Children's Home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in Southampton

Inspection report for children's home: SC407783 1 SC407783 Registered provider: Aspris Children’s Services 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

This home is run by a national private organisation and provides accommodation linked to an educational provision. The home provides care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties. Three children were in residence at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspectors only inspected the social care provision of this organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 15 December 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: SC407783 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/06/2023 Full Good 20/09/2022 Full Good 05/05/2021 Full Good 07/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC407783 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care from staff that meets their individual needs. Consequently, the children make good progress. The staff build relationships that ensure the children feel safe and secure. These relationships have helped children who were reluctant to move into the home settle. Staff have planned and ad-hoc conversations with children that help them to understand the world around them. Children respond well to the informal nature of these supportive discussions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children well with their healthcare needs and to attend necessary appointments. The staff support them with their emotional well-being. They work closely with child and adolescent mental health services as needed. Each child’s individual ‘All About Me’ document provides good information about their health needs and how to meet them. The staff involve the children in any updates to this document. This helps the children to feel valued and respected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children well with their education. They work with schools and colleges to ensure that the children receive the support that they need. Staff attend educational reviews and meetings. This means they know the progress that the children are making. Staff ensure the right learning environment so that the children can prepare for their exams.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are passionate about the children achieving, and they encourage children in all their endeavours. They help the children to develop their interests, such as playing golf and musical instruments, singing and dancing. Children have lots of opportunities to experience new things and live a full life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a range of opportunities to express their views, wishes and feelings. They are confident in expressing what they want or need because they know that the staff listen to them and respond to their requests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Families and partner professionals are happy with the care and support that the children receive. One professional said, ‘They [the staff] are supportive. They care about the child.’ One parent said, ‘I cannot fault it. They [the staff] have been great.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff ensure that children’s moves into and on from the home are well planned and sensitively managed. For example, before moving in, children have sleepovers, choose the decoration for their rooms and go for a coffee to meet their key worker. This helps reduce the children’s anxieties and allows them to start to build relationships with the other children and staff. The staff show the same attention when children move on from the home. They develop a ‘preparing for change’ plan, which helps them to prepare the children for moving on. Inspection report for children's home: SC407783 4 All children return home to their families at weekends and/or during school holidays. The staff work with the children and their families to ensure that the children are ready for their journey home and are well supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children choose the decor in their rooms, and these reflect their personality and character. However, some parts of the house require redecoration, and one sofa requires repair or replacement.

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

Staff understand the risks that children are vulnerable to. They work with a range of professionals to ensure that the children are safe. The staff ensure that children’s individual risk assessments are clear and that appropriate measures are in place to reduce risk. This includes historical risks such as self-harm. Staff work with the children to identify and manage risk. They involve them in reviews and updates to their risk assessments.

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

Children rarely go missing from home. There has been one missing-from-home incident since the last inspection. Staff followed the protocols in place to ensure the child returned home safely.

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

Staff maintain clear and consistent boundaries. Clear behaviour management plans guide staff in how to manage difficult situations. Staff complete the behaviour support plans, and update them, in consultation with the children. The clear and consistent boundaries mean that children know what is expected of them. The staff develop positive relationships with the children and respond well to incidents. As a result, the home environment has been very settled, and children have mostly presented with positive behaviours.

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

Staff were not aware of hazards in one child’s bedroom, such as a plank of wood with screws poking out of it and multiple extension leads and cables attached to each other. Furthermore, unsecured medication was left out by a child who self-medicates.

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

There has been no registered manager since December 2023. A new manager was appointed but has since left. While the staff are passionate about the children and what they can achieve, the home has lacked the effective management oversight needed.

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

The lack of clear management oversight of the home has led to shortfalls in practice. Staff say that they feel supported. However, there is a lack of regular, good-quality staff supervision. Several important documents, including staff induction and children’s medication transfer records, cannot be evidenced as having been reviewed by the manager. Inspection report for children's home: SC407783 5 Staff know and understand children’s progress through the time they spend with the children. The new goals-tracker system documents the progress children make. Staff celebrate with the children when they meet their targets.

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

The manager and staff have a good understanding of diversity and inclusion. This is evident throughout the house. Staff support children to be themselves and celebrate their identity. As a result, children feel able to speak to staff about any challenges they are experiencing.

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

There is a good staff training offer. Staff receive useful training that is relevant to the needs of the children.

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

Staff work closely with partner professionals, schools, colleges and parents to ensure the best possible outcomes for children. Inspection report for children's home: SC407783 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 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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d)) 31 July 2024

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and

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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)(a)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular ensure that suitable management arrangements and effective monitoring systems are in place. 31 July 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC407783 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing, supportive environment that meets the needs of the children and is a homely, well-maintained and decorated domestic environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that all staff, including the manager, receive sufficiently regular, good-quality supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: SC407783 8

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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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michelle Batchelor

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Inspector

Vevene Muhammad, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC407783 9 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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