Children's home run by Aspiration House Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2816793 1 Registered provider: Aspiration House Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a private company. It provides care for up to eight children who have learning difficulties, physical disabilities or a sensory impairment.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living at the home at the time of the inspection and were interacted with.

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Information about this children’s home

Education is provided on site. The inspector only inspected the social care provision on this site.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2025.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2816793 2

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improvement to be good

This is the first inspection of the home since it was registered. Staff have worked hard over the last few months to get to know the children and understand their needs. The staff know that, for some of the children, this is their first experience of being in care.

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improvement to be good

The children attend a school on the same site as the home. They attend every day and they are making progress. Before moving into the home, none of the children had been accessing any form of education for a significant period. School and care staff have a joint approach in encouraging children into school and learning. This has allowed children to participate in daily learning in a meaningful way.

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improvement to be good

The voice of each child is sought through different communication methods. Staff are patient with the children and allow them time to make their choices. The staff are understanding of the children’s needs. This approach is enabling children to express themselves, and they know that staff respond to their requests. Staff visually capture the children’s views so that they can be referred to, if required.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a considered approach to undertaking individualised work with children. Planned sessions are child centred, and staff consider how best to engage with the children. Staff are creative in their use of resources, which supports the children to fully engage in these sessions.

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improvement to be good

The staff are committed to helping children maintain and develop meaningful links with their families. Children spend quality time with their families. Staff arrange activities that the children and their families can enjoy, and these provide opportunities to capture special family moments.

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improvement to be good

The children benefit from the proactive approach of staff when activities are being sourced and organised. These activities are within the local community or further afield. Photos are taken to capture the adventures that children have, and these are shared with their families.

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improvement to be good

The needs of the children mean they always require close supervision from staff. As a result, the opportunity for bullying, exploitation or children going missing from home is reduced, and this ensures the children’s safety.

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improvement to be good

The children require a specific environment to keep them safe and meet their needs. However, the full extent of a child’s needs was not considered, and there were avoidable risks present that could have harmed the child. When this was highlighted to the Inspection report for children’s home: 2816793 3 provider, they took action to rectify this, but they failed to consider this in the first instance.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments do not clearly outline all the known risks for the children. Key information has been omitted, meaning that staff are not equipped with all the information they need to keep children safe.

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improvement to be good

The children have complex needs, and their ability to determine potential risks is limited. When children are travelling between school and home, the staff use a harness for the children. However, staff have not assessed the children to identify their actual needs in this regard. Without this assessment, the staff are potentially using unnecessary restrictive practice on children.

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improvement to be good

There is a medication process in place. However, there have been medication errors in the home. Action has been taken to rectify the errors, but on one occasion, a child went without their prescribed medication. No health advice was sought for the child after the medication was missed. The manager did not notify Ofsted when the errors occurred.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers are dedicated to their role and are committed to helping children achieve good outcomes. Since the home was registered, the staff team have been forming their own working relationships with each other, as well as getting to know the children. The staff do support each other and work together to care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have completed their mandatory training in preparation for the home opening and welcoming new children. However, the leadership team has not ensured that staff have been provided with specific training relating to children’s needs. This means that staff have not been equipped with the right skills and knowledge to ensure that they support children appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

In addition, agency staff have been shown how to undertake physical intervention, but they have not received adequate training. This is unsafe practice, and managers need to provide this specialist training to ensure that any interventions are carried out safely and effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There has been a recent change of responsible individual. However, since the home has opened, the responsible individual has not undertaken their role as expected. Their presence in the home has been very limited, and they have not had any oversight of the work carried out in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The leadership team has been supporting the staff in their role. They have ensured that staff receive supervision in line with the statement of purpose, alongside being supported through their induction and probation process. Inspection report for children’s home: 2816793 4 Feedback from a parent has been positive. They are of the view that their child is being supported well. They appreciate the effort that staff have taken to enable them to improve their relationship with their child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2816793 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to the registered person ensuring that any potential risks within the home are identified and action is taken to reduce the risks. 17 November 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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 17 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2816793 6 lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to the registered person ensuring the staff are suitably trained and qualified to undertake physical intervention.

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Requirement Due date

An individual may only carry on a children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (5).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit to carry on the home; and

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Requirement Due date

the individual is financially fit to carry on the home.

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Requirement Due date

satisfy the requirements in paragraph (5)(a) to (c); and

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (1) (5)(a)(b)(c)(d) (7)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the responsible individual undertaking their role in accordance with regulations. 17 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that— 17 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2816793 7 medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to the registered person ensuring that children are administered the appropriate medication in line with their plan and staff complete the administration requirements.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to the registered person ensuring that Ofsted are notified of incidents that meet the criteria of this regulation. 17 November 2025

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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: 2816793 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aspiration House Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, 9 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 3BE

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Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2816793 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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