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

Inspection report children‘s home: 1183069 1 Registered provider: The Priory Group

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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 registered for up to six children who have mental-health needs. It is privately owned and is also registered with the Care Quality Commission.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered in April 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 21 to 22 November 2018

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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 good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 20 November 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report children‘s home: 1183069 2 26/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/04/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‘s home: 1183069 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‘s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the monitoring of the children‘s records. 31/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children‘s home a statement (―the statement of purpose‖) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the statement of purpose to HMCI. (Regulation 16(1)(2)) 31/12/2018

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Recommendations

 Regulations 35–39 detail the records that must be kept in children‘s homes. All children‘s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely whilst they remain in the home. Case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Recommendations

In particular, this relates to making sure that children‘s plans, risk assessments and reports are clear and accurate. Inspection report children‘s home: 1183069 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children at this home have good experiences and make good progress. The staff give the children a lot of support. They know them and their care plans well. This knowledge helps them to meet the children‘s individual needs, their cultural needs and those related to their life choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and staff have very good relationships. Because of this, the children can speak to the staff about personal and sensitive issues and things that are worrying them. This provides valuable emotional support for the children. One social worker said that the staff supported their child well and another said that the staff were meeting their child‘s emotional and mental-health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the children are going to school or college. Given their individual needs, this is a big achievement for them and will help them to increase their chances of success in employment and adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children learn skills that will help them when they live more independently. These include practical skills such as shopping and cooking. They learn how to socialise and develop appropriate friendships. This will help them to avoid isolation in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are able to see their families and maintain their relationships with them. One child had little contact with her mother before coming to the home. She is currently spending several days a week with her and is due to return to live at her family home soon. She said, ‗Without [name of home], I would not be going home.‘

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff help the children when they move into the home. This move is something that can be very stressful for children. A social worker said that their child‘s move into the home had gone well, despite concerns about how the child would manage a move from a more secure placement.

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

The children feel safe in the home and they become safer while they are living there. For example, their self-harming behaviours reduce, their weight increases to acceptable and healthy levels and they learn to use the internet more safely. This measurable progress reflects how their emotional needs are being met.

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

There are a low number of risk-taking behaviours such as children going missing. When children do go missing, the staff take appropriate action to try and find them, and to help them understand the risks of what they have done. Records of these incidents did not originally contain enough information to show what had happened. However, the independent visitor identified this and the records have been improved. The actions of staff and the improved recording help to protect the children. Inspection report children‘s home: 1183069 5 The staff help the children to manage their behaviour effectively. The home is generally settled, with very few incidents relating to behaviour. There is a very low use of consequences and physical interventions by staff. This is helped by the good relationships that exist between the children and the staff. The level of trust that the children have means that they can tell staff about things that could put them at risk of

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

Some of the risk assessments, reports and plans for the children are inaccurate and do not reflect changes. This has the potential to lead to inconsistency in the work being done to protect the children, especially when new staff or agency staff work in the home. However, the impact of this is minimised as the current staff do know the plans for the children, the risks that they may put themselves at and how to manage those risks.

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

The staff help the children to take age-appropriate risks so that they can learn how to look after themselves in later life. They have used risk assessments well to help one child take her medication with the same regularity whether she is at the home or at her family home. Other children are successfully using public transport and spending time in the community with their friends.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is working towards her level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare. She is valued and respected by the staff. One staff member said that the home is the best place that they have worked in. Another spoke positively about the support the registered manager and deputy manager provide. The managers and staff care about the children and want them to do well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Mental-health nurses work on shifts alongside the care staff. They bring different knowledge and skill bases to the home which complement those of the care staff. This combination increases the resources and support for the children. The mental-health nurses also provide information and training for the care staff on issues such as eating disorders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is a nice place for the children to live in. It is decorated and furnished well. It is comfortable and homely. The fittings in the home are designed to reduce the possibility of children hurting themselves.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and the responsible individual understand the home‘s strengths and the areas which they need to improve. The independent person who does monthly visits to the home writes clear reports which help to identify areas that need attention. The registered manager uses these to improve the quality of care for the children in the home. However, some of the home‘s records are not consistently clear and accurate. These include the risk assessments, plans and reports that relate to the children. The staff know the children, their needs and their vulnerabilities very well despite this, so the Inspection report children‘s home: 1183069 6 impact is limited. The registered manager is aware that this is something that needs to be improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers encourage the staff to promote tolerance, equality and diversity among the children. They run sessions to help the children understand and accept difference. This helps the children to follow their life choices and to accept those of others.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home‘s statement of purpose has some out-of-date information which needs clarifying. In addition, recent amended versions have not been sent to Ofsted. This may result in placing authorities or others having inaccurate information about the home. In addition to the issues with children‘s records (see above), this does show that the monitoring of these documents has not been as effective as is required.

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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: 1183069 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Priory Education Services Limited, 80 Hammersmith Road, London, Middlesex W14 8UD

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Inspector

Clive Lucas: social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: 1183069 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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