Children's home run by Aspris Children’s Service in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report children’s home: SC407787 1 SC407787 Registered provider: Priory Education Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned by a large organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and may also display other complexities, such as low-level mental health and learning difficulties. The home is linked to a specialist school operated by the same organisation, which the children attend.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has not had a registered manager since January 2019.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC407787 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/05/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/05/2017 Full Good 08/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/06/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC407787 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure– that staff– take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(vi)) 05/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC407787 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience warmth and responsiveness from staff, who understand their complex needs. They enjoy excellent relationships with staff, who know them very well. Within a nurturing, welcoming and stable home, children feel safe and respond to the high-quality care from the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school regularly and staff are committed to supporting their education. This support has had a positive benefit for children who historically have struggled to attend school and have a positive education experience. Children access a wide range of activities and engage well in events in the local community to develop their social experiences and pursue their individual interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff give children who struggle with peer relationships sensitive, thoughtful and individual support to help to build their confidence. Children are developing their social skills, improving their relationships with their peers and making friendships outside the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a strong voice in the home. They are aware of the complaints procedure and use it as a way of making their views known. The manager has improved this process to ensure that children know that their opinions are considered seriously and action is taken to resolve the issues that they raise. Individual sessions with children provide them with opportunities to express their feelings and views. Sensitive and thoughtful support from staff helps children to acquire alternative ways of thinking about difficult issues.

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

Staff focus on managing the risks that the children face. They help children to understand these risks and, through thoughtful individual sessions with children, help to develop children’s understanding of how to stay safe. The staff know each child very well and implement supportive and protective measures to reduce the risk of harm. Prompt action is taken in response to changes in children’s behaviour which may increase the likelihood of them being unsafe.

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

Incidents that require staff to use physical help to keep children safe are closely monitored by the manager. Discussions with staff and the child involved in the incident highlight the learning to reduce the need for such intervention in the future. One of the incident reports sampled did not clearly evidence that the manager had identified shortfalls in staff practice which could potentially increase the risk to the child and others.

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

Staff respond effectively when children leave the home without permission. They apply agreed procedures to safeguard them and ensure their safe return. Such incidents are Inspection report children’s home: SC407787 5 closely reviewed by the manager, with action points to reduce the risk of children leaving without permission. The manager challenges local authorities that are not fulfilling their duty in arranging return interviews when children have been missing.

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

Safeguarding practice is strong. Children’s comments about staff practice are taken seriously and the manager makes appropriate referrals to external safeguarding agencies to protect children. All issues relating to staff practice are robustly addressed by the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since January 2019 and is applying for registration with Ofsted. With the support of a senior manager, she has reviewed the recording systems to ensure that they are effective, reflect children’s day-to-day lives and enable managers to easily monitor all aspects of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and the staff understand the needs of the children. The support that they provide helps children to settle at the home and make progress to achieve their goals. Specific strategies to help children to manage their day-to-day lives are successful.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are committed to developing a strong staff team and a culture of providing high-quality care to support children’s development. They provide strong support for the staff, some of whom are new to the home, through supervision, role modelling and on- call availability when staff require additional support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring of the home has improved and is now more rigorous. Frequent audits, weekly reports to senior managers and regular checks result in a thorough quality assurance process to ensure that children have a positive and safe experience of living at the home and receive appropriate support to help them to make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have addressed the requirements and recommendations from the last inspection. A comprehensive development plan for the home demonstrates the managers’ focus on continuous improvement. Inspection report children’s home: SC407787 6

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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 difference 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: SC407787 7

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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: Fifth Floor, 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

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Inspector

Jan Hunnam, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC407787 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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