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

Inspection report children’s home: SC062223 1 SC062223 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 owned by a private company. It is registered for up to five children aged between 8 and 18 who have complex needs which may include autism spectrum disorders and complex associated difficulties. The home offers both 52- and 38-week educational placements for young people, who will reside in the home during term time. The registered manager has managed the home since February 2019. He is in the process of completing his level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC062223 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/06/2018 Full Outstanding 27/11/2017 Full Good 07/09/2016 Full Good 07/01/2016 Interim Not judged Inspection report children’s home: SC062223 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 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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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(b)(2)(c)) 21/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(d)) 21/02/2020

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4) Inspection report children’s home: SC062223 4  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a warm and welcoming place for children to live. It is decorated and maintained well. Children can personalise their bedrooms to their own tastes. This helps children develop a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children form good and trusting relationships with staff. This is because staff spend time with them getting to know them well. Children are encouraged to express their views and feelings on an individual basis with staff and in regular group meetings. This helps to improve children’s confidence and self-worth and ensures that they are included in the decisions that are made about their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in all areas of their development. Staff encourage children to eat healthily by encouraging them to eat ‘5 a day’ fruit and vegetables. Children take part in various sporting activities, such as boxing, going for walks and going to the gym. This encourages children to learn about the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are progressing well with their education. All those currently living in the home have 100% attendance in school and are engaging well in lessons. As a result, children are meeting their expected targets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work well with children and their families to build positive relationships with their families and others who are important to them. Consequently, children are able to maintain their identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children and young people to gain the independence skills they will need in the future. Young adults can remain living in the home post-18 to enable them to finish college and to take responsibility for decisions that they will make on a day-to-day basis. This ensures that young people successfully make the transition to their adult lives before leaving the home.

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improvement to be good

Impact risk assessments are completed prior to children coming to live in the home. However, these do not adequately demonstrate the impact of a child moving into the home on the existing children who live in the home. Similarly, the locality risk assessment of the home is not accurate and does not detail the crime figures within the local community. As a result, children may not be appropriately placed in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC062223 5 The recruitment of staff is not thorough. For one member of staff, managers had not checked why previous employment had ended when the work had been with children or vulnerable adults. This compromises the safety of children.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding procedures have been strengthened. This ensures that all staff are fully aware of their responsibilities to safeguard children and refer any concerns in a timely manner. All staff receive a range of safeguarding training which includes child sexual exploitation, radicalisation and county lines. As a result, staff are kept up to date on current trends to be able to keep children safe in the community.

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improvement to be good

Staff know the children well and are successful in de-escalating negative behaviours. They use rewards and incentives to good effect to encourage children’s positive behaviour. As a result, children do not go missing and rarely display negative behaviour requiring staff to hold them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new manager has been employed since the last inspection. He is enthusiastic and has a good level of oversight of the running of the home. He has developed clear systems for monitoring the activities of the home to improve outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a consistent staff team. This ensures that the home does not require the use of agency staff. As a result, children are cared for by staff they know and trust.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the manager and receive a high level of training to enable them to care well for children. The manager is proactive in sourcing external training for staff to develop their knowledge and skills. However, staff have not received training in the use of ligature cutters. As a result, staff do not have adequate knowledge to fully protect children who display self-harming behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff work effectively in partnership with parents and placing social workers. All are positive about the support and care children receive. One parent commented: ‘I think they have done an amazing job.’

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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. Inspection report children’s home: SC062223 6 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC062223 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: Priory Group, 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

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Inspector

Sue Young, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC062223 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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