Children's home run by Aspris New Education Services Limited in Waverley

Inspection report children's home: SC412979 1 SC412979 Registered provider: Aspris New Education Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a private organisation and provides care for up to four young people. The home provides care to children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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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 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: SC412979 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/06/2019 Full Good 12/06/2018 Full Good 17/07/2017 Full Good 16/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC412979 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with a range of creative opportunities to help them thrive. The adults caring for children have a good understanding of their needs and plan a range of activities that will enhance their development. This creates social inclusion, empowers the childrenand promotes equal opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The adults communicate well with the children. Since moving into the home, the children have developed their communication skills. A range of tools and resources have been developed to help children communicate. These are reviewed regularly in line with children’s progress. Children are therefore given a platform to express themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children being cared for have a range of complex health needs. The adults ensure that they receive a range of assessments from specialist health professionals. The advice from specialist services is embedded in the children’s care and plans. This practice provides a greater understanding of children’s needs and enables them to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is personalised and is designed to meet the children’s sensory needs. However, locks on internal doors mean that children do not have access to all areas of their home. This creates an institutionalised environment within the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend education and are making progress in line with their education, health and care (EHC) plans. There is, however, a lack of awareness relating to the local offer, which sets out the support available for children with SEND. This is a missed opportunity to access additional resources for children to inform their care and plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have detailed plans that analyse all areas of their lives. Specific and measurable goals are set for children, and the adults track their progress. Children’s achievements are captured through a ‘wow moments’ system, which informs their future goals. One parent said, ‘My son has come on leaps and bounds since living there.’ This practice creates an aspirational culture to help children achieve their full potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported in a variety of ways to spend meaningful time with people who are important to them. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, individual plans were put in place to ensure that children maintained good-quality relationships with their families. These plans were adapted in line with the wishes of the children and their families. As a result, children can create memories with their loved ones. Inspection report children's home: SC412979 4

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

The adults have a thorough knowledge of the risks in the children’s lives. Detailed strategies are in place to support children to keep themselves and others safe. The strategies are informed by specialist advice and are tailored to meet the needs of individual children. This approach reduces the risks in children’s lives and helps them when they are struggling with their emotions.

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

Medication practice is good. The managers have changed the procedures and have ensured that a specific, skilled team manages medication. This change has resulted in no medication errors and children receiving their prescribed medication in line with health advice. This has a direct and positive impact on children’s daily lives and ensures that they are safely receiving the correct medication.

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

Children are kept safe through physical intervention when it is in their best interests to keep themselves and others safe. The adults are trained to safely intervene, and they follow good practice and record incidents in detail. The manager and adults caring for the children are curious about children’s triggers and try to identify any themes. Safety plans are adapted to support children through difficult times.

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

Some children require mechanical interventions, such as car and walking harnesses, to keep them safe in the community. All agencies are in agreement with the plans. However, the systems in place are not robust enough to ensure that each intervention is recorded and reviewed.

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

There are very few safeguarding incidents relating to the children. However, when a safeguarding incident occurs, child protection procedures are followed. Children benefit from multi-agency plans to keep them safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The team of adults caring for the children is led by passionate and committed managers. The managers know the children very well. They model good practice and communicate well with families and external professionals. One social worker said, ‘The managers are really proactive. I couldn’t ask for anything more.’ This ensures that good relationships are maintained with children’s families and external professionals to provide a consistent approach to children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most of the adults caring for children have received training to meet some of their needs. However, the team would benefit from further training to ensure that their knowledge base is expanded to meet evolving needs. This will further enhance the skills of the adults caring for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The adults receive formal supervision in line with the provider’s policy. However, team meetings have not taken place regularly. Support systems, such as team meetings and supervision, lack reflection about practice. These shortfalls minimise the opportunity for the team to reflect on their development individually and as a group to ensure children’s care remains to a high standard. Inspection report children's home: SC412979 5 The managers have a great knowledge of events in the children’s lives. Following a significant incident, the managers evaluate the event well. The evaluation focuses on practice to establish if children’s plans have been followed by the adults caring for them. There is also a curiosity about why the children are struggling. This practice enables the managers to direct the team to consistently improve the care of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children are cared for by a core group of adults who are permanent people in their lives. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, recruitment of permanent team members has been difficult. This has resulted in the need for some adults who are not permanent to care for children alongside their core team. The manager has ensured that there is an on-going strategy to achieve the goal of a full team of permanent staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been external delays for children relating to some significant plans. The manager has challenged the lead agencies about the delays; however, the issues remain unresolved after a long period of time. The manager has not used formal escalation procedures, which has resulted in children not receiving a positive outcome. Inspection report children's home: SC412979 6

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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, the 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

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

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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. (Regulation 5 (c)) 28 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 28 February 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have a knowledge of children’s EHC plans and the resources available to them through the SEND local offer. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’ page 26, paragraph 5.4) Inspection report children's home: SC412979 7  The registered person should ensure that a child’s EHC plan contains detail about planned and agreed approaches to restraint or restraint techniques to be applied in the day-to-day routine of the child to support the child’s complex needs due to their disability. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.43)  The registered person should ensure that the adults caring for children access training to develop their knowledge base relating to the children’s needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53,

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Recommendations

paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that supervision with the adults caring for children is reflective to inform their development. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: SC412979 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aspris New Education Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Forge, Church Street West, Woking, Surrey GU21 6HT

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Inspector

Carly Quinn, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC412979 9 to 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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