BA (Hons) Creative Expression Therapies: First MA Art Psychotherapy

BA (Hons) Philosophy MA Philosophy & Religion MA Art Psychotherapy Practice

BA (hons) Communication Studies and Drama MA in Acting MA Drama Therapy

BA (Hons) Music Post Graduate Diploma in Music Therapy

BA (Hons) Anthropology Post Graduate Diploma in Play Therapy

M.Ed BA DipCSLT Reg HPC Cert MRCSLT MASLTIP

MBACP Counselling and Psychotherapy

HPC OT Membership of professional bodies: Health Professions Council British Association of Art Therapists HCPC Registration No: AS11205 BAAT HCPC Registration No: AS14358 BAAT

Registered with BADTH and HCPC registered

HCPC and M registered Registered with BAPT The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists CPSM/Health Professions Council Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice Association for Teaching and Learning Supervised by: Senior Therapists - once a month. Informal peer supervisions on a regular basis, particularly following difficult therapy session. Our Therapists Full details of the Therapists, their qualifications and professional supervision are detailed in the Appletree Treatment Centre Healthcare and Therapy appendix, a copy of which can be obtained from [email protected]

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Therapeutic techniques used and supervised at Willow Bank Our children access individual therapy from therapists trained in play therapy, art therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, family therapy, occupational therapy, EMDR and Speech and Language therapy. All of these qualified therapists have their own management and clinical supervision from qualified supervisors. Copies of qualifications, membership of professional bodies and clinical supervision dates are kept and monitored by the Principal. Psychologists Our Psychologist’s provide clinical consultation to our teaching and care teams on a regular basis. When training needs have been identified, they have provided training days for these teams. Our Psychologists have also conducted or overseen research on our effectiveness and this informs our programme and our individual plans for our children. Play and Art Therapists When a child is assessed as needing individual therapy, usually as a result of abuse and neglect, we have a contract with About Children to provide this service. This allows us to access a number of experienced therapists with different areas of expertise to best match our children's needs. A therapist conducts a six-week assessment that includes a thorough consideration of the child’s history and contact with the professionals and family as appropriate. If they assess that it is appropriate, they then work on a weekly basis with the individual child. They provide reports for reviews and they also meet regularly with the teams working with the children to inform their practice and support the therapeutic process. Educational Psychologist An Educational Psychologist provides consultation for an individual child when this is assessed as appropriate. Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Usually our children remain under the oversight of their local psychiatrist if medication has been prescribed. If this is not practical then we access our local NHS Trust Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. Confidential Counsellor We provide our team members with access to a confidential counsellor for a limited number of sessions to address issues that cannot be handled by management or other clinical team members. Occupational Therapy When a child is assessed as needing an occupational therapy assessment our nurse co-ordinates a referral to a local Occupational Therapist. The assessment usually takes place within twelve weeks and can result in individual therapy and advice to teams as appropriate. Speech and Language Therapy When a child is assessed as needing a speech and language assessment or therapy, we contact our Speech and Language Therapist who will arrange an immediate assessment if necessary or include them in her next regular visit. Nurse We employ a nurse who oversees the health needs of our children, ensures regular health, dentist and optician appointments. They are available during the day for minor injuries and ailments and will attend any medical appointments with the children. They provide advice for the teams on minor or common childhood ailments and co-ordinate training. They monitor children's health requirements ensuring that they are kept up to date with regular childhood health reviews, immunisations and where appropriate LAC medicals. Our children’s health is very important to us. Our nurse makes sure that all of the children are registered with our local GP, dentist and optician. The nurse makes sure our children all attend their regular appointments and have regular health checks.

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Children’s health records are maintained and shared with parents and other relevant professionals at review meetings. Parents or those with parental responsibility are informed of any accident or illness requiring GP or hospital treatment immediately. We use some non-prescribed medication for minor scratches or illnesses, we agree this use with parents before a child is placed with us. All prescribed medication is monitored and logged through the nurse and all staff are trained in the dispensing of medication to the children. Independent Visitor We provide our children with 24 hour access to an independent person who will listen to any concern and can be a point of assistance outside the organisation. They can be accessed via a telephone and they also regularly visit and have tea with the children and young people. At Willow Bank therapists work with each child’s house tutor in the same way that they work with birth parents, adoptive or foster carers. They talk regularly and share ideas and information to work in partnership to help their child. Where appropriate, they work together to promote attachment. Each child has a team of carers and whilst the house tutor is important, all carers need to be able to interact therapeutically. Therefore therapists offer consultation to the whole team of carers to help share information and ideas and agree how individual children would most helpfully be treated. These discussions inform the children’s placement and action plans. Our psychologists provide a safe environment for our staff to discuss and explore their own feelings. They meet with all of our care, teaching, management and facilities teams away from the children. Our staff value these opportunities to explore difficult issues in a supportive and non-judgmental way. The final part of our clinical programme is the extension of our training programme to include regular training days led by our psychologists and our children’s therapists. These ensure that all the team members learn about the theory of child psychological development, attachment and trauma symptoms. This can then inform and underpin their practice and their consultation sessions. Outcomes

• Our children’s individual therapeutic needs are met

• Our children live in a stable and nurturing environment

• Our children can make sense of their experiences

• Our children’s mental health needs are met

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We measure the effectiveness of the health care we offer through our children’s individual health plans which the nurse co-ordinates in consultation with the home and school teams. We also use the Healthy Schools status and Eco Awards for an external validation of our effectiveness.

Outcomes Our children have:

• comprehensive physical, mental and emotional health assessments

• improved health and well-being

• healthy meals which include our children’s input

• experience of a variety of foods from all around the world to help choose tasty and healthy options

• a wide variety of physical activities

• enjoy healthy activity and have fun

• help to feel good, care about themselves and plan for a positive future

We measure the effectiveness of our therapy through feedback from the children most clearly evidenced by engagement in therapy and described in six monthly reports and through a reduction in the evidence of trauma symptoms as measured by the trauma symptom checklist.

Outcomes • Our children’s therapeutic needs are assessed

• Our children are allocated an appropriate therapist when they are ready to

access therapy • Our children regularly attend therapy sessions • Our children’s carers support the therapeutic process • Our children’s symptoms of trauma decrease

All of this information is available at any time and is continuously being reviewed. Progress is formally reviewed involving the child and all appropriate adults at six monthly reviews where targets are assessed and reviewed.

At Willow Bank we help children experience success in all areas of their lives and give them a chance of happiness in the future.

Health

14. Details of healthcare or therapy provided

b) information about how the effectiveness of any healthcare or therapy provided is measured, the evidence demonstrating its effectiveness and the details of how information or the evidence can be accessed.

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The evidence that we use to demonstrate the effectiveness of our health care and therapy is contained in the plans and reports which we share with the child, their carers or family and all professionals involved with the child. The principle evidence is a reduction in or elimination of problems as identified in each child’s Placement and Action Plan and Review Report. We also use an improvement in achievement in school as evidence as children who are healthy and benefitting from therapy are more able to achieve in school. The most crucial demonstration of effectiveness is that we increase the time children can spend with parents or carers successfully as reported by the children and carers and ultimately we measure our success by helping children make an eventual transition to full time family and day school, either for special needs or mainstream. In the last four years 94% of our leavers have achieved this.

Outcomes Our children experience:

• A reduction in or elimination of problems as identified in each child’s Placement and

Action Plan and Review Report

• Engagement in therapy and reduction in trauma symptoms as measured by the trauma symptom checklist

• An improvement in attainment in school

• An increase in time they can spend with parents or carers successfully as

reported by the children and carers

• A reduction of difficulties and increase in strengths measured by Strength and Difficulties Questionnaires

• An increase in self-esteem and empathy evidenced through regular, researched

outcomes measures

• An improvement in achievement in school

• An eventual transition to full time carers and day school, either for special needs or mainstream

Positive relationships

15. Willow Bank’s arrangements for promoting contact between children and their family and friends.

For the majority of the children at Willow Bank family contact forms an important part of their programme. It is vital that each child has the best contact for them and their individual family.

Working with Families We want our children's families and foster families to be fully involved in our work and their children's progress. This process starts prior to admission when we meet and talk with parents and professionals about their expectations and hopes for their children.

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Once placed with us, children visit their home according to the plan agreed upon in their programme. Weekend visits home are initially organised before a child joins us and a pattern is established together with the arrangements for how they will travel home with an adult. We can facilitate supervised contact locally or in the child’s home area. The children’s families are welcome to visit Willow Bank and to spend time with their children in the beautiful Lake District setting. When the child cannot go home we arrange for the parent/s to stay in local hotels/guest houses. This often proves a valuable asset in helping families see their children in new surroundings, with support from the Willow Bank Team. Telephone calls are supported and supervised if required. Children are also supported to email, write and send appropriate cards/gifts. Many families have found that, with our support, they have been able to regain a relationship with their child which they thought they had lost forever.

The main aims of family contact can be briefly summarised as follows: • To maintain valuable contact with family and minimise feelings of rejection or guilt in

the child • To enable the team to closely monitor the child’s home contact position and status

within the family • To keep the family informed of progress and developments at Willow Bank and

particularly to keep the family conversant with our aims and objectives for their child and encourage consistency

• To help in cases of crisis or difficulty • To maintain appropriate peer contacts • To assist in rehabilitation into day school

Contact with friends from before they come to Willow Bank can be very important and helpful to our children. When it is in their best interests we will promote former friendships through phone calls, emails, letters, cards and visits. It is important we help maintain positive relationships as this is supportive of our children’s identity and self-esteem. Our children are given the opportunity to and are encouraged to make new friends whilst they are with us, within Willow Bank, and in the local community when attending external clubs.

Outcomes

• Our children maintain relationships with family and friends

• Our children experience minimal rejection

• Our children understand their family and their position within it

• Our children understand why they no longer live within their family

• Families understand their children’s needs

• Our children experience consistent, safe boundaries

• Family contact is a safe and meaningful experience for our children

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Protection of children 16. Willow Bank’s approach to the monitoring and

surveillance of the Children.

It is very important for our children’s safety, emotional well-being and healthy attachments that they have trusted, reliable and engaged adults around them. We need to be where our children are and this is the best way to achieve our aims. For most of their time with us we will be alongside our children, playing with them, sharing meals, talking with them, sometimes just sitting or walking and enjoying our environment. We understand that a child may need some time alone and they can do this in their room, home or gardens but we will be checking that they are safe. We believe this approach is far preferable to achieve our aims than any electronic or mechanical means of surveillance. When children are getting ready to move on we will help them with more independence in small manageable and monitored stages.

Outcomes

Our children are: • Safe physically and emotionally

• Actively engaged with trusted and reliable adults

• Able to have privacy with safeguards

• Free of electronic or mechanical means of surveillance

• Helped to gain independence in small manageable and monitored stages when they are ready

Protection of children

17. Willow Bank’s approach to behavioural support a) Willow Bank’s approach to the use of restraint in relation to children

We help our children to learn about how to behave and how to treat others. Often the first step is to help them to learn to care about themselves and then gradually to care about others.

We believe that each child is an individual and is entitled to respect, courtesy and full recognition of his/her individual rights and needs. We aim to praise and promote positive behaviour at all times. Unwanted behaviour is either ignored or consequences are given with time away from the activity/class, not being trusted to go outside of Willow Bank, repairing damage by doing small jobs or repaying time which has been wasted. At Willow Bank we look after young people who exhibit unsafe behaviour and provide not only a good standard of physical care but also an environment which nurtures and develops the individuality, potential and self-worth within a climate of care designed to promote the development of self-management and social responsibility. Physical intervention is only used as a last resort where there is an immediate risk of serious harm to a child or those around them and where other means of intervening have not been successful.

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If a physical intervention does occur then great attention is given to analysing the event by the team member and their manager, reflecting on how it may have affected all involved and most importantly restoring the child’s relationship with the team members and the community. The child is never blamed, only helped to reflect, grow and re-integrate. Patterns are monitored weekly, monthly and six monthly and Action Plans created to address concerns.

In the Children’s Guide we explain our approach in appropriate language. The ‘What is fair’ section gives details of:

• What we will stop the children from doing • Consequences our children can expect • Reassurance about the reasons for any physical intervention

Outcomes

Our children: • learn to manage feelings and behaviour

• feel effective

• build self-esteem

• enjoy success and cope with setbacks

• gain the confidence to explore the world around them

• experience less sense of difference

• develop tolerance, conflict resolution, social skills

• These skills help our children to gain understanding of themselves and

others and what it means to be part of a caring community Children’s Behaviour

17. Willow Bank’s approach to behavioural support b) How people working in Willow Bank are trained in restraint and how their competence is assessed

Physical intervention is used by team members fully trained in the CALM method of diffusing potentially harmful situations. CALM is accredited for this use by the British Institute of Learning Difficulties. We have our own qualified CALM trainers who have to be re-accredited annually. We also have a second trainer\verifier present at every verification. To become verified a team member has to attend a two day CALM theory training course and a two day CALM practical training course. The emphasis is always on avoiding physical intervention and de-escalating potentially violent situations wherever possible. The CALM approach is re-visited in team meetings and team members have to have an annual re-accreditation. On each occasion physical intervention occurs, a meeting with the team member’s manager assesses whether the situation was managed well and if any lessons can be learned.

Outcomes

Our children are kept safe by team members: • Trained and verified in an accredited physical intervention qualification

• who re-fresh their physical intervention training

• who have to get annual re-accreditation and verification

• who reflect on their practice

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Leadership and management

18. Name and work address of a) Registered provider

Appletree Treatment Centre Natland Kendal Cumbria LA9 7QS

Company registration: 3838620


18. Name and work address of b) Responsible individual

Clair Davies, Willow Bank’s Principal Appletree Treatment Centre Natland Road Kendal Cumbria LA9 7QS


18. Name and work address of c) Registered Manager

Russell Clement, Registered Manager Willow Bank 20 Natland Road Kendal Cumbria

LA9 7LT

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Leadership and management 19. Details of the experience and qualifications of staff, including any staff commissioned to provide education or health care.

Our Senior Team Clair Davies - Principal BA (Cantab) M.SP.Ed (with experience since 1989)

Russell Clement – Registered Manager

NVQ Level 4 Childcare (C&YP Leadership & Management) NVQ Level 3 Health and Social Care (C&YP), (with experience since 2005)

Rob Davies - Head of Education MA, Bed, NPQH (with experience since 1985)

Sonia Morgan - Senior Teacher BSc (Hons), NQT 2007, PGCE Primary SEN (with experience since 2002)

Our Care Team

Full details of our Care Team, their experience and qualifications are detailed in Willow Bank’s Staff appendix, a copy of which can be obtained from [email protected]

Our Education Team

Full details of our Education Team, their experience and qualifications are detailed in Appletree School Staff appendix, a copy of which can be obtained from [email protected]

Outcomes

• Appropriately qualified and experienced people have responsibility for our children’s care, health care and education

• Our children have a variety of appropriate role models of both sexes

and all ages


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20. Details of the management and staffing structure of Willow Bank, including arrangements for the professional supervision of staff, including staff who provide education or health care.

Our Support, Supervision and Training

Willow Bank team members have monthly support sessions. New team members have fortnightly support sessions until they have completed their induction, this usually takes six months. The aim of these sessions is to support and develop the individual and share information. This is formally recorded with actions agreed and reviewed at each meeting. An annual performance agreement is agreed annually and this informs the actions and targets for the year.

Each team has a team meeting at least once a fortnight and informal debriefing takes place at the end of every shift. All the teams have the opportunity to meet and talk with the Principal and other senior team members throughout the week.

Everyone has an individual or group clinical support session at least once a month. One of the keys to the success of Willow Bank is the ability of the team to communicate efficiently and honestly. When we achieve this our children feel secure and cared for and the team operates effectively and compassionately.

We value the benefit of training to enhance our knowledge and skills to do our job effectively and professionally. We believe that we are all continually learning and that formal training is an important part of this process. It gives us the opportunity to network with other professionals and promote our organisation. It also gives us the chance to share valuable information with our colleagues and promote a healthy and dynamic working environment. Staff training is ongoing and opportunities are made available for staff to take courses both in house and externally that will benefit their professional development and the care of the children.

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Outcomes

• Our teams meet or exceed the training requirements of the Quality Standards for Children’s Homes

• Children experience care, support and education from well trained and

supported teams

• Our children grow and our teams work within a culture of individual development and continuous improvement


21. How Willow Bank promotes appropriate role models of both sexes. With all of our teams we try to maintain a balance of male and female, older and younger members so that the children have a range of role models and attachment figures.

Outcomes

• Our children have a variety of appropriate role models of both

sexes and all ages

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Care planning

22. Willow Bank’s criteria for the admission of young people, including any policies and procedures for emergency admission.

Admission Criteria

Our children are aged between 6 and 10 years on admission and we offer places for boys and girls. Children admitted to Willow Bank will have a range of difficulties which have caused a breakdown in educational settings and/or social work establishments.

These difficulties may include: • Experiences of physical, emotional, sexual abuse • Specific learning difficulties • Mild/moderate social communication difficulties • Behavioural issues • Attatchment Disorders

Willow Bank attempts to take a longer perspective by not offering placements, (and thus inviting further experiences of rejection), to children who are/have : • In their final year of Primary School • Psychotic impairment • Serious Conduct Disorder

Our Admission Policy is available from [email protected] Emergency Admissions We make a long term commitment to our children and carefully plan for new arrivals so that we can maintain that commitment. We do not take emergency placements.

Child’s Admission Profile Children admitted will have a range of difficulties. They usually have had a disrupted family life and may have been excluded from local educational provision. If they have been placed with foster carers, these carers are struggling to cope or the placement may have broken down altogether.

The difficulties our children have experienced may include experience of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect, specific learning difficulties or a combination of these. They usually have Statements of Special Educational Needs or EHCP’s from their local education authorities.

Outcomes

Our children: • Experience a safe and secure home

• Have a sense of belonging and of being wanted

• Needs are met by an appropriate placement

that can be flexible as their needs change

Statement of PurposeDecember 2018

Appletree Treatment CentreNatland, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 7QS

tel: 015395 60253email: [email protected]

www.appletreetreatmentcentre.co.uk

We aim to help our childrenestablish a secure safe

base in the world, byhelping them to:

Feel physically healthy and deservingof a safe, warm and comfortable

place to live and learn

Build healthy attachments withdependable adults

Engage in therapy, which enablesthem to process their feelings

and experiences

We support our children to:

Build self-confidence, emotionalcompetence and resilience

Develop self-management skillsand positive self-perception

We provide our children with:

An environment of acceptance,support, feeling a sense of

belonging and being loved

A child-centred, safe spaceto explore their thoughts

and feelings

Documents

Statement of Purpose · Willow Bank – Statement of Purpose Our Aims and Outcomes Quality and purpose of care 1. A statement of the range of needs of the children for whom it is