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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 1 SC473631 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 owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to four children who experience social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 16 February 2024.

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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

Date of last inspection: 21 December 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/12/2021 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/03/2020 Full Good 30/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build trusting relationships with staff and enjoy spending time in their company. This helps to develop the children’s sense of safety and to make individual progress. One child said, ‘Staff are kind, friendly and welcoming.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time for children is promoted where possible. The open lines of communication that staff have with parents helps them to feel included in their children’s lives. One parent said, ‘I cannot thank them enough for what they have done for [Name of Child]. They know my child and are trying to help them understand things better.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals recognise the positive impact living at this home has had on children’s lives. Comments from social workers demonstrate some of the children’s progress such as, ‘[Name of Child] has been able to open-up to staff which is massive;’ and, ‘[Name of child] has made lots of progress around their emotional well-being.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The collaboration between staff and education professionals supports positive outcomes in the children’s education. Care plans aligned to the children’s needs help them to progress towards meeting their potential. For example, staff help children to revise and sit their GCSE exams, prepare for a college interview, have good school attendance and helped one child move to a new school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Well-thought-out transition plans give children every opportunity to have a positive start when moving into this home. The manager gathers information to develop the teams understanding of the children’s needs. The suitability of children living together is fully considered. Consulting children already living at the home about the arrival of a new child fosters a sense of ownership and belonging, making it feel more like their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Furthermore, regular meetings promote the children’s choices about life in the home. Children choose the activities and meals that they enjoy. Staff discuss current events happening locally and nationally and take every opportunity to offer the children positive praise. Children feel listened to and know that their views and opinions are valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Structured routines help to keep children busy. Learning basic independence skills are woven into the children’s daily plans. Individualised activities encourage the children to develop their hobbies and interests; for example, fishing, going to skate parks, and fantasy gaming. Whole group activities promote a sense of togetherness and social engagement, reducing some of the impact of the children’s competing needs. Staff’s commitment and shared enjoyment in these activities enhances the children’s experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff engage children in meaningful conversations about the challenges of living together and the impact that this may have on their emotional well-being. They listen, empathise Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 4 and role model how to be considerate of other people’s needs. As a result, children are more tolerant and empathetic toward one another.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well decorated and provides children with ample space to live and relax. The children’s personalisation of their bedrooms gives them a sense of ownership. The manager has an action plan to further improve the quality of the environment and address remedial work that remains outstanding.

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

Children say that they feel safe living at this home and in the care of staff. As a result, children develop confidence in staff and talk more openly about their worries and concerns.

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

The relatively new staff team has worked effectively to create a place of safety for children to live, reducing the likelihood of children being missing from home. Higher staffing ratios provides the team with additional resources to care for one child’s complex needs, reducing some of the impact this can have on the other children.

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

Bullying does not occur at this home. Staff have regular conversations with children to explore the diverse range of emotions that children experience, helping to deter unwanted behaviour. Frequent behavioural incidents for one child are well managed. Reflective discussions with those staff involved helps to maintain their resilience and focus on the child’s needs.

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

Staff have not had to use restraint practice when children experience overwhelming emotions. However, the manager does not have a risk assessment in place to guide non- trained agency workers. This leaves staff unprepared to safely manage situations if a child needs to be physically held. This increases the risk of harm to both children and staff.

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

Managers take appropriate action and follow safeguarding procedures when concerns are raised about staff’s practice. Effective scrutiny and reflective debriefs with staff, aimed at learning from incidents, promote a learning culture. The manager’s oversight is analytical and evaluative.

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

Children learn about the dangers of online safety and explore strategies with staff about how to keep themselves safe.

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

Incidents of self-harm are rare. For one child there has been a significant reduction with self-injurious behaviours. When they do occur, children experience sensitive care and support.

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

Consequences for unwanted behaviour are not relevant to the behavioural incident or aligned to meeting one child’s needs. The recording of these consequences is poor and there is no evaluation about whether they are effective. The quality of the manager’s oversight is inconsistent and not as effective as all other areas of managerial monitoring. Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 5 Information provided about agency workers does not support the manager to assess their suitability to work at this home. For example, information about their skills and experience, their last employment and work history, including references are not provided. This could result in unsuitable people caring for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads by example and is a calming influence on the team. Staff value the quality of support from the manager and the deputy manager and feel valued in their work. The manager’s ambition to provide the best care for children positively influences staff’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s quality assurance systems ensures that she has effective oversight of the children’s care. A depth of knowledge about the children’s needs, experiences, and progress is disseminated to the team and promotes a shared understanding of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well-equipped in their roles and speak highly of the supportive environment created by managers. They benefit from practice related supervision sessions that are child focused and consider the staff’s welfare. The sessions are supportive, meaningful, and help to develop staff’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are child focused and used as an opportunity to reflect on each child’s needs. Managers discuss practice challenges and develop solutions. The team is not yet working harmoniously as they continue to develop. However, managers promote open discussions and are developing a positive work culture.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the strengths and development needs of the team, identifying learning to help develop staff’s practice. However, staff have not had training relevant to one child’s identity, limiting their knowledge and understanding. Consultation with well- informed professionals has reduced the impact of this training gap.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Well-written records supports managerial oversight of staff’s practice and the children’s care. Children’s plans are easy to follow and written to the child. Memory books capture the children’s enjoyable experiences. Staff’s efforts to take an array of photos enhance the children’s ability to look back fondly on special events, such as attending their school prom.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff’s working relationship with a range of professionals helps them to meet the children’s needs. However, the manager does not have an embedded system for seeking the views of parents and relevant professionals when completing the quality-of-care review. Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that any consequence or disciplinary measure used is aligned to the child’s needs, proportionate and relevant to the incident. 22 September 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, 22 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 7 if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character.

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(d)) The registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager’s evaluation must demonstrate their views on the consequence and the effectiveness of the measure used. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(vii)) 22 September 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are trained on matters relevant to the children’s individual identity and needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they have a risk assessment in place that provides guidance to non-trained staff about their role should children need to be helped by staff using restraint practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they have an effective system that helps them to gather the views of children and relevant others, to support the completion of Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 8 the quality of care review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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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: SC473631 9

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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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Inspectors

Aaron Mcloughlin, Social Care Inspector Johanna Wilson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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