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

Inspection report children‟s home: SC391860 1 SC391860 Registered provider: Priory Education Services Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is part of a residential special school and is managed by a large private organisation. The two adjacent houses are registered to accommodate 14 young people who have learning disabilities. The school is registered with the Department for Education and has a specialism in autistic spectrum disorder.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 September 2017

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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None

Inspection report children‟s home: SC391860 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Successful changes in staff practice, have seen young people‟s safety, health and care rapidly improve.  Young people now receive individualised care from staff who know them well.  Comprehensive care plans now enable staff to understand every aspect of the young person‟s life.  Parents speak positively about the care that staff give to their child.  Young people are supported to maintain contact with friends and family.  Partnership working is stronger.  New staff benefit from good-quality induction training.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children‟s home‟s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 A practice of locking the doors to the sensory room and snug detracts from the overall feel of the home.  Not all staff receive regular supervision.  Physical restraints are not always recorded.  Young people‟s individual targets are not kept up to date.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/06/2017 Full Inadequate 27/02/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 19/07/2016 Full Good 23/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC391860 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children‟s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the „Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (2)(h)) 09/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 09/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children‟s home; and the measures of control, discipline and restraint, which may be used in relation to children in the home. (Regulation 35 (1) (a)(b)) 09/11/2017

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Recommendations

 Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child‟s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child‟s access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child‟s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child‟s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. Information on restraint and deprivation of liberty is contained in the protection of children section of the Guide from paragraph 9.41. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.10) Inspection report children‟s home: SC391860 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the home‟s second full inspection after an inadequate judgment in June 2017. Since the inspection in June, there have been successful changes in staff practice, which has seen young people‟s safety, health and care rapidly improve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people now benefit from a consistent staff team which knows them well. Staff speak passionately about the young people and want the very best for them. Staff have a good understanding of each young person‟s abilities and they strive to help the young people to make ongoing progress. Staff are able to understand each young person‟s ques. As a result, young people are at ease and enjoy spending time with staff who understand them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are now making good progress. For example, one young person has successfully made the transition to a college placement because of the positive support from staff. Another young person has increased in confidence and is developing his independence skills surrounding his hygiene and being able to make choices for himself.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a range of activities. For example, young people go jogging and swimming. They enjoy the facilities available at the home, such as the sensory room and play equipment that includes swings and a trampoline.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents speak positively about the care that staff give to their child. One parent told the inspector: „[Staff] work closely with us as parents to ensure care is consistent and that any decisions are made in the best interests of our son. Staff are very friendly and interact with our son brilliantly. Our son receives excellent care and is very happy at [the home].‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to maintain contact with their family and friends. A parent told the inspector: „Staff go above and beyond to help [my son]. They also support us in the community during contact to make this as pleasant an experience as possible.‟ The parent told the inspector how behaviour management strategies were shared with them. This had enabled consistency in care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both houses are now nicely decorated and furnished and are clean. Young people have personalised their bedrooms and the communal areas now benefit from a variety of wall art. However, there remains a practice of locking the doors to the sensory room and snug. This practice continues to detract from the overall feel of the home.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Since the last inspection, no young person has gone missing from care. All staff are trained in understanding the indicators of child sexual exploitation and radicalisation. Staff are alert to any changes and know how to respond if concerns emerge. Inspection report children‟s home: SC391860 5 Behaviour management is consistent, and as a result young people‟s incidents have reduced. A parent told the inspector that she has not seen her son happier or calmer in his presentation.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

As a direct impact of training, there has been a culture shift in staff members‟ understanding around professional curiosity. This has brought improvements in practice that have in turn helped to reduce the number of incidents.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Partnership working is strong. There has been one safeguarding referral made. This was managed effectively and ongoing lessons have been learned and action taken. For example, whistle-blowing posters are now displayed to remind staff of their professional responsibilities.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Managers ensure that the home is maintained. This includes completing regular checks of electrical, gas and fire safety. Fire drills take place and help young people to have the knowledge of how to respond in an emergency.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The staff recruitment records have been carefully audited. This has ensured that staff are safe to work with the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The previous registered manager has recently submitted her resignation. A new manager has been in day-to-day charge since the last inspection. The new manager holds his level 4 diploma in management. He has submitted his application to be registered with Ofsted .

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has made improvements since the last inspection. He and his team have a clear vision for ongoing improvements to the home. These plans include a sensory garden and developing themed nights for the young people. The manager is currently developing a new interactive guide for children and is working in close partnership with the speech and language team to ensure that young people‟s communication needs are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has worked hard to fill staff vacancies. The new staff have brought fresh ideas with them that have been embraced by the manager. Staff receive a thorough induction, which means that they have the right initial skills to support young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager takes effective action to ensure that staff have obtained their level 3 diploma in residential childcare within the necessary timeframe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Although young people are making progress, there is a lack of management oversight of young people‟s written target plans. A number of the young people‟s targets have not been updated. As a result, the manager and staff are not able to be sufficiently reassured that each young person is receiving the right help to reach their full potential. Not all staff receive regular supervision. There has been a lack of management oversight to ensure that this has taken place. This means that there have been missed Inspection report children‟s home: SC391860 6 opportunities to reflect and learn from staff members‟ current practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff do not record all physical restraints. The manager has not challenged this shortfall. As a result, his monitoring is compromised.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

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Information about this inspection

Using the „Social care common inspection framework‟, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, 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‟. Inspection report children‟s home: SC391860 7

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Priory Education Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Priory Group, 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Katherine Bridon

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Inspectors

Louise Battersby, social care inspector Lisa Walsh, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC391860 8 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children‟s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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