Children's home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1269421 1 Registered provider: Priory Education Services Limited

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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 to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people. It is owned and operated by a large private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 December 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 outstanding

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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: 14 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1269421 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 06/09/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1269421 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 registered person must ensure that the privacy of children is appropriately protected. (Regulation 21 (a)) 20/01/2020

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Recommendations

 A child’s bedroom should not generally be entered without their permission, though it may be necessary to establish routines to allow for rooms to be cleaned regularly. Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s safety or well-being. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  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: o 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

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Recommendations

required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s Statement of Purpose; o Detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding and health and safety and mandatory qualifications); o Detail the process for managing and improving poor performance; o Detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33 (4) (b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home.

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Recommendations

The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) Inspection report children’s home: 1269421 4  The registered person should monitor and review the patterns and trends of turnover of staff, whether agency or directly employed, and be able to understand and where possible, address any negative trends. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.19)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home provides young people with a high-quality family environment. The highly skilled staff team ensures that young people benefit from stability. They receive care, support and well-balanced daily routines which promote growth, development and social interaction.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and young people enjoy excellent relationships. The home has an atmosphere of emotional warmth, care and enjoyment. Young people say that they can talk to staff if they feel anxious, unhappy or upset. This shows that young people trust staff and feel able to share feelings and concerns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled in enabling young people to reach their full potential. A parent said: ‘The difference with my son is unbelievable and because of this, our relationship has blossomed.’ Another parent said: ‘The difference is amazing, he is a changed person. I am so proud.’ These outcomes lead to improved life chances for young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers are ambitious for all young people. They encourage them to fulfil their potential. All young people have individual education provision. Young people who previously refused to attend school now have 100% attendance and achieve good academic outcomes. Some young people successfully balance college studies with part- time employment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities. They can take part in activities of their choice. This ensures that they develop new skills and interests. Importantly, they have fun and enjoyment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and young people enjoy positive and caring relationships. However, as young people mature into young adults, staff do not always respect their privacy. This relates to the sharing of information and entering bedrooms without a young person’s permission.

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

Safeguarding arrangements are excellent. There have been no safeguarding incidents since the last inspection.

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

Staff have an excellent understanding of the individual risks and vulnerabilities of young people. Detailed, regularly reviewed risk assessments provide clarity about risks and strategies to reduce potential harm. Inspection report children’s home: 1269421 5 Positive relationships with staff enable young people to learn about risks. Staff work with young people to agree on strategies to reduce risk. This is extremely effective. It empowers young people to take ownership of their actions. Over time, young people take increasingly measured risks. This teaches them how to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff are highly effective in enabling young people to learn how to self-regulate their emotions. This leads to self-control and positive behaviours. The only use of physical intervention since the last inspection was to prevent a young person from coming to harm.

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

Young people who live at the home do not go missing. Staff are not complacent. They have excellent knowledge to enable them to respond to any safeguarding incident, including a young person going missing.

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

Staff have a clear understanding about responding to risks posed to young people through social media, radicalisation, abuse, and sexual and criminal exploitation. A programme of training ensures that staff have a breadth of knowledge and skills to deal with any issues or concerns.

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

The staff team works in partnership with external multidisciplinary teams. Professionals report that young people are safe and learn to keep safe because of the support from the staff team.

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

When young people have made allegations against staff, managers have ensured that concerns are immediately reported to the designated officer. Allegations are fully managed in accordance with safeguarding procedures. Staff have an acute awareness about how to report any concerns and disclosures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an excellent and experienced registered manager, ably supported by accomplished deputy managers. This management team is highly effective. They have secured improvement since the interim inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides excellent leadership. Staff say that they are inspired by his passion and commitment to provide the best possible care. They feel well supported by managers and as a cohesive team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from an extensive programme of training. Most staff have the relevant qualification for residential childcare. New staff members are enrolled following successful completion of their probationary period. However, records of staff professional development are unclear and do not provide an accurate overview of staff training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The core staff have been in post for some time, providing consistency for young people. The home has experienced difficulties in retaining newly recruited staff. However, despite these changes in staffing, young people say that they feel safe and supported. Inspection report children’s home: 1269421 6 Effective internal monitoring of the home demonstrates the manager’s awareness of the home’s strengths and areas for development. Independent monitoring of the home provides an impartial review of the home’s effectiveness. These combined systems underpin the effective operation of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirements from the interim inspection have been fully met. This demonstrates capacity to promote positive change.

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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: 1269421 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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Katherine Bridon

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Inspector

Amanda Ellis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1269421 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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