Children's Home run by Aspris New Education Services Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC443959 1 SC443959 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

The home is owned by an independent company. The home is registered to provide care for up to eight young people who have learning disabilities, three of whom can be accommodated on a short-break basis. The registered manager was appointed to her post in 2012.

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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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC443959 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/07/2019 Full Outstanding 09/05/2018 Full Outstanding 08/06/2017 Full Good 30/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC443959 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a range of activities in their local community. This includes a swimming academy which takes place every weekend. This helps to develop children’s confidence in addition to improving their health and social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with their health needs. Each child has a health passport which documents their full range of health needs. One child was reliant on a mobility aid when he first arrived; however, he now regularly walks unaided. He recently participated in a sponsored walk to raise money for charity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with health therapists to better understand children’s needs. As a result, they develop bespoke communication systems which help children to express their wishes and feelings. For example, this helped one child to order food at a local restaurant for the first time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s cultural needs are sensitively supported. Staff provide care which is responsive to children’s personal needs and this helps them to develop their own identity. For example, staff support children with cultural prayer, clothing, diet and religious celebrations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend regular team meetings to discuss a range of issues. This enables them to discuss activities, plan events, choose their meals and suggest home improvements. As a result, children contribute to daily decisions about their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress. Before living in the home, one child suffered many unsuccessful placements. He has since lived in the home for seven years and is now planning to move on. His parent stated: ‘It’s an amazing place and they have done wonders for my child; they could not have done more.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are not encouraged to access their records. This limits children’s understanding of their progress and does not fully reflect their voice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have excellent links with local schools. This supports children’s continuity of care across different settings. This helps them to access education which fully meets their needs. As a result, children are making great progress with their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children on short breaks are fully integrated into the home. One child recently celebrated his birthday with a party which all children attended. His social worker stated that ‘He has made great progress and always seems happy when he is there.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC443959 4

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

The use of physical interventions with children is reducing. This promotes better relationships between children and staff and can help children feel safer. However, not all incidents are fully reviewed, which affects the ability of staff to reflect on an incident.

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

Children do not go missing from home. High staffing levels help to keep children safe, together with robust missing-from-home protocols for each child. This ensures that staff can act quickly to prevent incidents from occurring.

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

Staff complete risk management plans for each child, which enables them to identify and understand their risks. However, the strategy for managing risks is not always clearly recorded. This can cause confusion and inconsistency when protecting children from harm.

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

Staff prioritise formal contact arrangements between children and parents, wherever this is appropriate. This helps children to build relationships with their family in a safe setting. Children and families have made great progress due to the partnership work promoted by staff at the home.

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

Staff limit children’s access to some parts of the home. This helps to keep children safe and reduces the likelihood of harm. This is due to the complex support needs of many of the children. Staff review risk assessments on a regular basis to assess the need for restrictions.

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

Robust arrangements are in place to ensure the safe administration and management of medication. Staff personalise training for each child to ensure that processes are clear and safe. Records are kept with medication and in children’s files to promote safe ways of working.

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

Staff promote positive behaviour in the home. They collate outcomes and achievements for each child on a weekly and monthly basis. This details their progress in photos, for example. Children’s achievements are also celebrated in photos on the walls of the home. This helps to promote their emotional health and well-being while building self-confidence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well managed by an experienced and qualified manager. She considers the needs of all children when assessing new referrals. This helps to provide consistency and stability in the home. One child said: ‘I made friends quickly when I moved in. I would not change anything about my home.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is properly staffed by a passionate and culturally diverse team. They enjoy providing care for children with complex needs and take great pride in their work. One member of staff stated: ‘We are amazing and we do amazing things.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC443959 5 Staff feel fully supported in their roles. They receive regular supervision from their line manager and attend an annual appraisal. This supports staff to develop in their role and helps managers to review their performance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides a regular quality of care review. The report does not directly include the views of children, parents and external stakeholders. This limits her evaluation of the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers promote multi-agency work. They have strong links with many local providers. This promotes children’s education and health, and emotional and social well-being. Staff chase up and escalate concerns if responses are not satisfactory. This helps children to access their support without drift and delay.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers use learning from practice to improve service delivery. For example, staff are redeveloping support plans to clearly present children’s behaviour cycles. This helps staff to understand children’s needs and improve the experiences of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager promotes opportunities for children in the community. This includes participation in national youth award programmes and the local children in care council. This helps children to build self-confidence while developing their sense of belonging and purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers communicate well with parents. They provide regular feedback on children’s progress and highlight issues without delay. One parent said: ‘They provided me with weekly and monthly reports. They explain things to me. I can’t fault them.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC443959 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, 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

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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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person and staff must review the use of restraint and identify effective practice. Records must be signed and dated by the manager and staff involved in the review. 13 May 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered provider should ensure that each child has access to their records. Staff should actively encourage children to read their records and contribute to them. Children should be regularly reminded of their rights to see their records and how they can access them later in their lives. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.6)  The registered provider should ensure that risks to children are continually assessed and that adequate arrangements are in place to manage those risks. Risk management records should be clear and concise and refer directly to those arrangements which have been identified to manage risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered provider should ensure that the review of the quality of care includes feedback and opinions of children living in the home. It should also

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Recommendations

consider the opinions of parents, placing authorities and staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2) Inspection report for children’s home: SC443959 7

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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 for children’s home: SC443959 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

Mark Woodbridge, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC443959 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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