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

Inspection report for children's home: 1183069 1 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 privately owned home provides care for up to six children with mental health needs. At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 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 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: 1183069 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/03/2024 Full Good 12/07/2022 Full Good 13/07/2021 Full Good 18/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1183069 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. The children were all present during inspection, and the inspector spoke to two of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has moved into the home since the last inspection and two children have moved out. One child moved out in a planned way. Staff supported this child to return home to their family. The staff provided support until the child settled. The child’s social worker said that the staff helped to make the move successful. Another child moved on in an unplanned way after an unsettled period. Staff and children ensured this child had a sensitive ending.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care and nurture from a committed staff team. Children’s emotional and mental health is supported by a multi-disciplinary team. Staff encourage children to attend and engage in regular therapy. Children steadily improve their emotional and mental health from their starting points. The children have increased confidence and demonstrate the ability to form relationships with others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff enable children to share their views and feelings in a variety of ways. Staff involve children in reviewing their plans and supervision needs. This helps children to feel listened to and part of important decisions about their lives. Staff advocate for children and ensure children’s views are shared with other professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support healthy daily routines for children, including good sleep hygiene. Staff help children to take part in physical activities that supports their overall health and well- being. Children and staff regularly eat meals together. One child said that communal mealtimes help them to feel like ‘one big family’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children have an education provision and improved attendance. Staff support children to gain independence skills. This includes children regularly cooking healthy meals, and spending time in the community when safe to do so. This provides children with the skills that they need for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to rebuild relationships with people who are important to them. One child and their social worker said that they would not have the relationships they have now with family without the support of staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated to a good standard and provides a comfortable space. Children are able to personalise their bedrooms. However, children are unable to access the sensory room. This restriction has not been formally assessed as necessary and alternatives have not been fully explored. Required improvements to the car park were identified at the last inspection and these have been authorised and planned. Inspection report for children's home: 1183069 4

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

Staff have established positive and trusting relationships with children. These relationships allow children to share any worries. Staff talk warmly about children. One child said, ‘This is the best place I have lived in.’

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

Staff are consistent in their expectations of children’s behaviour toward adults and each other. This provides children with a sense of safety.

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

Staff plan regular conversations with children about topics that are important to them. These conversations are meaningful and include sharing information with children about relationships, sexual health and online safety.

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

Staff manage incidents of self-harming behaviour well. Staff respond sensitively to keep children safe and help them to understand their feelings and emotions. This has led to a decrease in self-harming incidents.

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

Missing-from-care protocols are clear. Incidents of children leaving the home without agreement are well managed. Staff ensure that children receive a warm welcome when they return home. Children are consistently offered a return-home interview with an independent person. Staff remain curious and creative to help children to reduce the risks around being missing from home.

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

All staff have relevant training to help them understand and manage children’s behaviour without the use of physical intervention. Physical intervention is only used as a last resort. When incidents occur, the manager ensures that children and staff are involved in reflecting on the incident. The manager ensures any additional training is provided to continuously improve staff practice.

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

The manager ensures that staff have a good understanding of the children’s needs and the home’s policies through regular team presentations and discussions. New members of staff are supported to understand professional boundaries and safe-caring practices when lone working.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a qualified and experienced manager. The manager is supported by a deputy manager. The manager was present for part of the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that the manager is approachable and supportive. Staff morale is high. The children benefit from a strong and long-serving core staff team who provide a sense of security and stability. This consistency helped to support children during a recently unsettled period at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads a child-centred approach to understanding children’s experiences and past trauma. This approach is further embedded by a qualified therapist and mental- Inspection report for children's home: 1183069 5 health nurse. These health professionals are integrated into the team and work alongside staff to share their expertise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager maintains good oversight of all incidents. This includes meaningful conversations with children to help them share their views. Management monitoring systems are effective and capture important information about children’s progress. This progress is regularly reviewed with the multi-disciplinary team and the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Records and plans are well written and provide staff with clear guidance on how to support children. Best practice is regularly discussed in team meetings. However, one child’s plan did not clarify staff supervision levels detailed in the child’s deprivation of liberty order. On one occasion, despite reflection with the team and child, the manager has not recorded a review of a restraint.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has helped staff to use accessible, non-institutional language in children’s records. Daily records are written to the children and capture their views. The children’s guide and children’s meetings, have been reviewed and adapted in response to children’s feedback.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager plans carefully for new children to move into the home. This plan includes meeting with children and social workers to gain a good understanding of the child’s needs. However, important information from one child’s referral was not accurately captured in the assessment that informed their decision-making. This was a missed opportunity to identify and plan mitigation for some of the challenges experienced after the child moved in.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s review of the quality of care is thorough and demonstrates a good knowledge of the home’s strengths and the lesson’s learned. The home’s development plan contains relevant actions for continual improvement. Inspection report for children's home: 1183069 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, 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home;

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child's relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(i) (c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure all information is carefully assessed to inform placement decision-making.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that children's plans contain accurate information in respect of any legal orders and permissive restrictions. 11 September 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child's needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child's access to any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child's welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child's needs, be properly recorded, and be kept under regular review. In particular, assess and keep under review the need to lock the sensory room. (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, paragraph 3.10, page 15) Inspection report for children's home: 1183069 7  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and

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Recommendations

restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the above principles as set out in 9.35 are respected. (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, paragraph 9.36, page 46)

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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: 1183069 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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Inspectors

Paula Edwards, Social Care Inspector Saeeda Fatima, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1183069 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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