Children's Home run by Aspireone Care Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1228191 1 Registered provider: Aspireone Care Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and run by a private company. The home provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home. Both children were present and were spoken to during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2024 and is suitably qualified and experienced.

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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: 1228191 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/03/2024 Full Good 14/02/2023 Full Good 16/08/2021 Full Outstanding 03/12/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 1228191 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, three children have moved out of the home. Two of them had lived at the home for a short time. For one child, their placing authority did not share all relevant information at the time of the referral, and another child quickly returned to their family. The third child had reached independence and moved on to semi- independent living. Despite an unsettled period in the home, children continue to receive good-quality care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress from their starting points and establish trusting relationships with staff. Warm and positive interactions and relationships have aided children’s progression and enabled them to feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is a clear priority in the home. Staff work effectively with education providers to promote children’s engagement with school. Before living in the home, one child had never successfully completed a full term in school, did not take part in any extra- curricular activities, lacked positive interaction with peers and did not have experience of safe and consistent parenting. This child now has excellent school attendance and has made friends and local connections. After moving into the home, another child did not have a school place. The manager advocated on behalf of the child, who now has a school place due to start imminently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to take part in different activities and to have a range of different experiences tailored to their interests, including football and board games. This encouragement enables children to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience positive moves from the home to independent living. Children who have moved out of the home continue to value their relationships with staff and remain in close contact for ongoing support and to share their achievements since moving on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to maintain relationships with people who are important to the them. Parents say they feel important and feel like they are continuing to participate in their children’s lives. Staff respond to children and act on their requests. Children’s expectations are managed so that they understand how they will achieve goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite improvements to the home environment, there are areas that look tired and where repairs and cleaning are needed. This includes a broken window in a child’s bedroom. This detracts from a nurturing and comfortable environment, which will impact on children’s sense of worth and their ability to respect their environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Door alarms have been appropriately risk assessed to reduce specific risks in the home. However, bedroom door alarms are being used to monitor children’s whereabouts in the day when the risk is not present. This blanket approach is intrusive and does not have regard to children’s right to privacy. Inspection report for children’s home: 1228191 4

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

The home is a safe place for children to live. Staff know the children and their associated risks well. The use of physical intervention is rare. This indicates staff’s ability to use their skills to de-escalate situations effectively. When physical intervention has been used, it is proportionate and well managed. There are, however, shortfalls in the recording of physical interventions. While records are detailed in some areas, information detailing the hold used is missing, and discussions with staff and children after the event are not consistently recorded.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been two missing-from-home episodes relating to a child who no longer lives in the home. There is a clear policy and procedure in place for such incidents and records clearly demonstrate the well-coordinated response from staff. Episodes of children going missing are recorded in detail.

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

Appropriate decisions were made for two children to move on from the home. It was quickly recognised that staff were unable to keep these children safe and provide the level of specific care that they required. The manager had many questions about the appropriateness of one child’s placement, but crucial information was withheld from the provider by the placing authority. The manager has made a formal complaint on behalf of the child.

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

Disclosures made by children are taken seriously. These are acted on promptly by the manager through the necessary channels and in line with the home’s safeguarding policy. The wider network around the child is accessed for support. As a result, children feel listened to and safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is new to the role. She has taken the leadership role in her stride and has begun to make her mark on the development of the home. The manager is committed and passionate about improving the care children receive. She knows the children well and celebrates their progress, however small.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children, staff and professionals speak highly of the manager. Effective systems are in place to seek children’s views. However, there are limited systems to seek feedback from others, such as professionals and parents. The manager has a strategy in place to improve this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has employed an experienced team of staff, who work cohesively together. While there have been challenges in the home, the staff team has remained stable, providing consistency of care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s internal recording systems have been updated. The manager and staff say there are benefits to the streamlined system, with less duplication. However, there are Inspection report for children’s home: 1228191 5 still difficulties in navigating the system to locate key documents linked to recorded incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the home’s strengths and areas for development. She is receptive of feedback to improve the care provided to children, to achieve better outcomes. However, The manager has failed to use audit tools and there are shortfalls in the recording and review of information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a training plan for the year for the team. However, the staff training record does not reflect the training that has taken place. Staff have not received training relevant to the specific care needs of the children in the home. This means that the care provided may not be in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Inspection report for children’s home: 1228191 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 promotes their welfare.

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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

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)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that staff complete the organisation’s mandatory and home-specific training. The manager must also have robust quality assurance and monitoring systems in place, particularly of physical intervention records. They must also have effective oversight of the home to improve the quality of care provided. 7 February 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home provides a nurturing, supportive and homely environment that meets the needs of the children. This specifically relates to ensuring that the home is clean and updated so as to not appear tired and worn and that repairs are carried out quickly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that when using monitoring or surveillance equipment, they have a written policy describing how this will support the safeguarding and well-being of those living and working in the home, in accordance with regulation 24. This specifically relates to not using bedroom door alarms as a Inspection report for children’s home: 1228191 7 blanket approach and reviewing the reasons for the use of bedroom door alarms at regular intervals. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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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: 1228191 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4 Lyme Drive, Lyme Vale Court, Parklands, Stoke-on- Trent, Staffordshire ST4 6NW

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Inspector

Tonia Dubidat, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1228191 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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