Children's Home run by Aspris New Education Services Limited in Lancashire

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.2

The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff work closely with external professionals such as health, education and social workers to ensure that young people are receiving appropriate care.

p.3

The children's home provision is good because:

 Relationships between staff and parents are open and honest and communication is transparent. This has improved family contact and developed strong family bonds.

p.3

The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff demonstrate a genuine affection for the young people in their care. They provide warmth and nurture to help them develop socially, emotionally and physically.

p.3

The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people make progress because of the support they receive.

p.3

The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff maintain excellent communication with parents and families and this results in well planned and supportive contact arrangements.

p.3

The children's home provision is good because:

 Consistent behaviour management strategies implemented by staff are effective in supporting young people to manage their distress and anxieties appropriately.

p.3

The children's home provision is good because:

 Managers and staff work in partnership with other agencies such as placing authorities, health providers, and education. This ensures young people’s progress is monitored and any issues are quickly identified and addressed.

p.3

The children's home strengths

 Effective communication and observation skills are used by staff to seek young people’s views about all aspects of the care. Young people enjoy a full range of social opportunities and experiences that integrate them into the local community.  Good communication between young people, their parents and professionals ensures a holistic approach to all aspects of care planning and daily living routines.  Young people are all suitably engaged with education and are making good progress in relation to their ability and understanding. Young people benefit from attendance at the Provider’s specialist school that provides for young people with mild to severe autistic spectrum conditions and associated complex learning needs and challenging behaviour.

p.4

Reg. Requirement Due date

6 In order to ensure the purpose of care standard is met the registered person must:

p.5

Reg. Requirement Due date

2(b)(iv) provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. In particular the completion of daily body maps for all young people must be reviewed

p.5

Reg. Requirement Due date

33 he registered person must ensure that all employees- (b) receive practice -related supervision by a person with appropriate experience ( Regulation 33 (4)(a)) In particular the person with day to day responsibility for the running of the home must receive supervision in line with company policy. 07/09/2015

p.5

Reg. Requirement Due date

36 The registered person must maintain records for each child which: 1(a)include all information listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. In particular this relates to maintaining a record of the statutory provision under which the child is accommodated (Regulation 36 (1) (a)) 07/09/2015

p.5

Reg. Requirement Due date

45 In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must: (4)(a)supply to HMCI a copy of the quality care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed (Regulation 45 (4)(a)) 07/09//2015

p.5

Information about this children's home

This children’s home is operated by a private organisation and is registered for up to four young people. The home provides residential and respite care for young people with learning disabilities.

p.6

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.6

Recent inspection history

24/02/2015 CH - Interim improved effectiveness

p.6

Recent inspection history

03/12/2013 CH - Interim Inadequate Progress

p.6

good

Young people appear happy in the home and are affectionate to and interact well with staff. Staff display warmth and affection in their interactions with young people while teaching appropriate and safe boundaries. Young people respond positively to the very individualised, nurturing care that staff provide and as a result, they make good, and in some cases outstanding progress. A social worker confirms that the parents of the young person she is responsible for ‘…have every confidence in the service. They are in regular contact with their child and are extremely appreciative of the progress he is making’.

p.7

good

All young people enjoy regular contact with family members and others whose friendship they enjoy at school. These opportunities ensure that they sustain and further develop relationships that are important to them now and will continue to be so in the future. For one young person this has enabled him to successfully enjoy a family holiday abroad. All young people benefit from a wide range of activities and outings provided by the home that enables them to participate in the life of their community and enjoy new and fun experiences.

p.7

good

Young people benefit from excellent attention to and understanding of their health care needs. Thorough assessment, planning and review with relevant health care professionals ensures that young people’s health care requirements are thoroughly investigated and addressed. The home has established very positive relationships with health professionals and advocates on young people’s behalf to ensure any medical investigations are completed in a way that minimises the trauma to them. For example, because of staff intervention several health professionals were able to be co-ordinated so that only one general anaesthetic was necessary for dental work and other investigations to be completed. This reduced the young person’s distress considerably. The social worker said ’This is excellent co-ordination of services, only undertaken after staff consultation with parents and certainly benefits the young person. The quality of care is of a very high standard.’

p.7

good

Staff accompany and care for young people in school, working alongside teaching staff throughout the day. This ensures that young people are consistently supported in accessing learning, have good attendance and are securing good educational achievement. This consistency of approach and support for young people developing new skills enables them to develop their potential for learning and developing social skills. Judgement grade

p.7

good

Young people live in a safe environment. All risks are kept under regular review and there is good staff liaison with parents and placing authorities following any incident. This ensures young people remain and are protected.

p.8

good

Comprehensive behaviour support plans and individual risk assessments are well documented and available for each young person. They ensure that a consistent and supportive approach is taken to effectively managing challenging behaviours.

p.8

good

Young people benefit from high staffing ratios in accordance with their assessed individual needs. As a consequence there have been no incidents of young people running away or being missing from home. However, staff are familiar with relevant procedures and action they should take should such an event occur.

p.8

good

There is a low level of physical intervention used to manage young people’s behaviour. Staff rarely use restraint, although all permanent and bank staff are trained to do so. They use de-escalation to help young people manage their anger and distress. Young people are rewarded for positive behaviours and as a result experience additional opportunities to engage in enjoyable activities in the community.

p.8

good

All staff members are trained to recognise, respond and report safeguarding concerns and this training is regularly refreshed. This ensures they are up to date with changes. Child protection concerns are promptly referred to the placing authority and local safeguarding team. Records are kept of all actions taken, and demonstrate that the home communicates with the relevant authorities until the outcome is known. Placement plans are amended to ensure that young people are supported during any investigation that is undertaken.

p.8

good

No new staff have been appointed since the previous inspection. Staff recruitment procedures are sufficiently robust to try to ensure that unsuitable people do not have the opportunity to work with young people.

p.8

requires improvement

The Registered Manager has responsibility for two of the company’s home and has previously split her time across both establishments. The limitations of this shared role have been acknowledged by senior managers within the organisation and a registered manager post exclusively for this home is currently advertised. The current Registered Manager has not been a presence within the home for some months. An assistant manager has been seconded from another home to be responsible for the day to day management since April 2015. Although the manager has been in post only a few weeks, she has begun to have a positive impact on the home. She has identified what is working well and is building on that. She has identified weaknesses in recording that impact on this judgement, and has organised report writing training to address these issues. For example, staff currently complete body maps for young people twice a day. There is no justification

p.9

requires improvement

for why this is needed for all young people and can be interpreted as intrusive and an infringement of their human rights.

p.9

requires improvement

The importance of maintaining a full and consistent staff team is recognised Recruitment is underway and actions the assistant manager has taken drastically reduce the use of agency staff, who at times have not had the training to enable them to fully support young people if an incident occurs. A development plan in place to ensure that the home is consistently sufficiently resourced and staffed to meet the needs of young people, in line with the statement of purpose.

p.9

requires improvement

New recording systems are being introduced information that show young people’s progress in all areas of their development for example: positive relationships, outcomes and their protection. This comprehensive method of measuring outcomes and engaging young people will support staff when setting achievable targets for young people. As it gives the home a systemised way of gathering information and evidencing progress. The information staff gather evidences the small changes in young people’s behaviours in a safely maintained environment.

p.9

requires improvement

Staff report that they are well supported. They receive regular supervision, with an annual appraisal of their performance. However, the assistant manager has only received one formal supervision since taking on her new responsibilities. This is contrary to company guidelines and means she has not had access to the formal support her new responsibilities merit. New staff receive regular feedback on how they are progressing through the induction period. The organisation provides a comprehensive training programme for staff, and mandatory training, such as safeguarding and health and safety, has either been completed or planned.

p.9

requires improvement

Young people preparing for moving on from the home benefit from co-ordinated planning across care and education. The transition planning is sensitive to the communication and comprehension difficulties individual young people experience and aim to ensure they are well supported as they move on towards adult life.

p.9

requires improvement

There is a strong emphasis on delivering good care. The team continually strive to provide the best outcomes for young people. The team communicate well with each other to ensure everyone is kept up-to-date with new and changing information about young people’s needs and circumstances. This is done in a variety of ways, which are effective in practice, such as structured shift handovers and more informal sharing of information. The development plan identifies that formal full staff team meetings must become a priority and senior managers are reviewing rotas at school to try to establish this when the new academic year begins.

p.9

requires improvement

An independent person appointed by the company, undertakes regular monitoring of the home. These reports have not been forwarded to Ofsted in a timely manner as required by regulation. This does not enable the regulatory body to have good oversight of the home.

p.10

What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

p.11

What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

p.11

What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

p.11

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children's

p.12

Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.12

Information about this inspection

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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

p.13

Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.13

Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.13

Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

p.13