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

Inspection report for 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 home is operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to four children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2017.

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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

Date of last inspection: 25 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC412979 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/01/2022 Full Good 25/06/2019 Full Good 12/06/2018 Full Good 17/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC412979 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Currently, three children are living in the home. The children live in a bright, spacious home with modern furnishings throughout. Pictures and photos of children adorn the walls in communal areas. This helps to make the home welcoming for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop strong relationships with children, and they use a range of methods to help children to express their wishes and feelings. As a result, children’s communication skills improve, and staff respond well to meet children’s needs. One social worker said, ‘The care they provide is absolutely excellent, they know them inside out.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s internal care plans reflect the aims and objectives of the placing authority. Staff ensure that they provide care in line with these plans. As a result, all children are attending education and making progress. One parent said, ‘[Name of child] really loves living there, he feels so settled that he now calls it his home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team helps children to maintain family time with the people who are important to them. There is a focus on establishing children’s support networks and links with agencies. This promotes the children’s emotional health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in regular activities, including physical exercise. Staff also help children to explore new activities. This helps children to develop their skills while also giving them new experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to learn independence skills. This helps to prepare children for their long-term future and builds their self-confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff create life-story books with children while they are living in the home. These include photos of children’s experiences and positive activities. This contributes to children’s history and life-story work.

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

Children feel safe at the home. The staff follow clear safeguarding procedures to protect children. The staff understand and respond to any risks through clear risk management strategies.

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

Staff support children to stay safe online. Staff carry out direct-work sessions with children, using resources that children can relate to. This raises children’s awareness of online harm and helps them to stay safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC412979 4 Children rarely go missing from home. Staff keep children safe by following 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 attend regular training courses. These provide them with the skills and knowledge to keep children safe. However, not all staff receive training to help them respond to children’s specific needs.

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

Managers have developed robust medication procedures. The process ensures that children receive medication from a team that is competent, and managers quality assure this process. As a result, staff have not made any medication errors throughout the inspection period.

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

Staff use physical intervention techniques to safeguard children from harm, but only as a last resort. The manager carries out a debrief of each incident with the staff involved, and the child. This helps the manager to evaluate each incident and prevent further reoccurrences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably experienced and passionate about their work. They are developing a culture of high aspiration for children. One member of staff said, ‘I am very grateful to management for always pushing me personally to achieve more and giving me the belief and support to do so.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is continuing to recruit a full staff team and reduce the need for agency staff. This is providing consistency across the team and a good team ethic. However, not all staff achieve the required qualifications within the necessary time frame.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers follow up and escalate concerns if responses from agencies are not satisfactory. This helps to ensure that children receive the right support and their needs are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides a regular quality of care review report. However, the manager does not consistently include or evaluate the opinions of children, their parents and the placing authorities in this report.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the management team. They attend regular supervision sessions. This helps staff to reflect on their practice. However, not all staff receive a copy of the meeting minutes for their personal records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home. They have implemented systems to improve their oversight through regular auditing and evaluation. This is improving practice in several areas and means that staff provide better care for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC412979 5

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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

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, staff must receive training to meet children’s individual needs in order to reduce the risk of harm, including pica and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder training. 10 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or 31 May 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC412979 6 a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part- time basis. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b) (6)(a)(b))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff receive a copy of their supervision notes. The record should include the content and outcomes of their supervision discussion. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)  The registered person should carry out a review of the quality of care every six months that is informed by the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. This should focus on the impact care is having on the outcomes and improvements for children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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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 for children’s home: SC412979 7

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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: SC412979 8 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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