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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC481221 1 SC481221 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

The home is run by a private provider and provides care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties. Three children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager at the home since August 2024. A new manager was appointed in September 2024 and has recently applied to register with Ofsted.

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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: 15 January 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC481221 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/01/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/04/2023 Full Good 12/05/2022 Full Good 07/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC481221 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home. Since the last inspection, no children have moved in or out. All children took part in the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are comfortable in the company of the staff and have built positive relationships with them. These relationships have contributed to the progress that the children have made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are being met. Children have been registered with local health services, and staff have supported them to attend routine health appointments. Relevant referrals to health professionals have been made to support children with their emotional well-being. Staff have supported one child to become more independent in their personal care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers have introduced therapeutic practitioners to the home to help staff understand how to best support children’s health and well-being. Staff’s improved knowledge and understanding of the child’s needs has helped to reduce the number of incidents with one child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to have fun, and they plan activities around the children’s interests. Children have attended meals out, visits to theme parks, laser tag and bike rides.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making educational progress. The manager and staff work closely with schools to support children with their individual learning needs and attendance. Before moving to the home, one child had not attended school for a long period. They now attend school full time. For another child, staff have motivated and encouraged them to sit their exams.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. A parent said about the staff, ‘They keep me regularly updated with photos and emails.’ This helps children who live far from home maintain connections and a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warmly decorated, and photos of the children feature on the walls. Children’s bedrooms are personalised, but the upstairs bathroom appears institutionalised, which detracts from the home’s welcoming ethos.

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

Risks for children are reducing. The relationships between children and staff help children to talk to staff about worries and concerns. Inspection report for children’s home: SC481221 4 The manager acts without delay when allegations of harm occur. When children have raised safeguarding concerns, the allegations are taken seriously. Investigations take place quickly, are handled fairly and discussed with the relevant agencies.

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

Staff use incentives and take a restorative approach to promote positive behaviours. When consequences are required, children are clear about why these are used.

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

The location assessment clearly identifies the risks associated with the location of the home. Leaders and managers work closely with the police to ensure that risks in the area are known and kept regularly updated. This helps to ensure that staff are continually informed about the area and potential concerns are reduced.

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

Children sometimes need to be held by staff to keep them safe. These holds are necessary and proportionate. However, behaviour management strategies for one child are not sufficient and have led to staff inconsistencies in how they approach some difficult situations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

At the time of the last inspection, the manager had just started in post. Since that time, they have applied to register with Ofsted and have made changes at the home to improve staff practice and the quality of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and say that they feel supported by the manager. When there have been some concerns around staff practice, staff have been challenged effectively by the manager. She encourages them to think about their approach and how it can be more therapeutic. This helps the manager to understand the skills in the team and to help ensure that staff’s approach with children is safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings provide effective support for staff and are used as a forum to discuss individual children. Therapeutic consultation and guidance are provided to help staff understand the impact of trauma and how this manifests in children’s behaviour. These meetings give the staff team the opportunity to share ideas and feelings in a safe space.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children’s guide is child friendly and gives children a sense of what it is like living at the home; however, it is not transparent about when a child’s confidentiality or privacy may need to be broken. This weakens the ability to form trusting relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is confident to challenge other professionals to help ensure that children’s wishes and feelings are heard and the right support is in place for them to thrive. This advocacy resulted in a suspension being removed from a child’s education record. Inspection report for children’s home: SC481221 5 Appraisals for staff are completed. However, these do not include feedback from professionals or children. This reduces the breadth of overview of the staff member’s performance and opportunities for the identification of areas for development. Inspection report for children’s home: SC481221 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account, when reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of children. The home should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide explains the home’s procedures and policies for respecting children’s confidentiality and also when it

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Recommendations

will not be possible to preserve this in the Children’s Guide. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.12)  The registered person should ensure that staff have the skills to respond to each child’s individual behaviour. Where necessary, they should manage conflict, maintain constructive dialogues and react appropriately if challenged by a child in their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.14)

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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: SC481221 7

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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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michelle Batchelor

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Inspector

Naomi Starbuck, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC481221 8 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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