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

Inspection report children‟s home: SC401685 1 SC401685 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

This home is owned by a large, private care organisation. It is registered to accommodate 23 young people who have learning disabilities. The home offers planned long-term placements and short-break stays.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager was registered by Ofsted in January 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 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

Date of last inspection: 5 November 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC401685 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/11/2018 Full Good 28/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/07/2016 Full Good 22/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC401685 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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

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provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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(Regulation 6(1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(iv)(c)(i)) 20/01/2020

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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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helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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

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ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to 20/01/2020 Inspection report children‟s home: SC401685 4 meet the needs of each child;

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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.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35(3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv)) 20/01/2020 Inspection report children‟s home: SC401685 5 Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4.

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Requirement Due date

This relates to staff rotas showing full information. 20/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it;

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

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Requirement Due date

This relates to incorporating children’s s feedback on the quality of care they receive into quality of care reviews. 20/01/2020

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff respond to children with warmth and nurture. Staff show good understanding of the children in their care. Staff maintain interaction in an attuned and responsive way when children show challenging behaviour. This approach helps to create a feeling of well-being and security for children, and ensures reliable relationships between children and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that children’s educational needs are met. Staff ensure that children attend Inspection report children‟s home: SC401685 6 school, and they support them in school. This continuity helps children to learn and feel safe in a different environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff meet children’s health needs well. Medication systems are safe. Where children refuse to take their medication, staff seek advice and support from health professionals. On occasion, changes to medical practitioners have led to delays in required medication changes being made. Staff in the home have pursued this to ensure that children have the right medical support. This means that children’s health needs remain a priority, and they receive the right help at the right time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide a range of activities for children. These are well matched to children’s developmental stages and include opportunities for exploration of the local area and activities around the home. Staff include children in cooking at the weekend, which helps children with their independence skills. These opportunities broaden children’s experiences and help them develop a sense of who they are as people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff in the home accept children for who they are. They support children to explore their identity, including their gender, in safe environments both at home and in the community. As a result, children develop their self-esteem and identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children in the home do make progress. However, the staff’s reviews of children’s progress lack detail and context. As a result, staff are unclear about how significant the progress made by children has been. This does not ensure that individual support is always provided quickly to enable children to develop. Managers have identified this shortfall and are addressing it.

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

Safeguarding arrangements in the home are good. Staff know who to report concerns to, and how to do this. This was demonstrated during the inspection when a child made an allegation. Staff followed their safeguarding procedures. Managers investigated and resolved this matter during the inspection. Children receive help from staff and managers who take their concerns seriously.

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

Staff have regular supervision and appraisal. Managers put in place relevant goals and expectations for staff to work towards. Managers at the home are clear about the required values and behaviour of staff. Managers act decisively in response to poor practice. This means that children in the home receive good care from safe adults.

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

Managers have recruited several new members of staff in the last year. Recruitment practice in the home is thorough and managers ensure that the adults who are caring for children are well vetted. This helps to keep children safe.

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

Staff complete detailed risk assessments and placement plans for children. These include clear guidance and strategies for staff to use in order to mitigate and reduce risk. However, staff do not consistently use these strategies. This could lead to confusion for children. Inspection report children‟s home: SC401685 7 The staff’s use of physical intervention is appropriate and proportionate, and keeps children safe. Staff do not always consistently record physical interventions. Managerial oversight of the records of advanced physical intervention techniques has not noted when some key details are missing, or that some of the staff’s training for these techniques has expired. Also, managers have not made sure that behaviour plans include important information, such as guidance on the use of advanced techniques or details of known health conditions. This could mean that physical interventions are not implemented. This has the potential to

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

The registered manager knows the children well. She is tenacious in her approach with external agencies, to make sure that children have what they need. The children benefit from her advocacy and commitment. However, the manager has not included the views of children in her regular review of the quality of care. This means that there is no evidence of children’s s experiences/views being used to inform plans for the development of the home.

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

Managers have clear monitoring and review systems in place. These are not used consistently to ensure that identified shortfalls are addressed. For example, the fire risk assessment showed that several actions were needed to make the home safe. Although these were completed promptly, the fire risk assessment was not amended accordingly. This makes it difficult for leaders and managers to comprehensively review the quality of care provided.

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

Staff work hard to provide a warm and nurturing environment for children. However, the quality of the decor and furnishing is inconsistent across the home: not all areas of the home reflect an autism-friendly environment; children do not have mirrors in their rooms or their bathrooms; and some bathroom fixtures need updating. Managers now undertake daily physical checks of the building with staff. This supports staff to raise physical standards and meet children’s individual needs.

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

Staff rotas do not hold full information about the staff who are working on shifts. This means that it is difficult for managers to have an overview of the mix of experience, skills and training on each shift. This reduces the managers’ ability to ensure that children get the best possible care.

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

Managers cannot fully evidence staff training. Staff have not completed training in relevant areas, such as advanced communication and self-injurious behaviour. Managers have not noted the staff who are overdue for important refresher training. As a result, not all staff are able to meet all the children’s needs.

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

Staff relationships and communication with parents and professionals are good. This means that staff do not work in isolation. As a result, children get reliable and consistent responses in different areas of their lives, which helps to them feel more secure. Staff support parents well with their children’s needs. As a result, parents feel confident about Inspection report children‟s home: SC401685 8 the care that their children receive.

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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: SC401685 9

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

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Katherine Bridon

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Inspectors

Karol Keenan: social care inspector Christy Wannop: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC401685 10 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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