Children's Home run by Aspire Child Care Ltd in Rochdale

Inspection report for children’s home: SC413779 1 SC413779 Registered provider: Aspire Child Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is run by a private organisation. The home is registered to provide care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were two children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2023.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC413779 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/04/2023 Full Good 17/01/2023 Full Good 17/08/2021 Full Good 24/02/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC413779 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled in the home and have lived there for over a year. Children receive good-quality individualised care that meets their personal needs. This support provides children with stability and enables them to make good progress in many aspects of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have built trusting relationships with staff and the staff have a good understanding of their needs. Children live in a highly nurturing environment. Both children said they are happy living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. Staff have a good understanding of children’s health needs. Staff work in partnership with other professionals to help children understand and manage past traumas that affect their emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are engaging with their education. Staff have high expectations of children accessing education. One child had not attended school for a long period before moving in due to their emotional health needs. Through staff nurturing them and offering emotional support during the school day, the child is now attending full time. This has increased the child’s self-esteem and they have gained confidence, and as a result, have been able to attend two geography field trips. The other child is attending school regularly, and they are currently studying for their GCSEs. Staff are supporting the child in identifying a college and the child now has positive aspirations for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spend quality time with their families and work closely with other professionals to rebuild relationships with families when necessary. This makes the time they spend together more positive and builds on positive memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to take part in activities both in the community and in the home. A child struggles with their social anxieties but with staff support they are engaging and trying new activities. This has helped the child to develop their confidence and they are now taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. The other child enjoys attending a local youth club and the gym. These activities have a positive effect on children’s emotional and mental health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are involved in decisions made about their day-to-day care. They are regularly consulted on many aspects, such as the activities they would like to do and the menu choice.

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

Children said they feel safe in the home. Children are clear on what to do if they are worried about anything or have a concern. One child said: ‘If I had any worries I would Inspection report for children’s home: SC413779 4 speak to any staff member, they do care and support me.’ There have been no complaints.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and recognise when there is a risk of harm. When incidents have happened, these have been well managed to keep children safe. However, the risk assessment documentation does not clearly identify all the known risks that are highlighted in the children’s care plans, so there are no clear strategies for staff to deal with potential incidents if they should occur.

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

When a child goes missing from home, staff follow clear procedures which include looking for the child and working with other professionals to ensure their safe return. However, it is not clear if children are always given an opportunity to be seen by an independent person on their return after being missing.

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

Children talk positively about the support they receive and have developed positive relationships with staff. This helps staff to de-escalate any behaviour that is challenging at an early stage and prevent incidents from occurring. Staff listen to children and involve them in identifying ways to support them when they are upset or in a difficult situation. This is improving the children’s emotional well-being. However, the manager does not ensure that consequences have regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and effective.

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

Staff develop close working relationships with other professionals. This helps children to access tailored support programmes related to their specific risks. As a result, children make great strides in achieving their targets. One mental health professional said: ‘Positive relationships have been built with the staff and these remain fundamentally important in the children’s development and growth.’

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

Staff encourage children to take age-appropriate risks. This helps to develop children’s confidence in the community while also developing their independence. Children are regularly educated about keeping safe online, and about appropriate friendships and relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The experienced manager prioritises the well-being of children and has high aspirations and is child-centred. He is also the registered manager of another home in the organisation. With current staffing shortages, the responsible individual is supporting the manager in providing care for the children to maintain consistency. However, this arrangement is having an impact on the management oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has not been able to rectify all the shortfalls from the previous inspection. Also, the manager has not completed a review of the quality of care for the previous six months. This has not enabled him to identify the shortfalls and areas that need improving. The management team is in the process of developing more robust Inspection report for children’s home: SC413779 5 documentation that will give its members clearer management oversight in the day-to- day running of the home. These have not yet been embedded in practice. The physical environment is clean and tidy and the manager ensures that all appropriate health and safety checks are completed. However, there are some minor repairs that are needed to ensure that the home is maintained to a high standard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a small, stable staff team, whose members provide consistency for the children. They share the same aspirations as the manager, and they all enjoy their role and feel supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a comprehensive training programme available to staff and the manager ensures that staff receive additional training to meet the individual needs of children. This ensures that staff have the skills and knowledge that they need to provide children with good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Supervision sessions and appraisals are taking place in the appropriate timescales and there is clear, reflective practice taking place. This ensures that staff are receiving the appropriate support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff meetings are taking place regularly and give staff an opportunity to share knowledge and experience. Staff said they get many opportunities to talk about their practice and learn from each other. As a result, teamworking is strong. Inspection report for children’s home: SC413779 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, 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 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the provider must ensure that all incidents are evaluated with scrutiny, taking into consideration any possible learning outcomes that can be implemented in children’s risk management plans, or that support the development of staff.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that there are clear systems in place to have clear management oversight of the day-to-day running of the home.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 18 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children; 18 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC413779 7 the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is maintained and that any hazards identified are quickly repaired, such as the damage to the lounge wall, the carpet at the top of the stairs and the toilet seat. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that all risks are identified and give clear strategies to staff on how to manage these risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. This relates specifically to the use of consequences; the registered person must ensure that they are also reviewed for their effectiveness. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children’s home: SC413779 8  The registered person should ensure that accurate records are kept in relation to return home interviews. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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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: SC413779 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aspire Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 15 Jutland Avenue, Rochdale, Lancashire OL11 5DP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christine MacKay

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Inspector

Simon Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC413779 10 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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