Children's Home run by Ashwood Children’s Care Homes (Aspen House) Ltd in Derbyshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2675775 1 Registered provider: Ashwood Children’s 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

This is a privately owned home. It provides care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 4 children were living in the home and were spoken to.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023.

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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 outstanding

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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: 29 October 2024

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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: 2675775 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/10/2024 Full Good 30/01/2024 Full Good 29/11/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2675775 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a warm and inviting home where they are supported to pursue their interests and hobbies. Children’s daily records are thoughtfully recorded and highlight the meaningful moments they experience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build nurturing relationships with children. These positive relationships help children to feel safe and support them to build emotional resilience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to share their views and wishes. The manager and staff have developed creative ways for children to share their views and feelings in their own time, for example using QR codes, which enable children to send messages directly to the team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place great importance on children’s education and learning, ensuring every child is supported to attend school full time with care tailored to their individual needs. As a result of the manager’s proactive and determined approach, one child’s education, health and care plan was changed to reflect their current needs, which resulted in the child returning to education after long delays in a school being identified.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with health professionals to ensure that each child’s health needs are fully met. The manager took prompt action to support one child’s needs, ensuring the child received the appropriate support aids.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home supports children to have meaningful, safe contact with their families. Staff know the children’s family backgrounds well and understand the importance of these relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child left the home after staff were unable to meet their needs. In response, the manager has strengthened admissions processes going forward. One child has since had a successful move to the home.

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

Staff understand their safeguarding roles and responsibilities well; safeguarding protocols are followed and appropriate action is taken when children go missing. Children’s support plans are updated regularly and clearly detail known risks. Children’s plans are effective working tools that inform staff practice and ensure that children receive tailored care and support that meets their individual needs.

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

The manager ensures that physical interventions are thoroughly scrutinised and identifies when holds are not proportionate or if there were missed opportunities to use de-escalation strategies sooner. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675775 4 Staff are aware of the associated risks of children having access to the internet. Meaningful discussions take place with children to educate them about online safety. Children’s internet use is monitored and restricted, and phone checks are routinely undertaken. However, the use of monitoring systems is not transparent, and explicit consent from children and social workers has not been sought.

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

The manager takes complaints and allegations seriously, ensuring they are addressed thoroughly and with transparency. Any safeguarding concerns are reported promptly to the relevant agencies. Safeguarding procedures are followed to ensure that children remain safe while investigations take place.

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

There is a blanket policy in place in relation to the use of door alarms. The manager has identified that not all children require this as a restriction and is in the process of reviewing the systems in place to ensure that the alarms can be individually activated, depending on the needs and risks for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager knows the children well and regularly spends time with them on a one- to-one basis, holding quarterly ‘progress parties’ with each child on an activity of their choosing. She has been influential in creating a safe and supportive environment for the children. She is a strong advocate for them, challenging decisions that are not in line with the child’s wishes and feelings, where children’s rights are not upheld or where there are safeguarding concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has excellent oversight of children’s incidents and ensures that all significant events are reported to the appropriate authorities. The manager ensures, through robust auditing and tracking processes, that patterns in children’s behaviour are identified, and this informs the children’s risk assessments. Opportunities for learning are embraced and swiftly actioned through targeted training and supervision for staff. Learning from incidents is disseminated among the staff team to support consistent care practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Therapeutic parenting principles are increasingly embedded and consistently demonstrated in the home’s daily practice. As a result, children are nurtured and receive care that models empathy and constructive problem-solving. This helps children to develop a positive self-view.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff inductions are thorough and strengthened through high-quality supervision. Supervision sessions include reflective discussion of children’s experiences and discussion of staff development needs. The manager acknowledges the emotional demands of the role and ensures that staff wellbeing is actively monitored and supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff feel extremely well supported by the manager. They report that she is professional, compassionate and focused on providing stability and positive Inspection report for children’s home: 2675775 5 experiences for the children. One staff member said, ‘[Name of manager] strives for us all to be great at our jobs and provide the best care for the children in the home as well as support us with our career aspirations and with our practice on a daily basis.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff benefit from regular, purposeful team meetings that provide a valuable forum for peer reflection, shared learning and in-depth reviews of children’s needs and care plans. This approach helps maintain high-quality practice that is child focused. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675775 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff take reasonable precautions and make informed professional judgements based on the individual child’s needs and developmental stage about when to allow a child to take a particular risk or follow a particular course of action. This includes the use of door alarms and mobile phone monitoring systems. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7)

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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: 2675775 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ashwood Children’s 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

Jenna Allen, Social Care Inspector Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2675775 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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