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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC408655 1 SC408655 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 children’s home is operated by a large national provider. It provides care for up to seven children who may have a learning difficulty and/or autism. There were four children living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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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: 25 January 2024

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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: SC408655 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/01/2024 Full Good 14/07/2022 Full Good 07/09/2021 Full Good 11/06/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC408655 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in the home because they are supported by a staff team that cares. Children have made progress with their life skills, personal hygiene and family relationships. Relationships between staff and children are not transactional but are genuine. Children speak positively about the staff team and the relationships they have with staff. Children are able to identify key adults they would approach if they needed additional support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well. Staff can demonstrate their knowledge of children’s needs and how to support them. They understand the children’s behaviour and what this communicates. As a result, children receive individualised care that meets their needs. Parents and partner professionals speak positively of the care of the children. One social worker said that the staff go above and beyond to ensure the children are adequately supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a wide range of weekly activities. Children have weekly planners so that they aware of planned activities. Children enjoy shopping trips, cinema trips and visits to the local park. They have also visited a theme park and zoo and been on holiday at a holiday camp. One child regularly attends a dance group, which staff support them to attend. Additional staffing is also arranged for one child who enjoys swimming but needs additional support in the community to ensure they can attend this activity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Childrens views are listened to, respected and acted upon. Individual sessions and children’s meetings highlight how much of a voice children have in the home. Children are able to pick their own bedroom design and have their say on holidays, activities and meals. Social stories are used to support children’s understanding, a technique which was used effectively to help children understand what was happening when a child was moving on to a new placement. Children are consulted with after physical incidents in the home. However, children are not spoken with after safeguarding concerns that have potentially affected their care. This is a missed opportunity to gain children’s views on their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from being supported by a culturally diverse staff team. Children have the opportunity to engage in basic cultural exploration, such as theme nights and trying foods from different countries. However, equality, diversity and culture are not explored or celebrated with the children beyond this. This is acknowledged by the manager.

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

Staff respond well to children’s nonverbal behavioural cues. When children need to use their communication aids, these are easily available to children to help them express their views. Staff are currently creating communication aids specific to different areas of the home. This will support children communicating the support they need depending on Inspection report for children’s home: SC408655 4 what room they are in. For example, the communication aid for the lounge allows children to pick what they would like to watch on television, music they would like to listen to or videos they would like to watch on streaming platforms.

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

The staff are aware of children’s strengths and vulnerabilities. Plans such as placement plans and risk assessments for children are thorough and give step-by-step guidance for staff on how to support children and the targets they are working towards. Plans identify tasks children can complete independently and ones they need additional support with.

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

Staff have completed training that has supported their understanding on how best to care for the children. They are further guided on caring for the children through discussions during team meetings and individual supervision sessions. This ensures that staff are supported effectively to continue to meet children’s complex needs well.

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

Physical incidents are well managed and kept to a minimum. When staff use physical intervention to support children, this is to ensure the safety of the child or others and is used as a last resort when other de-escalation techniques have not been successful. Records of these incidents are clearly recorded and reviewed by the manager. Reflective conversations take place with staff involved, to see how people feel about these incidents and look at how they may be avoided in the future. Children are also spoken to after physical incidents to gain their views, which are recorded as social stories to help the children’s understanding of what has happened.

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

Recruitment checks are completed. However, verification checks to ascertain why an individual may have left previous employment is not being carried out routinely. This could put children at risk of being supported by unsuitable individuals. Checks for one new member of staff who had already been employed were only carried out after this was highlighted to the manager and the responsible individual.

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

Although children do not go missing, one child in the home is at risk of this. The child does not have a missing protocol detailing steps for staff to follow should they go missing. Additionally, some staff are not aware that children should be given the opportunity to speak with an independent person after an episode of going missing. As a result, children are at risk of not receiving the best response from staff should they go missing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the home. She has good monitoring and reviewing tools in place which keep her informed of what is happening in the home. The manager is aware of the strengths of the home as well as the shortfalls and has robust plans in place to address these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When there are safeguarding concerns, the manager is proactive in addressing these. Investigations are thorough and outcomes are positive. The manager ensures lessons are learned from mistakes and implements measures to ensure there are no repeat Inspection report for children’s home: SC408655 5 incidents. She has embedded a culture of reflection which enhances staff practice and the care the children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have successfully managed complaints received by neighbours. The manager and responsible individual ensured the neighbour’s concerns were addressed and clear lines of communication between the neighbours and provider ensured the process was managed well. When neighbours raised a noise concern, the manager arranged for soundproofing of areas of the home and invited an acoustic specialist to the home for further advice and guidance. This helped to promote relationships within the local community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from good supervision and regular appraisals. Supervision sessions are reflective and support staff to focus on their practice. The manager includes additions to supervision, such as the quizzes about regulations and practice. This helps to improve staff knowledge and confidence in their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak proudly of the manager. Staff describe how positive and supportive she is and how she advocates for the children and champions their rights. Her advocacy for the children is admired by the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads by example and is a role model to her team. She has high expectations of her staff team and provides appropriate challenge when practice falls below her expected standards. The manager has challenged decisions made by partner professionals that she believes are not in the best interests of children. These challenges have led to improved outcomes for the children in her care. One parent described the manager as an absolute ally when having to challenge partner professionals about decisions made that were having a negative impact on their child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirements set at the last inspection have been met. Inspection report for children’s home: SC408655 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 enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children have opportunities to explore different cultures and that equality and diversity are celebrated in the home. 1 March 2025

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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, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— 1 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC408655 7 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)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that if a person has previously worked in a position involving work with children or vulnerable adults, verification so far as reasonably practicable of the reason why the employment or position ended is sought.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff encourage children to share any concerns about their care or other matters as soon as they arise. Children should be spoken with to gain their views where safeguarding concerns have potentially impacted on the care they receive. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The registered person should ensure that children at risk of going missing have specific protocols in place to manage their safe return and staff should be aware of what to do when a child returns home from being missing. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.19)

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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: SC408655 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: 2 Barton Close, Grove Park, Enderby, Leicester LE19 1SJ

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Inspectors

Louise Webling, Social Care Inspector Sally Shakespeare, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC408655 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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Inspectors

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