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

Inspection report children’s home: SC465940 1 SC465940 Registered provider: Priory Education & Children’s Services

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private organisation. It is registered for the accommodation and care of seven children who have learning disabilities. Children can also attend the organisation’s school, which is located near to the home.

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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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Enforcement action since last inspection:

One compliance notice was served on 7 August 2017 with regards to regulation 12. A monitoring visit was conducted on 24 August 2017. A case review determined that the compliance notice had been met. Inspection report children’s home: SC465940 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children appear happy and comfortable in their home. The progress children make from when they first move into the home is significant.  The relationships between children and the care team are strong. The care team nurtures the children and looks after them with care and affection.  The care team supports children to become more secure and confident with their communication skills. This reduces self-harm and occurrences where children place themselves and others at risk.  Children have good access to activities that enrich their lives and experiences. With support from the care team, children plan their weekends and school holidays with activities that interest them.  The care team meets the children’s health and educational needs well.

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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

 Leaders and managers use the strengths and weaknesses of the home to inform the development plan. There continues to be a number of areas for further development which have not yet come to fruition. More time is required to make change and embed new systems.  Leaders and managers need to support the care team to develop its skills further for its role.  More work is required in some areas of the home to improve its appearance and homeliness. Leaders and managers have made the rear garden safe, but it is not yet reaching its full potential.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/08/2017 Monitoring N/A 25/07/2017 Full Inadequate 01/02/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 22/09/2016 Full Good 25/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC465940 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

6: The quality and purpose of care standard In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— meet the needs of each child; and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6(2)(c)(i)(ii)) This specifically relates to continuing to improve the appearence of the home. Paying particular attention to the gardens, ensuring the rear garden meets the needs of children. 02/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home. In particular the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(2)(c)(h)) In particular, continue to drive forward the home’s development plan to make continuous improvements including developing the skills of the staff team. 12/12/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC465940 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is a very settled home. Children have positive relationships with each other and have been living together for a lengthy period of time. The care team is consistent. Staff have good knowledge of the children’s individual needs. Children develop positive relationships with members of the care team, who are warm in their manner and positive role models for the children. The care team supports children to make good progress and achieve individual targets and goals. As children progress, they are increasing their self-care skills and participation in decision-making about their care and future aspirations. One child has attended and actively participated in their child looked after review for the first time. The focus on enabling children to communicate using the most suitable method for them is a strength of the home. A professional describes how a child has started to communicate verbally since living here.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good attendance in education and attend a local school which is linked to this organisation. Members of the care team attend important events at school with the children. Leaders and managers meet with school leaders on a weekly basis to ensure that care and education support is meeting the children’s needs. Children have individualised healthcare plans that detail their complex health needs. The care team supports children to attend health appointments. Leaders and managers ensure that children have access to specialist health services as required. The care team receives suitable training to meet the children’s health needs. The inspection took place in the school holidays and children were very busy with activities, both in and out of the home. Children have a weekly planner that they contribute to in order to plan their time and activity choice. The care team supports children to explore their individual interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have the opportunity to spend time with their families and build on these relationships wherever possible. The care team carefully plans this with families. Social stories and planners assist the children to understand when they are going to spend time with their family and how the care staff will support them. One child has recently been on holiday with their family with the support from the home.

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

Leaders and managers have conducted a full review of child protection since the previous inspection. All staff have training in child protection. Leaders and managers have managed one child protection concern using the new procedure. On this occasion, appropriate reporting took place to the local designated person and the child’s social worker. Comprehensive records are in place to detail actions taken by leaders and managers to protect the child. This is a significant improvement from the previous inspection. The care team has a good understanding of the new protocol for recording bruises or Inspection report children’s home: SC465940 5 marks that staff notice on children. Records detail the cause for these injuries. Leaders and managers regularly review and monitor these records to establish any patterns or trends. Children have individual risk assessments and positive behaviour support plans. Leaders

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

and managers keep these under regular review and they adapt them to meet the children’s changing needs. The care team focuses on supporting children with positive behaviour. One member of staff said, ‘We are role models and do the very basic things that create a positive foundation for the children. We are polite to one another, set the table at dinner, say good morning.’ Leaders and managers identify that, when children make progress with their communication skills, this increases positive behaviour. Some children have successfully reduced the frequency of self-harm and behaviour that puts others at risk as they have found ways to communicate their feelings to the care team. The use of restraint to protect children who are putting themselves and others at risk is kept to a minimum. When a restraint takes place, the care team involved reviews this in an effective debrief. Children also have an option to communicate their feelings to the

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

care team, but do not always choose to participate in this. Leaders and managers’ monitoring of these records is in-depth and analytical with a strong focus on children’s well-being. From this analysis, leaders and managers change strategies and commission specialist services to support children as and when necessary. Personal emergency evacuation plans are in place for the children. Children frequently take part in fire evacuation drills in the home. Leaders and managers record the effectiveness of the drills. The human resources team manages recruitment and follows safer recruitment processes. Staff recruited through an agency are subject to the same recruitment checks as a permanent member of staff. The human resources team audits recruitment agencies to ensure that these safe recruitment processes are maintained. Inspection report children’s home: SC465940 6

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

The home is led and managed by an experienced manager who has suitable skills for the role. She is currently undergoing the process to register as the manager with Ofsted. The manager now has two assistant managers in post to support her to conduct her role more effectively. Leaders and managers identify the strengths and weaknesses of the home. There is a development plan in place to address the shortfalls. This work is ongoing. Leaders and managers have not yet been able to make all the changes that they have identified on their plan. More time is required for them to do this and make the changes effective. There are still some areas of the home that require improvement. Refurbishment to the home is constant and a site action plan is in place to address the shortfalls. The main living areas of the home and children’s bedrooms have improved significantly. They now have a more homely feel and have become more personalised. The doors with key fob

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

restrictors are on timers, which are activated in the evening to enable children to access the gardens during the day. Leaders and managers have made the gardens safe and there are plans to make these spaces more useable and child friendly. Currently, the rear garden needs particular attention. The members of the care team have suitable skills that enable them to carry out their roles. A strength is the care team’s knowledge of the children and the care that it provides. There is a need to develop the skills of the staff in other aspects of their roles. An example of this is the use of language in records about the children. Leaders and managers identified that some members of the care team did not have their performance reviewed annually. To rectify this shortfall, the care team attended a group appraisal. However, when talking to staff, they do not all recognise this as an appraisal process. Leaders and managers provide the care team with regular and effective

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

supervision. The care team has training in mandatory courses that provide it with skills to meet the needs of the children. Leaders and managers have implemented a new workforce development plan dated October 2017 which includes further plans for training. Members of the care team say that they feel supported by leaders and managers. Leaders and managers work closely with families and other services that support the children to provide them with a multi-agency input into their needs. The care team advocates on behalf of the children to create an environment in which they can grow and progress.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC465940 7 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: SC465940 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Priory Education & Children’s Services

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Nicola Lownds, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC465940 9 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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