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

Inspection report children’s home: SC407783 1 SC407783 Registered provider: Partnerships In Care 1 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 run by a national, private organisation and provides accommodation linked to an education provision. Its statement of purpose specifies that it will provide care and accommodation for up to five children, aged nine to 18, who have complex needs which may include autism spectrum disorder and associated difficulties, such as learning disabilities, attachment disorders, mental health problems and/or troubled family relationships.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager at the home since September 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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC407783 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/08/2018 Full Good 21/11/2017 Full Good 30/01/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 02/08/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC407783 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 appoint a person to manage the children’s home if— there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager submits an application to register as soon as possible after commencing. 16/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purpose of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirements in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children’s standard). (Regulation 46(1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the location risk assessment is used as a working document and is easily accessible to the staff. 16/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation 6(2)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, develop the home’s life skills programme to extend the skills the young people can gain. 16/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33(4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, continue with the manager and staff team’s development and implement competency testing for safeguarding and medication administration. 16/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC407783 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff invest time and care in the young people and as a result they make good progress in their education, social skills and independent life skills. The recent changes to the staff team have not had a negative impact on the young people’s experience and progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home offers placements of between 38 and 52 weeks. The different lengths of time that young people stay are managed well to minimise the impact they may have on each other. The records of the assessments carried out have improved, with clear consideration given to peer dynamics and compatibility. When insufficient information is submitted as part of the referral process, the managers will request further details before making placement decisions. This ensures that young people’s needs can be met by the staff and that potential areas of conflict are addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people live in a welcoming environment where they experience routine. Young people know what to expect on a daily basis; from getting up in time for education, travelling independently, eating a home-cooked dinner every evening and having a sensible bedtime. The young people develop trust in the staff and respond to their help and support and the boundaries put in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work in collaboration with young people to set and review their targets. A focus of the placement is for the young people to be encouraged to follow independent life skills programmes. As a result, they successfully learn the new skills that they will require in the future. Senior staff acknowledged that the programme could be extended to include areas such as doing their own washing, food shopping and meal preparation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Regular attendance at school or college is an accepted part of daily life. The staff understand the barriers to learning that each young person may face. Staff show a genuine interest in the young people’s achievements at school or college. When possible, the young people travel independently to their education establishment. The staff support the young people if school attendance is affected by other challenges that the young people may have to deal with. Some young people attend a school run by the organisation, where they benefit from the small class sizes and focused support. Others attend local further education colleges. Progress made by the young people is good, especially when considering their education histories. Staff understand that achievement at school increases self-esteem and will aid the young people’s life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Families confirm that they have good contact with the staff team. They are very complimentary about the support provided to them and their children. Parents describe the positive difference that the staff team is having on the young people. In addition, the staff work well with placing authorities to ensure that the young people continue to make progress and that the local authorities provide support at the moving-on stage. Inspection report children’s home: SC407783 5 Young people say that they are treated with dignity and respect. They say that they experience care and help that are sensitive and responsive to their identity, including ethnicity, faith, gender, gender identity, language and sexual orientation. As a result, young people develop a positive self-view and increase their resilience and sense of their own uniqueness. The young people are very confident at voicing their views, opinions and wishes, which are taken seriously by the staff.

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

The staff team provides a safe environment in which young people are protected. Embedded safeguarding procedures and practices ensure that any cause for concern or allegation is referred to the correct agency. Young people are helped to understand risk and how to stay safe. At the same time, the staff team is very aware of the need to allow young people to be independent and to take age-appropriate risks. Over time, and with the support of the staff, particularly in key-work sessions, young people learn to make the right choices.

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

Staff have knowledge of a broad and relevant range of safeguarding matters. The young people have positive relationships with the staff and feel safe to raise any concerns. All staff have received training in safeguarding and child protection and know how to make referrals to the correct agencies.

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

The caring and safe environment enables the young people to make mistakes and learn from them, for example how to manage money and the safe use of social media. The staff give good and sensible advice so that the young people can keep themselves safe when out in the community. Risks that present in the locality are identified in the home’s location risk assessment. However, this document needs to be more accessible to the staff so that they can confidently inform the young people of the current risks.

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

The consistent and sensitive approach by staff to challenges from the young people has resulted in the very rare use of physical intervention, decreasing incidents of going missing and low numbers of incidents overall.

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

The young people are protected by careful recruitment procedures, and regular monitoring of staff also minimises the risk of unsuitable people being employed.

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

Robust and regular health and safety checks ensure that the physical environment of the home is safe and secure and protects young people from the risk of harm.

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

The registered manager left in September 2019. The new manager started in the post in September 2019 but has yet to apply to register with Ofsted. There have been other changes to the staff team since the last inspection but with the support of the remaining staff the young people have responded well and continue to make good progress. The manager is being supported by senior leaders to address identified gaps in his Inspection report children’s home: SC407783 6 management skills. The staff team is supported by senior leaders, including the responsible individual, who visit regularly.

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

Leaders and managers actively and regularly monitor the quality of care provided. The monitoring systems are of a very good standard. Leaders recognise the importance of providing a stable and safe home for the young people and embrace independent oversight.

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

Staff are provided with training to meet the range of needs that the home can work with as outlined in the statement of purpose. However, more should be done to assess the quality and effectiveness of the training provided. A recent staff meeting identified that staff do not have safeguarding and medication administration competency assessments; these have not yet been completed.

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

Leaders know the strengths and weaknesses of the home and are motivated to address any shortfalls identified by the monitoring systems. A good development plan focuses on appropriate areas for change. The staff team aspires to improve their practice to help young people achieve the best outcomes. Notable improvements have been made to the record-keeping; individual files are very well organised and detailed.

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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: SC407783 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Partnerships In Care 1 Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Priory Group, 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

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Inspector

Liz Driver, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC407783 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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