Children's home run by Aspire Care and Education Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 1241263 1 Registered provider: Aspire Care and Education Services Ltd

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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 privately owned and provides care for up to seven children with learning difficulties and speech, language and communication needs. There were six children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 22 July 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 22 November 2023

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1241263 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/11/2023 Full Outstanding 07/03/2023 Full Outstanding 14/09/2021 Full Outstanding 11/12/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 1241263 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children receive exceptional care at this home. This is a result of the high-quality personalised care provided to them. Staff know children very well and this allows the relationships between children and staff to flourish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All children make strong progress from their starting points. Staff place great emphasis on helping children to develop communication skills. Children who did not have any effective communication tools in the past are now able to use pictures and symbols to help them communicate their needs and to make choices. Staff closely monitor children’s ability to use communication tools and provide individual support to ensure that each child reaches their full potential. As a result, some children have been able to use more advanced communication tools and others are using words to express themselves. This has enabled children to engage positively with the world around them in a way that was previously inaccessible to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are supported to engage in education and managers work tirelessly to advocate for children to ensure that they have access to provision that meets their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children learn to develop independence in line with their needs and abilities. A parent commented that her child ‘is like a different child. He wouldn’t sit down at home at all. He is now presenting as calm and really happy.’ A social worker reported how a child was not able to sit safely in a car before moving into the home. He is now able to do so and can now access the community using public transport.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff understand the importance of children spending positive time with their families and do all they can to promote this. As a result, children benefit greatly from structured time with family members. One parent reported that their relationship with their child had improved significantly since the child came to live at this home. Furthermore, parents are consulted and their views are included in the day-to-day care provided to their children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are consulted regularly. This includes daily choices for their activities and meals, and about how the environment can be changed and adapted to make them comfortable and feel valued. All children chose the colours for their bedrooms and have their favourite toys or items associated with their hobbies. Children are helped to understand more complex situations through social stories, and staff are persistent in ensuring that these are understood to the best of children’s individual abilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff have excellent knowledge of children’s cultural needs. They ensure that children continue to participate in activities relating to their faith. For one child, staff consulted her parents to choose a new local church for her when the church she previously attended did not meet her needs. Staff are open to learning about any traditional Inspection report for children’s home: 1241263 4 activities relating to different cultures. For example, a parent of one child was invited to teach staff to cook their traditional meals. This is indicative of the way staff support children to feel at home while still staying connected with their family.

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

The home is designed to provide a safe physical environment for children. There are lovely areas where children can play and enjoy their experiences of muddy play, of time in the sensory room, or in the various safely designed areas in the garden.

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

Staff have a good knowledge of children’s vulnerabilities because they have well- informed safety plans, with which they are very familiar, which help them to anticipate situations that may place children at risk. They are vigilant and intervene early to help children to understand dangers and steer them to safety. However, on one occasion staff delayed contacting the required services to seek medical advice when a child might have been at risk. While this had no negative effect on the child’s welfare at that time, it did create a potential risk. The registered manager generally has excellent oversight of any incidents or ‘near miss’ events and takes effective action to learn from incidents and to enhance practice.

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

The good progress children make in improving their communication skills means that staff are able to work effectively with them to help them to express their needs and to improve their social skills. This helps them to reduce behaviours that may have a negative impact on them or others. As a result, incidents of such behaviour have reduced significantly for all children. Children are also helped to make safer choices. For example, one child who can sometimes abscond is learning the risks associated with this through social stories.

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

The manager works closely with the relevant professionals when there are safeguarding concerns. Professionals who gave feedback to the inspector are unanimous in their view that they have no worries about the care provided to children and are satisfied that children are safe at the home.

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

Staff recruitment files are thorough and comprehensive. The manager ensures that agency staff recruitment checks are carefully scrutinised. The home uses consistent agency workers who have good relationships with the children. This ensures that children experience care from staff who are suitable and know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is committed to children’s progress and has high expectations for what children can achieve. They ensure that staff understand children’s needs and what is needed to help them to progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager will be leaving the home for a period of time. The new interim manager is already in place and is working alongside the registered manager to familiarise Inspection report for children’s home: 1241263 5 themselves with the setting and to help maximise continuity in the care received by the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A new responsible individual has also been appointed who knows the service and children very well as they managed this home in the past. This succession planning is well thought out and also works to enhance continuity for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is proactive in ensuring continuing high-quality individualised care for children. They regularly seek feedback from external professionals and parents and use this to continuously enhance the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager advocates for children to ensure that their needs are central to planning for them to help achieve the best outcomes. All professionals described the manager as a very effective advocate for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home’s strengths and weaknesses are well understood by leaders. The manager makes good use of regular staff meetings in order to involve staff in service development and to provide a safe space to reflect and learn in order to achieve the best outcomes for children. Staff said that they are well supported by the managers and enjoy working with the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1241263 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are able to assess independently when emergency services have to be contacted without unnecessary delays. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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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: 1241263 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aspire Care and Education Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Rift Accounting House, 160 Eureka Park, Upper Pemberton, Kennington, Ashford, Kent TN25 4AZ

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Inspector

Sonata Brisley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1241263 8 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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