Children's Home run by Aspire 2 Be Ltd in Barnet

Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 1 Registered provider: Aspire 2 Be 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 provides care for up to three children with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in December 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, two children have moved out, leaving one child currently living in 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/04/2024 Full Good 24/05/2023 Full Good 11/01/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/10/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have helped the child settle in. The child’s social worker says that the child is happy and wants to stay long term.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders, managers and staff are thoughtful, nurturing and sensitive to the child’s needs. This contributes to developing and sustaining trusting and positive relationships that support the child to have a feeling of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with education professionals to develop strategies for improving the child’s school attendance. However, they do not always take a creative approach to engaging the child in a daily routine when they are not at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and encourage the child to attend health appointments. The registered manager and staff have advocated for the child to access specialist support to meet their additional needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Regular key-work sessions help the child to make sense of their experiences, leading to positive interactions with staff that are built on trusting relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to have family time. The child’s social worker commended the staff for building these positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Impact risk assessments do not always take full account of children’s diverse needs, and this has sometimes had an impact on the group dynamics and how staff manage risks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children well when they move out of the home. For example, when a child recently moved out, arrangements were made for ongoing support, including visits.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to make sure that the home environment is clean and tidy. However, there are some areas in the home that need attention. For example, some areas need repainting. During the inspection, several loose paving slabs in the garden were noted. The registered manager took immediate action to have these repaired.

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

Instances of children going missing from home have decreased. When children do go missing, the staff follow the missing-from-care protocol to ensure the child’s safe return. However, the registered manager has not always requested an independent return home interview when a child is safely back home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 4 Behaviour support plans are tailored to the child’s needs. There is clear guidance in place for staff to follow. In addition, when consequences are given, they are carefully thought about with the support of the home’s consultant psychologist. These thoughtful strategies prevent incidents from escalating.

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

The home has commissioned a therapeutic service that offers specialist support to the child to help them keep themselves safe. However, risk assessments are not always updated when new risks are identified. This means that not every member of staff has access to information on managing risks.

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

Safer recruitment practices help to ensure that only suitable staff are employed. However, leaders have, on one occasion, overlooked a missing employment history from a new staff member.

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

The registered manager oversees the medication administration records to ensure that staff practice promotes the child’s health. However, when over-the-counter medication is bought, this is not always added to the medication record.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is enthusiastic and keen to ensure the standards of care are good.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported in their roles and speak warmly of the manager and leaders. Staff receive regular supervision sessions. However, supervision records do not always take account of the children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend regular team meetings and monthly therapeutic meetings that are run by the in-house therapist. These opportunities enable staff to broaden their learning and reflect on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A few members of staff are not clear on the whistle-blowing procedure and the protection this offers them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a wide range of training that is delivered either online or face to face. However, this has not included receiving training on topics such as substance misuse and exploitation. In addition, the training matrix has not been updated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The workforce development plan does not consider timescales for supervision of practice or staff’s experience and qualifications. Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 5

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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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice; (Regulation 6 (1)(b) (2)(b)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff must ensure that routines are in place for the child. 30 July 2025

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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

promotes their welfare. (Regulation 13 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that there is a culture where staff are clear and understand the whistle-blowing process to raising concerns regarding the welfare of children and the practice of others. 30 July 2025

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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; and 30 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 6 have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the 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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, improve the quality of assessments when new children are being considered.

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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,

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Requirement Due date

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

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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)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all gaps in employment and any time spent abroad are fully explored and understood before the applicant starts work at the home. 30 July 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and that this is captured on the Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 7 training record. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that the workforce development plan includes the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s statement of purpose. In addition, detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that records are kept of the administration of all medication. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.15)  The registered person should ensure that supervision captures discussions around children to support safeguarding strategies for staff and minimise potential risks to children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that staff continually assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. This must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that a return home interview is requested when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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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: 2571630 8

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Inspector

Ruth Okezie, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2571630 9 and inspects to 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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Inspector

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