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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 1 SC473631 Registered provider: Aspris Children’s Service

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to six children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2024.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in this home. The inspector spoke to two of the children during this inspection.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/07/2024 Full Good 21/12/2021 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/03/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children either move into or out of the home, the staff support the children well. Plans are well thought out so that children have a positive experience of their time either arriving at or leaving the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s individual needs are met by staff who provide children with structure, boundaries and consistent nurturing care. Children benefit from positive relationships with staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are in full-time education. For one child, considerable progress has been made after a long period of absence from school. The school personnel said that the staff and the manager really advocate for the child and that they have seen a real difference in the child’s attitude to learning. This is a result of the work of the staff and manager.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health is promoted. Staff have a good understanding of the children’s individual health needs. When children struggle to attend their health appointments, staff encourage and inform children of the benefits of ensuring that their health needs are met.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s voices are heard, and they are given different opportunities to share their thoughts and feelings. However, children do not always receive feedback in a timely manner. On some occasions, children do not know the outcome of their requests.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with the opportunity to participate in activities that are tailored to the children’s individual interests and likes. Children are supported to have time with people that are important to them, in line with their plans.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff create a homely feel to the home. This includes the children personalising areas of the home to their own taste. Bedroom door alarms are used for children who are deemed to be at a higher risk. However, these are not routinely reviewed to establish if they continue to be necessary.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with school uniforms and other equipment at the start of the school term. However, children are expected to pay for any additional items of clothing throughout the school year. This places a financial burden on children that they should not be responsible for.

p.3

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

Children said that they feel safe living at the home and that staff try to keep them safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 4 When children go missing from the home, staff follow the individual missing-from- home protocols to ensure that children are located and swiftly returned home. Children are welcomed back and are offered the opportunity to speak to someone independent about their experiences.

p.3

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

There have been times when staff have needed to physically hold children to keep them and others safe. These physical interventions have been proportionate and kept to a minimum. When this happens, staff and children speak about the incidents so that lessons can be learned about how best to respond to children in the future.

p.4

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

There have been occasions when children have been left unsupervised by staff despite the need for supervision outlined in their care plans. The manager has not challenged the practice of staff leaving the children with the housekeeper.

p.4

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

When children are thought to have misused drugs or alcohol, staff promptly respond to seek medical advice. Referrals are made to the relevant agencies that can offer specialist support in this area.

p.4

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

Children have individual risk assessments. These are duplicated over two documents and are lengthy, making them difficult to read and understand. Furthermore, the risk assessments are not regularly updated. However, staff respond appropriately to children’s risks and vulnerabilities.

p.4

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

When consequences are given to children, they are not always effective and there is a lack of review by the manager. Children receive financial penalties; however, staff do not always record these. There are not always records of how much children must pay and how much per week will be taken from their pocket money.

p.4

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

There have been times when children have struggled to manage their emotions, which has resulted in self-harming behaviour. Staff provide support and offer reassurance; however, children are not encouraged to obtain timely support from mental health professionals. Staff have also not always spoken to the children after self-harming incidents and do not always use body maps to record injuries.

p.4

good

Staff said that the manager is child centred, supportive and approachable. Staff enjoy working at the home.

p.4

good

There has been a heavy reliance on agency staff due to one child needing to have a high level of supervision. Things have settled due to one child moving out; however, there are still staff shortages. The manager is actively recruiting staff to address this issue. When staff are employed, safer recruitment takes place.

p.4

good

There are times when children are restricted from certain areas of the home, for example, the kitchen door is sometimes locked. These restrictions are not always due Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 5 to safeguarding concerns but for staff to help de-escalate a situation. This has gone unchallenged by the manager. Furthermore, the downstairs toilet is locked and deemed to be a staff-only toilet. This does not give children a clear message that this is their home and does not align with the home feeling like a family home.

p.4

good

The manager has oversight of the home and completes regular audits; however, recording is not always kept up to date. Children’s written recordings are generally written well, but therapeutic language is not always used, for example, some supervision notes use derogatory language to talk about children.

p.5

good

Staff do not receive regular supervision in line with the company policy. Regular changes of the supervision template also make it difficult for the manager to be consistent with her approach to supervision.

p.5

good

Staff receive regular training, which is kept up to date. This includes bespoke training to meet children’s individual needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 6

p.5

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential, and

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

p.6

Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

p.6

Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h)) 1 December

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 1 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 7 within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

p.6

Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (2) (3)(a)(vii))

p.7

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.7

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; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)) 1 December

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

p.7

Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b))

p.7

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the use of bedroom door alarms. 1 December

p.7

Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

p.7

Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

p.7

Requirement Due date

is necessary and proportionate; 1 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 8 is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(j)(ii)(iii)(iv))

p.8

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the manager and staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 14.4)

p.8

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: SC473631 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aspris Children’s Service

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Aspris, 2 Barton Close, Grove Park, Enderby, Leicester LE19 1SJ

p.9

Inspector

Angela Ross, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC473631 10 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.

p.9

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10