Children's home run by Aspireone Care Ltd in Newcastle-under-Lyme

Inspection report for children's home: SC439116 1 SC439116 Registered provider: Aspireone Care 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 owned and managed by a small private provider. It provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living at the home. All 3 children were spoken to as part of the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2025.

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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: 25 February 2025

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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: SC439116 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/02/2025 Full Good 05/09/2023 Full Good 28/02/2023 Full Good 21/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC439116 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care from a supportive staff team. Two children have lived at the home since before the last inspection and continue to make progress in most areas of their lives. The third child has experienced some challenges in the community since their recent move to the home. Despite this, staff have worked hard to develop trusting relationships to support the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's moves into and out of the home are well planned and child centred. Staff work closely with relevant professionals to ensure that the decisions made regarding children's care plans reflect their wishes and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's health needs are well understood. Staff are proactive in seeking external support to identify any emerging or additional needs that may require specialist assessment. As a result, children receive appropriate and well-informed care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children living at the home are engaged in education that meets their individual learning needs. One child is currently receiving bespoke tutoring at the home, which is responsive to their ability and emotional needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain and develop their relationships with those who are important to them. For one child, this has meant that they have been able to re-establish direct relationships with family members who they had not seen for several years. This has helped to support the child's sense of identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's independence is encouraged in the home. Staff encourage children to take responsibility for age-appropriate household tasks, such as tidying their personal spaces and maintaining daily hygiene routines. Children are also involved in planning life-skills activities, including budgeting, which help them to develop the skills they need for adulthood.

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

Significant incidents have primarily been in relation to one child. There is a consistent response from the staff team when incidents occur, including close communication with multi-agency professionals.

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

Following an increase in incidents, and despite additional support being put in place, the manager has reflected on one child's capacity to manage their level of independence in the local community. As a result, the manager has identified that staff are not able to meet the child's needs and that a specialist provision should be sought. The manager and staff team have worked with the child's placing authority to develop an effective safety plan while the child remains in the home and while an appropriate alternative provision is identified. Inspection report for children's home: SC439116 4 When children are missing from the home, staff respond appropriately and in line with the procedures that are in place for each child. Although such incidents are rare, there has been an increase since one child moved into the home. Following a safeguarding incident when the child was out in the community, staff have increased their levels of

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

supervision. As a result, there have been no further missing-from-home incidents for this child.

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

Accidents are infrequent. However, staff seek appropriate medical support when they do occur. When one child has displayed self-harm behaviours, staff have responded sensitively, providing both emotional and practical support. Staff have reflected on these incidents as a team to ensure that they are providing a consistent response to the child.

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

Staff are skilled in de-escalating incidents of conflict. Staff consistently use therapeutic approaches to support children during times of crisis. As a result, physical intervention has not been required to manage children's behaviour.

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

Children understand how to complain and are confident that staff will listen to them. One complaint received from a child was responded to effectively by the previous manager. The child's views were considered and they were consulted throughout the complaints process. The child was happy with the outcome and the response they received.

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

Consequences are generally restorative or natural outcomes of behaviour. Although the consequences used are appropriate, the manager has not consistently reviewed their effectiveness to ensure that they support children's learning and development.

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

Door alarms are in use on children's bedroom doors. Although this currently supports the safeguarding of those living in the home, the impact of this restriction on individual children has not been fully explored or documented. It is also not clear that the use of door alarms is being regularly reviewed for each child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has experienced a change in leadership following the departure of a longstanding manager. An experienced registered manager has since been appointed, and the deputy manager has returned from a period of leave. The new manager has worked closely with the staff to develop positive relationships and to identify the strengths of the team and any areas for further development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are regular and well attended. Additional meetings are held when incidents occur to ensure that staff are fully updated and informed of any changes to children's care plans. Staff are encouraged to engage in discussions that support a collaborative approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals are very positive about children's progress and the care they receive from staff. Family members say that they are regularly updated about any incidents as well as Inspection report for children's home: SC439116 5 positive progress that their children make. One parent said they are 'well supported' and that their experience in working with the manager and staff has been 'wholly positive'.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Oversight from the manager is good and they provide constructive feedback to staff to support improvements in their practice. Staff say that they feel supported by the manager and the senior staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive reflective supervision sessions that review their practice and identify areas for further development. However, the frequency of these supervision sessions is not consistent across the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have annual appraisals to review their practice. However, these do not include feedback from children, other staff or professionals. This is a missed opportunity to provide staff with a thorough understanding of the impact of their involvement in supporting children. Inspection report for children's home: SC439116 6

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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.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff should receive reflective supervision that is regular and consistently documented. 26 February 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that children can experience living in a home that is homely. The use of door alarms should be continually reviewed for all children and only used when necessary for safeguarding purposes. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of discipline are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and their effectiveness is reviewed. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should include the views of the children and other professionals when completing appraisals with staff. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: SC439116 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 4 Lyme Drive, Lyme Vale Court, Parklands, Stoke-On- Trent, Staffordshire ST4 6NW

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Inspector

Carrie Mayes, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC439116 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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