Children's Home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in West Berkshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC486479 1 SC486479 Registered provider: Aspris Children’s Services Limited

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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 operated by a private organisation and provides care for up to 5 children with complex needs and learning disabilities. One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: After the last full inspection, the home’s registration was suspended, and compliance notices were issued under Regulations 12 and 13 of The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. A monitoring visit took place on 22 July 2025. Following this visit, the compliance notice under Regulation 12 was deemed to be met and the compliance notice under Regulation 13 was reissued along with a further suspension notice. A second monitoring visit took place on 16 October 2025. Following this visit, the compliance notice under Regulation 13 was met and the home’s suspension was ended on 23 October 2025. No further enforcement action has been taken since this time. Inspection report for children’s home: SC486479 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/05/2025 Full Inadequate 23/07/2024 Full Good 31/05/2023 Full Good 08/06/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC486479 3

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Summary of findings

The home provides good-quality care that helps the child make positive progress and develop trusting relationships with staff. A carefully planned move into the home enabled the child to settle well, while personalised support promotes communication, cultural identity, health and family relationships. Staff understand the child’s risks and vulnerabilities and provide effective safeguarding and behaviour support. Leaders and managers are committed, reflective and provide effective oversight of care, staff development and partnership working. Some improvements are needed to ensure that specialist health support is accessed promptly, care plans and risk assessments remain up to date and that all staff receive relevant training in a timely manner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has moved into the home since the last inspection. This move was well planned and supported. The child had the opportunity to visit the home, choose their room and meet staff prior to moving. Staff worked closely with the child’s previous home to understand their needs and the child was supported with a bespoke children’s guide. As a result, the child had a positive experience of moving in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child enjoys positive relationships with staff who understand their needs, likes and preferred methods of communication. Staff are flexible and responsive to the child’s communication and use a variety of approaches to help the child understand information, make choices and express wishes and feelings. This helps the child to build trust and make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand and promote the child’s cultural and identity needs. They demonstrate respect for the child’s heritage and background. Cultural needs, such as those relating to diet and important festivals, are integrated into the child’s care plan. There is a diverse staff team that celebrates different cultures with the child, helping to create an inclusive environment and promoting a positive sense of identity for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the child’s important relationships. They work flexibly and positively with the child’s family to facilitate family time in a way that meets the child’s needs and works for their family. Effective communication keeps the child’s parents informed and involved, helping arrangements run smoothly. The child’s parent provided positive feedback about all aspects of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote healthy eating and exercise and ensure that the child accesses routine health services when needed. This promotes good overall health for the child. Staff sought medical advice and took action to reduce the impact of a health issue that was impacting on the child’s sleep. However, managers did not challenge a delay in the Inspection report for children’s home: SC486479 4 provision of specialist support. In addition, the child’s written care plan does not provide comprehensive guidance for staff to inform their support in relation to this need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean, well maintained and furnished in a child-friendly manner. The child benefits from the use of a large garden. They are supported to personalise their bedroom and have access to all communal areas of the home. This helps the child to feel at home and develop a sense of belonging.

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

Staff understand the child’s individual needs and vulnerabilities. Effective daily communication ensures that staff understand how to keep the child safe, both in and outside the home. Staff are provided with support and training to understand relevant safeguarding issues and expectations of them, for example in relation to children who may go missing from home, reporting allegations and whistleblowing. This supports a sound safeguarding culture.

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

Staff take a positive approach to behaviour management. They engage proactively with the child and help them manage their emotions safely if they are struggling to do so. Staff provide clear routines and enable the child to make positive choices, which promotes their wellbeing and sense of security. There have been no physical interventions since the child moved into the home.

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

Incidents of unsafe or challenging behaviour are managed appropriately and reported promptly by staff. Managers closely oversee incidents to review practice and support. They ensure that the child’s network is updated promptly and that there is follow-up work with the child and staff to support reflection and learning.

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

The child is subject to a court order that allows for the restriction of some aspects of their liberty. Managers ensure that safeguarding arrangements in the home are consistent with the order and that the child has access to an advocate. Staff support the child to engage in required assessments to inform the decisions of the court. This helps to make sure that any limits on the child’s freedoms are necessary and proportionate.

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

Although there is effective and timely information-sharing within the team about safeguarding concerns, written risk assessments are not always updated promptly, and some do not reflect current practice. This has not impacted on the child’s safety but has the potential to do so as it may lead to confusion for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager. The registered manager and responsible individual know the child and the service well and understand the home’s improvement journey since the last full inspection. They are reflective, open to feedback and aspirational for children. This provides good role modelling for staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC486479 5 Staff say they are well supported by colleagues and managers. They describe managers as present and available. Staff receive regular, good-quality individual supervision, and the manager makes effective use of team meetings to promote professional development, resilience and a shared understanding of the home’s ethos.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff complete a range of core training relevant to their roles. The manager has effective oversight to check that staff are progressing with training and required qualifications. Most staff now hold the level 3 diploma or equivalent. Some staff completed training in a communication system that the child sometimes uses. However, managers did not arrange for all staff to complete this, which means there was a missed opportunity to strengthen the skills of the team in this area. This was addressed by managers during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have effective arrangements in place to monitor the service. Routine presence, oversight, auditing and reporting is bolstered by regular observations of staff and spot checks. This helps managers to have a good sense of practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers understand the value of effective working relationships with the child’s personal and professional networks and work hard to make sure there is good communication and information-sharing. These relationships promote co-ordinated care for the child. Inspection report for children’s home: SC486479 6

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Statutory requirements

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

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children have access to specialist health support when they need it, that delays are challenged and escalated with partners, and that written plans for children provide clear guidance for staff about how to support children with individual health issues.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 28 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. 28 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC486479 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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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)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that children’s risk assessments and safety plans are kept up to date and provide clear, consistent guidance to staff.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all staff are given the opportunity to complete training identified as relevant to the needs of children and that this is provided in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: SC486479 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aspris Children’s Services Limited)

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Children’s home details

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

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Vanessa Caldicott

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Inspector

Jacob Robson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC486479 9 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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Inspector

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