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 Homes Ltd

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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. All were seen and 3 were spoken to and contributed to the inspection.

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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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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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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: 2675775 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/03/2026 Full Good 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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Summary of findings

Inspirational and aspirational leaders lead a team of exceptionally well-trained, well- supported, child-focused and skilled staff. Because of this, the children, all of whom have lived in this home for a year or more, receive very high-quality care. Children enjoy many positive experiences and they have made, and sustained, excellent progress while living in the home. Safeguarding practice is strong. The consistent care children are given, using a strengths-based, relational approach alongside highly effective and proportionate safety planning, provides them with a strong sense of safety, and risks to children continue to reduce.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have extremely positive, enduring and trusting relationships with a consistent, committed and caring group of staff. The staff provide children with the stability and security that they need to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff meet children’s health needs to a high standard. Children receive bespoke therapeutic support from a psychotherapist working at the home, who the children know well and trust. The therapist and staff are helping children to explore and understand their past experiences, and they are starting to feel more assured about who they are.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff undertake regular, purposeful direct work with children. One of many strong examples of this work involved staff members supporting a child using a clear script for their bedtime routine and a personalised story to help them settle. With persistence, this has been highly successful, with the child now sleeping well at night and waking up refreshed for the next day. This is considerable progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make excellent educational progress. From a starting point of no or low school attendance, all children now attend school punctually every day. A collaborative approach between the manager, staff and education professionals is providing children with the best opportunity to achieve to their full educational potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children enjoy participating in a wide range of enriching, exciting experiences and activities in line with their interests. Staff encourage and nurture children’s talents. They capture regular day trips and children’s new experiences in beautifully presented activity books which serve as a celebration of all the children have experienced and achieved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff also support children to become valued members of their local community. Of note is the charity fundraising children have done, supported by people in the neighbourhood, in aid of causes close to their hearts. Children are extremely proud of what they have achieved. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675775 4 A focus on respecting, valuing and listening to children’s views shines through in all aspects of practice in the home. Staff beam with pride when talking about children’s achievements, and this is reflected in how staff sensitively record, with care, the work they do with children and what children share with them. Staff listen to what children tell them. This helps children to feel heard, understood and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children to spend time with family members and to strengthen important relationships. One child’s progress in this area has been so significant that a reunification plan is now in place. The child’s parent said, ‘The manager is the best, and has been so supportive of me and the reunification plan.’ For children whose family members live at a distance from the home, staff ensure this is not a barrier to them maintaining good relationships with those people who are important to them.

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

Children feel safe because of the consistent and predictable care they receive from staff they know and trust. This is giving children a strong sense of safety, both inside and outside the home. Children know they can rely on the adults caring for them wherever they are.

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

Staff know children exceptionally well and understand the risks each of them face. Staff fully understand and follow regularly updated and comprehensively written care and safety plans. This is helping to keep children as safe as possible.

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

Purposeful and impactful direct work undertaken by staff is helping to keep children safer. For example, internet safety plans, co-produced with children, and a range of activities to help children learn about online risks are having a positive impact on their online safety.

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

Proactive and bespoke behaviour support strategies used by staff are highly effective. Using a relational, strengths-based approach, which includes providing children with high levels of praise and reward alongside consistent and clear rules and boundaries, has resulted in the number of significant incidents in the home dramatically reducing. This is helping children to feel happier, safer and calmer.

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

There has also been a significant reduction in the use of physical intervention since the previous inspection. On the few occasions when staff have used it, this was as a very last resort to safeguard children. On these occasions, robust management scrutiny and oversight, and detailed debriefs with staff and children after the incident provide opportunity for reflection on the effectiveness of practice. This ensures practice in this area remains consistently strong.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. This has happened on one occasion, when a child went missing for a very short period. Because staff followed the child’s plan, they quickly located the child and safely welcomed them back home. Support provided to the child after the incident has been effective, as there have been no further incidents of going missing. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675775 5 The manager takes any allegations made by children against staff very seriously. Children are listened to and investigations regarding allegations are timely and thorough, with appropriate consultation with relevant external professionals. This helps ensure children are safeguarded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is an inspirational leader who has used learning from the previous inspection and taken children’s experiences and progress to another level. She is incredibly calm, organised and child focused. The manager and her deputy together model and expect high standards of practice. In turn, staff hold them in high regard, describing them as providing ‘high support and high challenge’. Staff share the management team’s aspiration to provide children with the best possible care, help and support. Morale in the home is exceptionally high, and staff say they love coming to work. The home is filled with warmth, fun and laughter.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The managers know children incredibly well. Children respect that the managers listen to them and act on what they tell them. Managers provide children with high levels of praise and encouragement, including with a 3-monthly ‘progress party’ with each child. These celebratory events give children one-to-one time with the manager. They enable children to hear about the progress they are making and how special and unique they are.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has a sharp focus on developing her staff team. Comprehensive training and refresher sessions mean that the home’s practice model is fully embedded. Because of this, staff have the skills to build and maintain positive relationships with children, understand the reasons behind behaviours and support children to thrive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff skills are further enhanced by a comprehensive induction programme for new staff, regular, high-quality and highly reflective supervision sessions, and impactful ‘family meetings’ (team meetings). These reflective family meetings include learning from research shared by the manager and the home’s therapist so that staff remain up to date with good practice and issues that may affect children in the future. In summary, the manager has created a culture of learning and continuous development which the staff have embraced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Partnership working in the home is a strength. Parents and professionals were highly complimentary about the manager, her child-focused approach and being a strong advocate for children. Through constructive challenge to external professionals, the manager has ensured that children receive the right multi-agency support to continue to make excellent progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Robust quality assurance and monitoring systems, which include weekly and monthly audits of all aspects of practice, provide the managers with an excellent line of sight into the quality and impact of practice on children’s experiences. Through regularly seeking feedback from children, parents, staff and external professionals, the manager Inspection report for children’s home: 2675775 6 demonstrates how she strives to make continual improvements to the home and to the experiences of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

No statutory requirements or recommendations have been made.

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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 Homes (Aspen House) 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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Inspector

Rachel Griffiths, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2675775 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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