HMYOI Werrington

What we found

Safeguarding procedures had improved since our last inspection and the safeguarding team had built a good relationship with the local authority. Frontline staff shortages had been addressed and provided children with a more consistent daily routine and better access to key services, including education. The Youth Custody Service and new managers from the education provider supported improvements in education. Children could now be allocated to classes based on their needs and aspirations and keep-aparts almost halved meaning education could change from part-time to full-time.

The establishment’s ongoing challenge was to safely reduce the number of small groups across all units, which fluctuated daily due to incidents. Children on A or C wing still had limited time out of cell and took part in activities in small groups of peers. Some children on the site still had as low as 2 hours out of cell.

Points to note: Poor day-to-day behaviour was not consistently challenged, play fighting went unaddressed and, although several serious staff injuries were caused by children biting them during restraint, no coaching took place with staff on how to prevent this. Many operational staff lacked experience, with just under half having less than two years in their role, and new staff needed time and support to develop good relationships with the children in their care.