Children's Home run by Aspire 2 Be Ltd in Barnet

Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 1 Registered provider: Aspire 2 Be Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to three children with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in December 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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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: 2571630 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/05/2023 Full Good 11/01/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/10/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have trusting and supportive relationships with staff. Staff support children in a kind and nurturing way. Staff encourage children to talk about their feelings, needs and wishes. Children can raise concerns about how staff support them, and these are taken seriously and investigated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have engaging formal and informal conversations with staff. These may include discussions about their interests and how to live well with others. Staff encourage and support children to take part in activities they enjoy. One child goes shopping with staff but prefers to spend time with their friends. Another child enjoys various activities, including gaming and playing football.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met because staff work well with professionals. Staff encourage and support children to attend health appointments. Staff are helping a child to eat well and be more active to promote good health and well-being. The child is making good progress towards a goal to help them to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Staff share information with professionals to ensure a consistent approach to children’s care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and promote children’s educational needs. One child said that they enjoy school. The child is doing well at school and has been attending consistently since the beginning of the academic year. The child received certificates for achieving reward points for good behaviour and good work in some of their subjects. Another child seems happier with attending college since they changed their course.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children maintain good relationships with their families. Staff support children to see their families, and they encourage families to visit the home when appropriate. One parent praised staff for the good support they provide to their child. Staff make good plans to ensure that children are happy and have exciting experiences on their birthdays. Staff decorate the home, and children receive gifts on their birthdays. Staff surprised a child by inviting their family to the home for their birthday. The child was very happy to have their family there to celebrate with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children learn skills to help them live independently in adulthood. Staff help children to move on from the home in a planned way when possible. Staff maintain contact with children when they move from the home. This support is provided until the child has settled in their new home.

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

Staff understand how to keep children safe. Professionals have no concerns about safeguarding processes at the home. There are few incidents of concern at the home. Children are rarely restrained, and staff receive training to do this in a safe way. This Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 4 facilitates children being settled in the home and allows children to develop in the care of staff who understand how to promote their well-being.

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

Staff provide the right support to children who might self-harm or are at risk of misusing drugs and alcohol. Staff provide this support with warmth, sensitivity and care, and promoting the safety of the children is a priority for staff. Staff and professionals help children to develop their own understanding of the associated risks.

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

There are instances when children do not always return to the home at agreed times when they have been out with friends. When that happens, staff know what to do, including alerting relevant agencies, such as the police. Staff try to maintain contact with the children until they return to the home. Staff work with professionals to ensure that children get the help they need to understand the risks of being away from home. Because of staff support, the time a child spends away from the home without permission has reduced. This means that the potential harm to the child has also reduced.

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

The home is clean and tidy, and it offers a pleasant environment for children to live in. The manager and staff regularly check all areas of the home. This ensures that the home is safe for the children, staff and visitors.

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

There is a safe staff recruitment process in place. Managers carry out necessary checks before new staff start working at the home. Employment records are up to date. There is now evidence to show what training and support staff receive during the induction period. Staff said they received the right support to do their jobs well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have a good understanding of the quality monitoring processes and the children’s needs. The deputy manager and the responsible individual show a good understanding of what the home does well and the areas that need improving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have implemented improvements since the last inspection, including renovating areas of the home. They said that their biggest improvement is in the quality and frequency of staff training. Staff confirmed that they have had a lot of training. One member of staff also said that training made them more inquisitive about children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that children’s care plans are individualised to their needs. They help staff to receive the right support to meet children’s needs. This is through regular conversations with staff and monthly supervision meetings. Staff also get support from a therapist to help them better understand children’s needs. This helps staff to support children in a way that brings about positive outcomes for the children. The therapist also provides guidance on how staff can support children with specific needs. For example, staff recently received guidance on how to support a child with sensory needs. This will help staff to provide sensitive and nurturing care to the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 5 Staff have regular team meetings that provide them with an opportunity to have reflective discussions about how they work together as a team. They also talk about the care and support they provide to the children. Staff say they work well together as a

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

team, which ensures that they provide consistent care to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals praise how staff and managers maintain good communication and how they build positive relationships with them, the children and families. Professionals also said staff do well in their efforts to keep children safe. There is now evidence that managers receive feedback from different people when they are reviewing the quality of care provided to children. This is an important way of informing managers of what they are doing well and the areas that might need further developing. This will ensure that improvements are made quickly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

No requirements or recommendations have been made. Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 6

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2571630 7

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Inspector

Thobekile Bandama, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 8 and inspects 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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