Children's Home, Residential special school run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in Staffordshire

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has improved effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, one young person has moved on to an adult placement and two young people have moved in. The staff team has supported these transitions well. For example, the staff have given a young person support to build up their relationships with their new staff team by visiting their future placement for meals. This early relationship building has enabled a smooth transition for the young person.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff team work endlessly to build up trusting and nurturing relationships with the young people. This support enables young people to settle and to make meaningful progress. Young people are now more tolerant of each other and this has enabled them to participate in holidays together and enjoy special events in the home such as a Halloween disco.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has worked hard to recruit new staff so that young people receive continuity of care. This has meant that the manager no longer needs to use agency staff. The staff team is knowledgeable and understanding of the young people’s needs and achievements. As a result, young people are encouraged to reach their full potential.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff provide young people with a range of stimulating activities both inside and outside the home. This includes helping young people to participate in cooking and shopping activities, swimming and arts and craft events. These are tailored to match young people’s individualised needs.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people can demonstrate challenging behaviours that can result in damage to the home. The manager ensures that all repairs are carried out quickly.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

No young person has been missing from care and restraints are rarely required to manage young people’s behaviour. Staff attempt a range of other creative methods to manage young people’s behaviour. Nevertheless, staff will take effective action when young people are at risk of harm to themselves, others or the environment. However, the recording of restraints and subsequent actions is not always effective. For example, staff record that young people are not able to understand the debrief tool used by the home. The manager and staff have not explored an alternative recording strategy to reflect young people’s communication needs. There are also some inconsistences in how staff record ‘body maps’ to show marks or injuries to young people. Although the registered manager reviews all restraints, she does not always add comments on the quality of the staff team’s recording. This means that the manager’s monitoring system is not effective in reviewing all

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

aspects of staff practice. Staff record the behaviour of young people in various ways. For example, some staff use general terms instead of more detailed descriptors of young people’s behaviours. This means that patterns and trends in young people’s behaviours are not easily captured in records. However, these shortfalls have no impact on young people’s progress. This is mainly because of the very low numbers of restraints and the fact that staff have a good understanding of young people’s behavioural traits.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager continues to work in partnership with other professionals. These include placing authorities, advocates and the home’s school.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager is always looking at new ways to improve young people’s care. She has started a focus group that is helping young people to share their views on what they would like to see improved in the home. The young people have participated in this with enthusiasm and the manager has acted on their views.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has designed an excellent ‘Young person’s guide’ and has plans to develop this further. The manager and members of staff have attended a conference on autism. This triggered staff completing specialised training in ‘Lego’ therapy.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has addressed the requirements raised at the last inspection. This has resulted in improvements being made to the home environment to ensure that young people live in a home that is both safe and comfortable. The manager has also ensured that all young people now have access to advocacy support.

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Information about this children’s home

This home is part of a residential school and is part of a large organisation. The service is registered for 23 young people who have learning disabilities. The home offers planed long-term placements and short-break stays.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 27/07/2016 Full Good 22/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/10/2015 Full Good 12/03/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than five days after the incident of restraint. (Regulation 35 (3)(c)) Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. Children should be offered the opportunity to access an advocacy support to help them with this. (Regulation 7 (2)(b)(iii)) (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

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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 that 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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