Children's Home run by Ashwood Children‟s Care Home Limited in Derbyshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2558515 1 Registered provider: Ashwood Children’s Care Home Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since March 2022.

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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 for children’s home: 2558515 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/05/2022 Full Good 23/02/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/07/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2558515 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in this home receive a good standard of care from the staff. Staff are dedicated and caring and are keen to do all they can to improve outcomes for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are eager to attend school every day. They speak positively about going to school and are sad if they are unable to go. Staff advocate for children and have worked hard to ensure that they receive the right level of support in school. Staff are proactive in the home and seek opportunities to enhance children’s learning. For example, they support the children with homework and spend time reading with them. This support assists in developing children’s knowledge and contributes to their overall learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children are healthy. Staff arrange and take children to various health appointments. The manager uncovered a historical diagnosis for a child through her professional curiosity. When this information became known, she shared it with relevant individuals. The manager and external agencies are working closely to ensure that the child receives the right input now. Children eat a varied and healthy diet. All children have opportunities to choose meals each week, which they help to cook.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of children continuing to see family members or those close to them when it is safe to do so. They work collaboratively with other professionals to enable children to maintain these important relationships. Family members are also welcomed into the home when this is possible. For example, a child’s mother recently helped her child to paint their bedroom. This helps to promote and encourage positive relationships in the child’s life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children express their views in a variety of ways to make their needs known. Weekly conversations with them assist the planning for the week ahead. The manager also spends time with each child throughout the month. This approach to seeking the children’s input shows them that their views and opinions matter.

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

The company has recently introduced a therapeutic model of care. Staff have received training on how to apply this model in every aspect of their work. Time is needed to embed this model. The hope is that it will support the continued development of trusted relationships between staff and children and add to their overall safety.

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

Risk assessments are detailed and informative. They include important information, including effective strategies to manage the children’s behaviour and what the triggers might be. They equip staff with essential information about how to work Inspection report for children’s home: 2558515 4 with the children to minimise the risks they are exposed to. Risk assessments are reviewed regularly and updated after every incident. This ensures that staff have the key information they need to keep children safe.

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

Children are supported to take age-appropriate risks, such as walking to school independently. This helps to build children’s confidence and independence skills. A parent said that her child has made significant progress in their confidence and maturity since moving to the home.

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

Children are continually supported to develop their own emotional resilience. Staff and the in-house therapist carry out direct work with each child. There are planned and ad hoc sessions when required. The therapist also recommends specific resources to support children’s understanding of worries. The sessions provide children with a safe space to explore their emotions and ways in which to manage them.

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

All the children enjoy using internet-enabled devices. The home has an online safety system in place. Staff can control what the children access on the internet and are also able to monitor the children’s internet use. Children would benefit from regular direct work around this topic to increase their online safety and to ensure that they are as safe as possible when using the internet.

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

Children do not go missing from the home. Physical interventions are used as a last resort to manage behaviour. All incidents of physical intervention are recorded and include management oversight and reflection. Learning from incidents is put into practice. Following incidents, staff and children are spoken with but not within the timescales set out in the regulations. Discussions with staff help children to learn to manage their behaviour more effectively. The discussions with children help them to feel heard and valued. Furthermore, they help children to make sense of what has happened and support them to change their behaviour, which reduces the risk of conflict in the future.

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

Safer recruitment processes are followed. Necessary checks are carried out on staff before they start to work in the home. Therefore, children are cared for by staff who are safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate and caring. She is committed and strives for the children to do well. The manager has instilled a culture in the home whereby all the staff know that the children are at the centre of all that they do.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been some challenges associated with recruiting and retaining staff. The manager has worked hard to maintain continuity of care for the children. Staff from the company are used where possible to cover gaps in staffing levels. However, at times, agency staff are used. The manager considers the rota carefully to make sure that staff on duty have the right skills and knowledge to provide a good level of care to the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2558515 5 Managers and staff have a good understanding of children’s complex needs. Staff receive specialist training in relation to children’s emotional and developmental needs and medical diagnoses. Training and practice are trauma informed, which is supported by the home’s in-house therapist. Therefore, children receive individualised and coordinated care. The staff team would benefit from the workforce development plan being updated. This would clearly show the training

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

expectations and how staff can develop their skills and knowledge.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision meetings with their manager. Appraisals have recently been carried out for all staff in relation to their overall performance. Staff speak positively about team meetings. They view them as an environment to learn and receive support, particularly from the leadership team. The therapist also attends the team meetings and supports reflective practice. This enables staff to consider their practice and what they can do differently in the future. Furthermore, it provides the team of staff with an opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works in collaboration with external agencies and families. Professionals say that there is good and effective communication. They are always kept up to date with information relating to the children. A family member was very complimentary about the manager and how staff help them to remain involved in their child’s life. They described the situation as a ‘positive co-parenting opportunity’. This reflects the level of partnership working that the manager is involved in. This approach helps to promote positive outcomes for children as everyone around them wants what is best for them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2558515 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; 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)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to ensuring that staff and children are debriefed after measures of control have been used. 21 August 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff support children to be aware of and manage their own safety inside and outside of the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. Regular work should be carried out with children that focuses on them being safe while online. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should have a workforce development plan which can fulfil the workforce requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) Inspection report for children’s home: 2558515 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: 2558515 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ashwood Children’s Care Home Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ashwood Children’s Care Home Limited, G43a Repton House, Bretby Business Park, Burton-on-Trent DE15 0YZ

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Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Emma Dacres, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2558515 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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