Children's Home, Residential special school run by Aurora Care and Education Opco Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report for children's home: 1229766 1 Registered provider: Aurora Care and Education Opco Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to 29 children with complex needs, including autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, profound learning difficulties and/or sensory and/or physical impairments. Most children attend the on-site school. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left on 23 February 2022. An interim manager is in place and is in the process of applying for registration with Ofsted.

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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

Date of last inspection: 17 November 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1229766 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/11/2021 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/05/2021 Full Good 19/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/12/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1229766 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This inspection was conducted following a complaint raised with Ofsted. The areas of concern were looked at during this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Five children have moved on from the home since the last inspection. There are currently 24 children living at the home. Children have positive experiences and are supported with good-quality individualised care that enhances their future opportunities and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff build strong relationships with children. Alternative communication aids are used purposefully and to good effect. Interactions between the children and staff are filled with high mutual regard and warmth. As a result, the children develop a sense of security and greatly improve their social and self-expression skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Activities are well organised and provide a range of opportunities to extend children’s learning, skills and interests. Children have been able to take part in a community celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and some children have recently enjoyed an overseas trip to a theme park in France. A wide range of sensory-based activities are available at the home, including access to an on-site hydrotherapy pool. This variety of meaningful activities greatly enriches children’s overall experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team provides a holistic approach to the children’s care. Children benefit from the support of a range of professionals, including nurses and occupational and speech and language therapists. The staff follow clear and well-devised health plans to ensure that children’s complex health needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are progressing well in their education. Staff support children’s education targets and maintain children’s learning experiences at the home. Staff ensure that consistent morning routines are adhered to. As a result, children’s attendance and progress at school improve from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The accommodation is spacious and fully equipped to meet children’s individual needs. The children benefit from high-quality play equipment and thoughtful individual spaces that meet their recreational interests. Children’s bedrooms are creatively personalised. However, paint across several bath panels and doors has been damaged in one of the flat lodgings. This detracts from what is otherwise a consistently well-decorated and nurturing environment.

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

The staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities. They receive training in safeguarding disabled children and are aware of the children’s additional Inspection report for children's home: 1229766 4 vulnerabilities. When safeguarding concerns arise, they are dealt with promptly, transparently and effectively by the management team.

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

The staff have good awareness of children’s individual missing-from-home procedures. A recent reconfiguration of one flat lodging has meant that stronger security measures have been maintained. Consequently, no incidents of children going missing from the home have occurred since the last inspection.

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

Staff use clear and informative behaviour management plans. The plans help the staff to identify the potential triggers for children’s anxiety and understand how to manage children’s behaviours in a helpful way.

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

The management team has recently improved monitoring checks in response to concerns from individual staff members at night. This has resulted in increased oversight of safe care during this time and has provided more effective safeguards for children.

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

The staff use physical interventions rarely. However, on the one occasion these interventions were used since the last inspection, a corresponding record was not completed. The lack of a clear record has meant that the type, duration and circumstances around the use of the hold are unclear. This also meant that debriefs for the child and the staff were delayed and the manager’s review of the proportionality of the intervention was hindered.

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

Safe recruitment processes for full-time staff are thorough. A suitable system is in place to check recruitment records for agency staff when they are used. However, in one instance, one piece of information around employment history was not gained prior to one agency worker’s deployment at the home. This means that not all information regarding the staff member’s suitability was assessed.

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good

The registered manager left the home in February 2022. A new, qualified manager has been appointed and is in the process of registering with Ofsted. The manager, alongside the senior leadership team, oversees the care across five flat lodgings. Clear lines of responsibility and line management are in place, and several strengths are apparent in the leadership and management of the home. However, shortfalls have been identified which, if left unaddressed, have the potential to undermine children’s experiences and progress.

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good

The home continues to have a high staffing turnover. Managers maintain an ambitious recruitment drive and regularly review strategies to address negative trends. However, actions have not been effective and staff shortages have remained. Consequently, there have been occasions when two-to-one staffing ratios have not been met as agreed with children’s placing authorities. Inspection report for children's home: 1229766 5 Managers have a high reliance on agency staff to cover staffing gaps. Although a good proportion of these staff are consistent, a small cohort do not provide suitable continuity for children’s care.

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good

External monitoring needs improvement. The independent person fails to consult regularly with families. The independent person’s evaluation of safeguarding arrangements has been unclear on two occasions since the last inspection. Some report submissions to Ofsted have been delayed beyond reasonable timescales. This reduces the overall quality and assurances that are intended by these visits.

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good

Managerial monitoring has not identified a gap in one child’s plan in relation to their mental health needs. A risk assessment for one child has not been reviewed within timescales and one-to-one discussions with a child have not been responded to by a manager for some time. Furthermore, records of some fire drills were missing at the time of the inspection. These issues have not led to increased risk for children but have the potential to do so if left unchecked.

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good

Many parents provided good feedback about the quality of care and the positive difference that the staff’s support makes to their children’s lives. However, one parent spoke of a breakdown in effective communication with managers and between professionals involved in their child’s move on from the home. This lack of communication was cited as not being as effective as it could be during this important time in the child’s life.

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good

Staff benefit from regular child-centred staff meetings. Staff, including agency staff, now receive reflective and comprehensive supervisions. This ensures that good support for staff is available to develop their practice.

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good

The well-developed training programme equips staff with the skills to meet the children’s individual needs. This has been enhanced since the last inspection. Inspection report for children's home: 1229766 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

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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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 the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children are supervised by the number of staff agreed between the home and the placing authority.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 5 August 2022

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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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 5 August 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 1229766 7 The registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 29 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as 5 August 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 1229766 8 the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (2)(a) (4)(a)(b))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is decorated to a consistently high standard throughout the accommodation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should develop effective working relationships with each child’s placing authority and with other relevant persons. In particular, ensure that communication remains consistent and effective throughout children’s experience of moving on from the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3)  The registered person should maintain good employment practice that safeguards children. In particular, ensure that monitoring of all schedule 2 checks for agency staff is completed prior to their deployment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: 1229766 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aurora Care and Education Opco Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 13, Twigworth Court Business Centre, Tewkesbury Road, Gloucester, Gloucestershire GL2 9PG

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Inspectors

Mark Anderton, Social Care Inspector Mandy Start, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1229766 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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