Children's home run by Aurora ASD Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 1263084 1 Registered provider: Aurora ASD Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is part of the Aurora Group. The home is registered to care for children and young people aged between eight and 19 years, irrespective of gender, who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger syndrome and additional complex needs and/or learning disabilities. Children living in the home also attend Aurora Hedgeway School.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager resigned in August 2019. The head of care, who was previously a registered manager of this home between 2017 and 2018, has submitted an application to re-register as the manager.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1263084 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/01/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/06/2018 Full Good 13/02/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1263084 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

5: Engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met

p.3

Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff–

p.3

Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

p.3

Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

p.3

Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

p.3

Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5(a)(b)(c)(d)) 17/12/2019

p.3

Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should: – detail the necessary management and staffing structure, (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s Inspection report children’s home: 1263084 4 Statement of Purpose; – detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications); – detail the process for managing and improving poor performance; – detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33 (4)(b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. (‘Guide to the

p.3

Recommendations

children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) In particular, detail the induction and support for existing staff who are promoted to senior roles. Inspection report children’s home: 1263084 5

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home provides good-quality care to children. Together, staff and children build positive relationships with one another. Meeting children’s needs sensitively and respectfully, is a strength of the staff team and contributes to the positive experiences of children. Children make good progress, and staff support them to have aspirations and goals. Improved attendance in school and educational achievements are praised and celebrated. Alongside this, the staff help children to achieve their dreams, such as city breaks abroad, learning new languages and living close to family. Careful thought and planning contribute well to supporting children to move on. Intricate and individualised plans detail every step of support to maximise the opportunity for success. Staff work diligently with other professionals to implement and review these plans effectively. This helps children to move on successfully. Children’s views are widely listened to and acted upon. Staff understand the importance

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

of listening to children and how this promotes positive relationships and behaviour. In particular, one child advocated strongly for their rights. Leaders and managers took great steps to inform their decision-making, which promoted the child’s rights while maintaining appropriate boundaries and rules within the home.

p.5

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

Risk is well understood and managed effectively and proportionately. Children receive good support from staff so they can take risks appropriate to their age and understanding. A good example is some children being able to stay at home alone for short periods of time if they decide that they do not want to go out. This contributes to the successful planning for them to move on.

p.5

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

Staff know children’s vulnerabilities and how to keep them safe in the local community. Training for staff is tailored to enable them to meet children’s individual needs about potential risk. For example, staff have received more training about criminal exploitation and abuse, county lines and substance misuse.

p.5

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

Children receive good support from staff about safety and risk. Consistent messages and boundaries are in place to try to minimise risk. Frequent conversations with children explore risk and give children advice and guidance. Children can also engage with other agencies that can support them. For example, children recently completed training about online safety and risk. Gradually, children make progress and risky behaviour decreases.

p.5

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

Occurrences of children going missing from home lessen over time, with only two occasions since the previous inspection. Staff take the necessary action when children are away from the home without permission. Children usually engage well with the independent return-home interviews, and information from these interviews is shared Inspection report children’s home: 1263084 6 with the manager.

p.5

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

Staff provide children with consistent rules and expectations. Restraint and sanctions are not used in this home. Leaders and managers have good oversight of behavioural incidents and learn from these. Patterns of behaviour are monitored effectively and show that, over time, children make progress.

p.6

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

Appropriate referrals to safeguarding professionals are completed when there is a concern about children’s safety and well-being. Leaders and managers take effective action to protect children and take advice and guidance from external professionals. When there is a concern about staff practice, this is followed up in formal discussions, with actions on how to improve.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership and management of the home have been through a period of change. Leaders and managers carefully considered the impact of this change and executed an effective succession plan. This careful planning ensured that children continued to receive good-quality, consistent care. Leaders and managers understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home well. Effective implementation of the home development plan brings about improvements at a good pace. A positive, aspirational and ambitious culture is successfully embedded within the home. Senior leaders have a good understanding of children’s individual needs and progress. Children confidently talk of the quality of care, and leaders and managers take swift action to improve it, when necessary. Listening to and advocacy for children are good. Children make good use of an independent advocate. Complaints are taken seriously and acted upon quickly. There are

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

many good examples where leaders and managers have held other agencies to account. However, there are two instances where leaders and managers did not do this consistently. Staff receive good training and regular supervision, and have their performance appraised annually. The probationary period is effective in supporting staff and identifying any practice concerns. All new staff receive an induction. However, staff promoted internally to senior roles do not receive a formal induction and their supervision does not include any plans on how they will be supported in their new role. Inspection report children’s home: 1263084 7

p.6

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.

p.7

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: 1263084 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 33 Holborn, London EC1N 2HT

p.8

Inspector

Nicola Lownds, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1263084 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, 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 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

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

p.9