Children's home run by Ashwood Children’s Care Home Ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 1259184 1 Registered provider: Ashwood Childrens Care Home 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

The home is owned and operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to 4 children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection 4 children were living at the home. All the children contributed to the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The home is led by a qualified and experienced registered manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children's home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children's home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1259184 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/10/2024 Full Good 05/02/2024 Full Good 16/01/2023 Full Outstanding 01/09/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 1259184 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children benefit from living in a home that is warm, welcoming, and exceptionally well presented. The décor is of a high standard. The atmosphere is homely and nurturing. Personal touches are evident throughout, with photographs and celebration of children's achievements. Bedrooms are highly individualised and reflect children's personalities and interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff offer praise, show empathy, and have positive regard for the children. This is reflected in the records they complete, and all aspects of care given to the children. Children are at the heart of staff's practice, and staff speak highly of children. A staff member said, 'We support them to rewrite their own story and find out who they want to be and become the best version of themselves.'

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All children are engaged in education. Staff work proactively to ensure each child's educational provision meets their individual needs, including advocating on their behalf so that their EHCP accurately reflects their progress. For one child, this advocacy enabled a return to education, and they are now on track to sit their GCSEs. Another child, who had previously not been attending school, now attends on a part-time timetable. Their learning is further supported through structured education delivered in the home by a member of staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff ensure that children's health needs are met and children are supported to attend specialist appointments. One child experienced a significant accident. Staff stayed with the child in hospital around the clock, supporting their recovery. The manager created a beautiful book, sensitively detailing the events and the child's journey to recovery, supporting them to understand this process as they had no recollection due to the injury sustained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff actively encourage children to take part in a wide range of new experiences and activities that nurture their talents and interests. For example, children have weekly music lessons or sports clubs. Children are supported and encouraged to socialise with their peers. Their friends are welcomed into the home. This helps the children to build relationships, develop independence, and gain a keen sense of achievement and self-worth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children spend meaningful time with family and significant others. Staff understand the importance of building and maintaining children's relationships with their families. Parents are positive about how staff promote family time and the respectful and inclusive way in which staff communicate with them. One family member said, 'Staff reinforce how much [name of child] is loved by me, while also showing him that he is genuinely cared for by them.' Inspection report for children's home: 1259184 4

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

Children feel safe and are kept safe by the staff. Staff know the children exceptionally well. They are highly skilled at reading the non-verbal cues that children show to express how they are feeling. The manager has also designed an app which enables children to contact her directly to express any worries or concerns. This means the manager and the team can intervene quickly to help the children when they feel worried or anxious.

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

Children have built safe, trusting and meaningful relationships with staff. Staff show children emotional warmth. The children and staff have strong bonds, with lots of laughter. Staff highly value the children's well-being. This supports children to make continued progress. Children feel safe and secure and have not needed to make any complaints. One child said, 'This home is the best place I have ever lived.' Adding, 'Staff understand me and respect me for who I am.'

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

Staff understand the risks that using the internet may pose to children. The manager is confident and creative in her plans with children in this area. Additionally, staff help children to understand any potential risks with internet use. This encourages children to learn how to keep themselves safe online.

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

The manager works closely with the psychotherapist who works in the home. This assists with the plans that help children to develop awareness of their emotions and behaviours. This unified approach means that children receive consistent care, advice and boundaries from staff. They help children to understand unsafe and inappropriate behaviours, as well as supporting them to reflect on incidents of concern.

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

Staff only hold children as a last resort and after extensive proactive measures are tried. As a result, incidents of restraint are infrequent. Debriefs are carried out with children and staff, to identify lessons learned. These are shared with the team and if necessary, practice is adapted to ensure that children remain safe.

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

Risk assessments are tailored to each child and clearly outline strategies for calming and supporting them. However, new strategies identified after incidents have not routinely been added to their plans. This has the potential to hinder staff members from understanding the risks. However there has not been an impact to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The leaders and managers are highly skilled, experienced, and deeply committed. A very capable deputy manager supports the registered manager, and both are motivational and nurturing. They use their knowledge and passion to drive excellent outcomes for children, leading the staff team with clarity and motivation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has established consistent and robust quality assurance measures. She completes regular audits of the home and regularly takes part in peer reviews and internal reviews of the home. As a result, the manager has an excellent oversight of the Inspection report for children's home: 1259184 5 development of the home, and staff continue to provide an outstanding level of care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers are tenacious advocates for children when they identify shortfalls in the service that they are receiving from other professionals. For example, when the local authority proposed a move for a child against the views and wishes of the child. The manager challenged this decision and supported the child to raise their concerns with their advocate and independent reviewing officer. As a result, the child was able to remain in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff benefit from regular, reflective, and purposeful team meetings. These meetings cover a wide range of topics relevant to the children living in the home and provide an important forum for communication, idea-sharing, and constructive challenge. This supports staff to develop professionally and maintain good quality practice. Therapeutic parenting approaches are thoroughly embedded and are a consistent feature of practice within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager places strong emphasis on staff well-being, and as a result, staff feel valued, supported and part of a 'family'. The team is stable and staff know each other well. The manager does not have to use agency staff, and new colleagues are carefully supported by more experienced members to maintain consistent, high-quality care. Staff speak about the children with pride, love and positivity, describing it as `a privilege to watch them grow'. Their dedication and low turnover ensure personalised, consistent care that enables every child to continue making excellent progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager protects time for the staff to receive regular, reflective supervision. Staff have access to a comprehensive training package, which ensures they are well equipped to support children's individual needs. Additionally, the manager will often commission specific training when she identifies any gaps in staff knowledge or new emerging risks. This seeks to further develop their skills and has led to a deeper understanding of children's emerging needs. Inspection report for children's home: 1259184 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Ensuring plans include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards,' page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: 1259184 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Ashwood Childrens Care Home Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: G43a Repton House, Bretby Business Park, Ashby Road, Burton-On-Trent, Derbyshire DE15 0YZ

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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Jonathan Cammiss

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Inspectors

Zoey Lee, social care inspector Becki Cornes-Sinclair, social care inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1259184 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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