Children's home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report for children's home: SC476990 1 SC476990 Registered provider: Aspris Children’s 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 run by a private company. It provides care for up to seven children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by an experienced registered manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 10 January 2023

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC476990 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/01/2023 Full Outstanding 22/06/2021 Full Outstanding 10/04/2019 Full Outstanding 09/05/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: SC476990 3

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outstanding

The registered manager and staff have continued to provide children with a warm, fun and nurturing home. All areas of the home are welcoming. Photos of children are displayed in the communal areas. Children and staff socialise and have meals together. This has created a real sense of belonging for children. This also means that children and staff have developed strong bonds and attachments, which has been key to the progress children have made.

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outstanding

Children have built extremely secure attachments with staff. This has supported them to make excellent progress. As a result, children can speak to staff about any worries they have.

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outstanding

Staff work hard to keep children occupied and support them to participate in activities inside and outside of the home. Children have a wish list of activities they want to participate in, and these are planned to ensure they get a chance to do them. This helps children to grow in confidence.

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outstanding

Children are supported to have pets and the home keeps other animals which provide children with comfort and reassurance. Animal care is fundamental to the therapeutic model of support and care provided to children. For example, animal assisted therapy has supported children to develop and improve their confidence and self-esteem.

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outstanding

There is a strong focus from staff on supporting children to have good memories of their time at the home. All children’s interests are encouraged and supported. Staff regularly take photos of children. Children have access to their memory book, which includes photos from their time at the home. This supports children to reflect and understand their experiences.

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outstanding

Children have excellent support, care and nurture in this home. The staff have developed very close relationships with the children, enabling children to feel safe and confident and make excellent progress. Staff practice is informed through research and constant reflection on what works best for children. Consequently, children’s achievements exceed expectations.

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outstanding

Staff have a clear understanding of children’s needs. They regularly share information with external agencies. This ensures that children receive support from all professionals who are involved in their care. Staff work closely with the home’s psychotherapist. This supports staff to understand children’s vulnerabilities. Children’s lives have improved as a result of the care they receive. Inspection report for children's home: SC476990 4 Staff have a good understanding of children’s safety needs. Risk assessments are clear, detailed and individual to the child. A range of strategies are in place to support staff in their work with children. The manager has good oversight of incidents and staff have benefited from reflective debriefs after incidents, so any learning is captured. Whenever possible, children’s views are also obtained.

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outstanding

Children’s views are considered and acted on. Children do not make any complaints as they are confident in speaking to staff about any concerns they may have. However, they know how to make complaints if they are unhappy.

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outstanding

Children rarely go missing from home. Staff have a clear understanding of children’s needs. They ensure that children receive support from all professionals who are involved in their care. Children’s lives have improved due to the outstanding care they receive. The number of incidents is decreasing because children are settled, happy and able to express themselves in appropriate ways without turning to destructive behaviour.

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outstanding

The use of physical intervention reduces as children settle into the home and feel safe. However, when it is used, it is proportionate and a last resort to ensure children’s safety. Meticulous recording of incidents and thorough debriefs with both staff and children take place following any incidents. There is rigorous management oversight to help staff and children reflect on what has happened and whether anything could be done differently to improve the support to the child in the future. This ensures that practice in this area remains safe and appropriate.

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outstanding

Thorough recruitment processes are followed to help ensure that only those adults who have been assessed as safe to work with children are employed to work in the home. As a result, the manager has a group of staff who are recruited safely and motivated and highly committed to providing the best possible care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff consistently provide the children with outstanding care. As a result, children feel safe and cared for and are making excellent progress. The home is led by a committed and experienced manager. He is supported by two skilled deputy managers who share his vision for the future of this home. Together, they work hard and have ambitious and creative plans to improve outcomes for children, and they ensure that the children receive the best care possible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The very stable and consistent team of staff say they feel highly valued and supported by the managers and leaders. Staff enjoy working in the home. They spoke positively about the manager and about the children that they care for. Staff said that they enjoy coming to work. Morale in the staff team is very high.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff have regular supervision and attend team meetings. These meetings support staff to reflect on children’s needs. Additionally, they provide an opportunity for staff to reflect on their own care practice and raise any concerns they may have. Should Inspection report for children's home: SC476990 5 staff require additional support in any aspect of their work, this is readily available to them. Managers and leaders care for the staff because they understand how important the staff are to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team is ambitious for children. Although the home has had repeated ‘outstanding’ judgements, the team has continued to identify ways in which the service can continually improve the experiences of children. The management team is never complacent and works tirelessly to improve children’s experiences of living in this home.

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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: SC476990 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aspris Children’s 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

Corline Parker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC476990 7 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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