Children's Home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in Suffolk

Good

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

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Quality care is highly individualised and carefully tailored to young people’s needs.  Young people attend and engage in education.  Staff have good working relationships with outside professionals and support contact well.  Young people are safeguarded and risk taking behaviour is minimal.  Young people are stimulated and busy with a variety of activities.  The home is well managed.  Management of internet safety has resulted in a general policy that limits social networks. Consequently, young people do not have equality of access to communication.  The training and development programme has not provided staff with training to support their roles.  Staff have not pursued social workers with enough rigour to ensure care planning encompasses young people’s transition from the home.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  Ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risk to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. This is in regard to the organisational policy that restricts internet use. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  Work with the placing authority to ensure that each child's transition is planned and help each child to prepare for leaving. This is in relation to pursuit of Pathways Plans. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 57, paragraph 11.9)

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Information about this children's home

This children's home provides care and accommodation for up to six young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is owned by a private organisation. There is an onsite school at another home owned by the organisation that young people can attend.

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Good

The benefits to young people since moving to the home are clearly evident. All young people attend educational provision and make good progress in relation to previous attainment. School attendance is excellent; routines in the home support this well. Young people are learning to successfully integrate with school peers, supporting their personal and social development. Thought and consideration is given to higher education. Work experience placements are identified and young people are supported to apply for part time jobs. This prepares young people for adult lives. Staff enjoy spending time with young people and provide quality time that offers young people a chance to develop their unique skills and interests. Young people benefit from going shopping, skating, dancing, going to the cinema, fishing and helping at equestrian events. Holidays are provided. Young people enjoy spending time with staff and in the main relationships are good. They are supported to have

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Good

their pets at the home, offering them comfort and consistency.

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Good

The accommodation is spacious and well appointed. The rural countryside, extensive grounds and links to nature provide a tranquil and safe location. The house is furnished to a high standard and there is ample space for communal living. Bedrooms are personalised and roomy, providing private space away from others in the house. Staff seek and value young people’s views. For example, changes to staff teams have been instigated after feedback from young people about differences in staff responses and support. House meetings capture their ideas although open communication is ongoing and evident from a record of mumbles and grumbles. These are responded to and outcomes are clearly recorded. Staff encourage young people to speak and they value their views. Staff are resourceful and helpful in supporting contact arrangements for those living a long way from home. Young people are able to use their mobile phones

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Good

and the house phone to speak to families. However, other social networking is curtailed by an organisational policy resulting in no access to social network sites. This does not offer equality of opportunity to those living away from home and away from their peers and fails to take into account each individual. Judgement grade

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Good

Young people are safe at the home. The majority of young people feel safe although there are some personality differences and tensions. Staff are aware of the dynamics and provide opportunities for young people to build positive relationships by providing quality time opportunities outside the home. While there have been clashes, these have reduced and young people are beginning to resolve their differences. Staff support safe group dynamics, good consideration is given to location of bedrooms and levels of adult supervision. This helps protect the young people in the home. Placement planning identifies risks to individuals. There are very few instances of young people who go missing, and no identified drug or alcohol misuse. The rural environment provides a safe haven away from negative peer pressures and urban influences that could pose a risk to young people’s safety. This enables young people to be safe.

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Good

Staff provide boundaries that are consistently upheld. Young people do push against these although, in general, behaviour is improving. Communal living provides an environment in which young people learn about tolerance and diversity. They learn that discriminatory racial insults are unlawful and that their needs cannot always be prioritised over other young people. Clear boundaries help prepare young people for their adult lives. The manager provides clear guidance to staff, ensuring a fair approach. This gives young people security in that they know what to expect. When events reach a certain threshold, staff use physical intervention. These are mainly guided walks and blocks preventing young people from harming one another. Following incidents, young people’s views are sought and debriefs are held. The use of physical intervention is proportionate; staff are trained to manage incidents safely and are competent in their approach. This has prevented incidents

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Good

escalating and endangering other’s safety.

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Good

The home is a new service that opened eight months ago. The Registered Manager was appointed at the home’s registration. She has a level four qualification and extensive experience of managing provisions for young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The manager leads a team of staff maintaining a clear focus on young people’s needs. This has enabled young people to succeed in education, benefit from taking part in activities and develop stability in their lives. Management of the home is good and young people’s progress is evident. Admissions to the home are planned using detailed risk assessment of impact. These include consultation with existing young people placed in the home. While young people have settled well, their future plans are not always clear as social workers have not provided pathways plans for two young people. Staff have requested these but have failed to escalate these requests, leaving young people

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Good

unsure about their futures. Staff commend the manager and the supportive environment in which they work. Supervision and appraisal are regular and as result, staff feel supported and valued. One member of staff said: ‘This is the best management support I have ever experienced.’ The organisation’s learning and development programme is not effective. Enrolment has been delayed repeatedly, resulting in new staff that are unable to start a level three training and delaying the manager in commencing her level five qualification. This does not support the ongoing professional development of staff or equip them with the knowledge and understanding for the role. The organisation provides Foundations for Growth training courses accessed on-line. This enables staff to complete mandatory courses including food hygiene training; however, food storage in the home does not demonstrate that staff understand how to date and store food in line with guidelines.

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Good

A new monitoring tool developed by the manager gives an overview of each shift and related incidents. This is helpful in analysing patterns of responses and whether these are related to particular staff members or young people. This helps the manager identify areas for development, therefore improving staff practice. The manager is realistic in regard to development areas and the workforce development plan details these showing how the home will improve. In the short period of time the home has been open, the staff have successfully met the identified aims set out in the Statement of Purpose. Four young people have settled in well and made consistent progress. This is supported by good management and rigorous external monitoring. While there are identified areas to address, these do not detract from the positive impact the home has on young people’s lives.

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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.

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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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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

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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

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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 .

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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,

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

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

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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

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